Their story, in their words…
We had a rough start with a tedious 16 hour journey up to Drumnadrochit, where we started our hike on 0 hours sleep half way through Friday. The mood quickly lifted however as we took in the gorgeous scenery around us, through Forrest’s and walking alongside valleys. After a leisurely 10km walk we decided to make camp along a dirt path amongst a treeline, where we cooked a delicious pesto and chorizo pasta and had a small fire.
The next morning, after purifying enough water for us and washing up our cutlery from our breakfast of porridge, hot chocolates and teas we trekked on for another 15km, through a day of light drizzle and steep hills. Swarmed by midges we quickly set up camp and hibernated in our tent, slightly defeated, before a long nights rest.
Day 3 however we woke up to glorious sun, and went for a swim down at Dog Falls, which raised morals and energised us for our days walk. 25km were knocked out that day, broken up by a much needed visit to Cannich, where we stocked up on supplies. The environment shifted from woodland to large expanses of mountainside, flanking gigantic lochs of dark icy water. By the end of day 3 we were all extremely tired, and covered in blisters and midge bites from the night before. We setup camp next to a gorgeous loch, and used the porch of an unused lodge to shield us from the wind and rain, leading to our best night, another filling pasta meal and a giant rainbow over the water.
Day 4 we sat off determined to get as close to the end as possible, as on day 5 we had to get on our bus by 12pm lunchtime, however 5km in we realised that Benjy had left the pegs on the ground next to where he packed down our tent. We decided to send him back to get them whilst me and Jude continued on with Benjy’s bag. 5km later we took a long break for lunch and waited for Benjy to return an hour later. After a long break, we continued up into the mountains, where we ended up hiking the full 15km and setting up camp by a river in some marsh. After another midge filled dinner and evening, we went to bed excited to return to our beds and showers. After a quick wake up and set down we embarked on the final 6km, before making it to the end where we endured a grueling 4 bus, 2 train and 21 hour return journey to our homes.
In the end we felt a massive sense of accomplishment, and felt closer as a friend group as well all had our moments of weakness and our moments to shine. Some of our best memories include random conversations with strangers we encountered along the walk, as well as the swim and the food.
