The sleeper train journey was impressive with lots of scenery through the
highlands. The peaks were still snowcapped.
I put my bike together in Fort William and discovered that I left my pedals
at home! So I almost headed for home, but I thought I’d see if there was a bike
shop, and there actually was one open, so I went and bought some pedals. Finally
left at about 10:30am. The route out of Fort William wasn’t marked very well,
but then it headed up through some forest on the other side of the glen to Ben
Nevis (pictured). They had logged a lot of the area, so not all of it was
wooded. It was already getting very hot. I knew this first section would be the
toughest because much of it was uphill and on a narrow path.
The trees had disappeared again and I had late lunch (in the scorching sun)
on the side of Mullach nan Coirean, which is quite high at 939m (Ben Nevis is
1344m). I discovered that not only had I forgotten my pedals, but also a spoon
and all traces of cutlery. Luckily the handle of a spanner works well as a
spoon. I was already running out of water. I took some from a stream, but there
were sheep around, so I boiled it, which took ages because somehow the metho was
running out far more quickly than usual. And then it ran out and I had to start
boiling again. The track around that area was quite rough even though it was a
4WD track, and I had to walk most of it. I’d only managed about 14km and it was
probably about 2pm.
The riding then got better heading down the valley and past some old ruins
until the final descent into Kinlochleven. Stopped for an ice cream and bought
some more water. Scottish prices are very cheap. It was just 55p for 2L of
water. The next bit was also going to be tough – over several big ridges to a
place called Altnafeadh, known for its car park where motorway drivers can stop
and take photos of Buachaille Etive Mòr. It also included going down the Devil’s
Staircase, which I was warned was nigh on impossible with a bike. At the time, I
thought it would be 8km to get there. Giving myself 4 hours meant that I only
had to do 2km per hour, so I should be able to do it, but made contingency plans
for camping in the isolated valley.
Left Kinlochleven at 4pm, and headed uphill for 6km, most of it walking
because it was always too steep or too rocky. The weather was closing in. I’d
also noticed that the number of walkers on the track had reached almost zero –
everyone seemed to have done their walking in the morning. A few kilometres out
of Kinlochleven the trees disappeared again and I noticed how sunburnt I was
(ditched the sunscreen in London to reduce backpack weight – no one gets burnt
in Scotland). I needed to fill up my water again and had been on the lookout for
streams, but this side of the mountain just had boggy marshes on the slopes. I
turned the corner and there was a big stream and no sheep in the area, so filled
up my water bottle and took a test sip and hoped not to get diarrhoea. It turns
out that the stream is called Allt a’ Choire Odhair-bhig. The weather was really
closing in, and there were a few drops of rain here and there, with an imposing
saddle between Beinn Bheag and Stob Mhic Mhartuin to cross. And on the other
side was the Devil’s Staircase.
From the top of the saddle, there was a great view of a huge crag/mountain
(pictured). I thought maybe it was the one where there was an avalanche in early
2013, and the climbers got killed. This happened near Glencoe, which would fit
with the location. It turns out that the mountain I was looking at was the Stob
Dearg of Buachaille Etive Mòr. Apparently it made an appearance in the James
Bond Skyfall movie. I descended the Devil’s Staircase – which turned out to be
nothing more than a steep path down the slope. There were far more difficult
parts of the path earlier on than this bit, so I don’t know what all the fuss is
about. A couple zoomed past on their mountain bikes (they must have been
completely fearless).
There was still plenty of time, so I headed down the highway for Glencoe and hoped they’d let me camp there. The signs welcoming me to Glencoe informed that there was a restaurant and showers at the resort. I took my time and placed my stuff out the front of the resort building (they have ski lifts here, too) and went into book my camping spot. I decided that I’d buy myself a meal after a tough day, so asked about meals as well. It turns out it was 7:30 and the kitchen had just closed, but the waiter convinced the chef to cook one more meal. They even had wifi (albeit too slow to use). So after a long day, I had my meal and shower and topped up my water (no difficulties finding water here!). Set up camp and the midges, which had been absent all day, suddenly swarmed. I would have no trouble sleeping that night, but discovered that there was still daylight until at least 10:30.
Let myself sleep in on Sunday, after such a hard day the previously. It was
disappointing to have done only 40km out of 153, but given how exhausted I was,
it was pleasing to have reached as far as Glencoe. So I didn’t get up until
about 6:00. Tried lighting my Trangia for breakfast, but the matchheads had gone
soft (bizarre!), so no porridge, just cold oats and water. The next section was
13km over a 4WD track. It started out quite rough and rocky, but it got better
and ended up being my favourite section. It was nice scenery, not sunny, and
easy riding (but enough to justify needing a mountain bike). This road was part
of an old droving route, and also served as a road for commercial vehicles
(horse-drawn carts) and after 100-200 years was still very well formed, mostly
resembling a cobbled road.
This old highway ran into bitumen at the end of Loch Tulla, so I took my
first deviation from the Way (so as to make up for lost time from the previous
day), and followed the bitumen right around to Bridge of Orchy. The weather was
really drizzling by this stage, but much better than the sun and heat of the
previous day. On the map, there was a black line going parallel to the highway –
I had assumed that this was a well formed gravel road. It turns out it was the
railway line! So I ditched my plan to follow that path (the Way also runs
roughly parallel to it). Ended up going down the bitumen all the way to Loch
Lomond and further. Picked up a new matchbox (and midge net) along the way.
Stopped for (expensive) lunch at a pub in Crianlarich. I remember that the road
from Tyndrum to Crianlarich just seemed to take ages (and was uphill and into a
headwind). The plan was then to take the ferry from Inveruglas to Inversnaid on
the east shore of Loch Lomond, and rejoin the Way from there. The bitumen was
good as it allowed me to make up lost time from the previous day, but really I
did want to follow the West Highland Way.
I knew that the West Highland Way along Loch Lomond was considered very
tough for bikes, basically a no-go zone. So I thought that I’d at least try a
bit of it. Whilst waiting 2 hours for the ferry (and charging my phone in the
coffee shop), I met some seemingly intelligent and outdoorsy hikers who had done
the Way years ago, and they also advised not taking my bike across the Loch to
the east side. So I still jumped on the ferry, and took it to Tarbet, via
Inversnaid. This gave me a glimpse of the Way, which justified continuing down
the bitumen. The Germans I met at Inveruglas also pointed out that there is a
cycle path down the west side of Loch Lomond, and gave me a map of it. Also, on
the ferry I got to see Rob Roy’s cave – it was nearly impossible to see because
the entrance is tiny. Had tea at Tarbet in a park by the Loch, and headed down
the cycle path and found a nice little spot to camp by a pebbled beach
(pictured).
A fairly bad night’s sleep as my head was slightly downhill, and I’d never
camped alone in the wild before! Got up to rain, and packed up camp by 4:45. It
rained and rained and rained, and by 7am I was in Balloch (27km). Lo and behold,
I saw a McDonalds! Straight in there and got 3 bacon and egg muffins and coffee.
I left my mud and dripping rainwater on the McDonalds floor, but it's McDonalds
so it didn’t matter. Then headed down National Cycle Route 3 to just south of
Drymen and rejoined the West Highland Way briefly.
Rather than follow the Way, I just took the bitumen again, particularly to
avoid going over a big mountain (Conical Hill). I reached a point where I
realised that my place to evacuate to (if anything went wrong) was Milngavie. It
was a big relief because I was so close to the end! Rejoining the Way outside of
Blanefield for the final 6.5km, the riding was very nice along a gravel 4WD
track and through nice forest. Gradually the numbers of walkers picked up as
they must have tried unsuccessfully to wait out the rain. Approaching Milngavie,
it became increasingly urbane, and there were even dogwalkers and joggers. And
then that was it, arrivé à Milngavie, soggy but in high spirits.
Who would have thought that on the same day waking up wet on the shore of
Loch Lomond, I’d be snug at home in London that evening, watching Made in
Chelsea on tv. I’ve been trying to think of if I’ve ever done anything more
exhausting, but I think this would be the most exhausting thing I’ve done (don’t
forget the heavy backpack).
