I’m pretty pleased with myself. I know many people have completed this walk before me and many will in the future, but as I was walking towards Fort William I decided that I was going to be proud of myself.

I say of most things that anyone could do it and there’s nothing special about anything I’ve ever done. That’s not incorrect, but I’m going to show off for a moment. I’m proud that I’ve managed to complete the West Highland Way in 5 days, carrying a heavy pack with all my kit and wild camping. It’s not been super easy and has required a certain amount of determination. So I’m going to give myself this one. Well done!

Now, saying all that. I would thoroughly recommend this walk. I know I’ve been so lucky with the weather. I don’t even think that lucky describes it. But the route is amazing, the scenery, in most parts, out of this world. I feel so lucky to have seen all those views. So if you fancy a walk, this is one I would recommend. There are loads of different ways to tackle it and if part of my focus wasn’t on the physical challenge then I’d have gone much slower and probably used hotels and a bag service. That’s what I’ll do next time.

I just laughed at myself going on about my physical challenge. The record for completing the Way on foot is 13 hours and 41 minutes. I took 5 days!

Everything is perfect

It was a beautiful start to the day. I opened the tent door whilst still in bed and watched the sun rise. Very peaceful. I did stay there a little too long really as I needed to be getting on but it was a nice moment so I tried to take it all in. I did consider whether I should have stayed on the summit, had I chickened out, but I was on my own here and that was good. I’d only seen one person since I’d pitched up the night before, and they were on a bike. These people are crazy.

Eventually I dragged myself out of bed and started to pack up but, as I noticed the tent was still damp from condensation I paused to have breakfast and give the tent a chance to dry. Any excuse to be lazy.

The walk round the end of the mountains here is truly exceptional. It didn’t feel like the UK at all. That doesn’t necessarily make sense because I’m not familiar with the landscape here but with the blue skies and all the mountain peaks around me it felt so alien. It felt like I could be doing a tour of the Alps. I really couldn’t have been happier in this environment.

The curse of taking too many pictures had inflicted me again. I even stopped to fly the drone again. There was no one around so I figured now would be a good time. I didn’t actually see a single person for the first few hours of the walk.

Watch says no

I was feeling great but my watch, which thinks it’s clever, was telling me to rest. It said I wasn’t sleeping properly and that the best course of action for the day was to do nothing. Now, for one that wasn’t an option, and secondly, I felt fine. I was raring to go, the perfect pitch had really got me fired up. I’m not a religious person but I honestly felt blessed to be experiencing this. Yes, there had been tough parts, and I’m sure more are to come over the next parts of the trek, but for now I was the luckiest man in the world.

I almost felt like I’d cheated. I was on my own up here. Everyone else would be parking up at the base of the hill, ready for their climbs, and I was already up here. Having it all to myself. I’d cheated the weather as well (this one will come back to bite me I’m sure). When I woke up and it was raining on the 3rd day while on Loch Lomond I thought that I shouldn’t complain as I’d had 2 days of amazing weather and I just needed to get used to these damp conditions. I don’t think I’ve ever been more wrong.

And down we come

The path says high in the mountains for some time and then starts its gradual descent into Drumnadrochit. Even the descent was nice. There are some hydro electric facilities in the hills, but even these seemed to fit into the landscape. More trees now as you descend into the forest. I paused for a little while, looking at all the pipes running down the mountain, hopeful to update my blog, but there was still very limited phone coverage. Unfortunately Felt I left my sunglasses where I’d sat so had to walk about 500 yards to retrieve them. I’m lucky I noticed that soon as that would have really bugged me. If the sunglasses make it to the end of the trip it will be a miracle.

Finally, at the bottom of the hill you come to Dumnadrochit and then it’s a short walk through the village and then another long hard climb again. I would argue this was just as tiring as the devils bridge but I’m not exactly sure. I did see some people here. Not many but an old lady in the village and then a couple of people on the walk. I was amazed by how few people were around. It had felt a little busier early on when I left Glasgow.

Once at the top of the climb there is a long, very long, path. Even though it’s high there are higher mountains on either side so it’s a valley and there is a river running along side the path. I think the path once must have been a road. It’s single track wide but made up of loose stone. They are quite hard under the foot. The path stretches on into the distance and is shadowed by the hills on either side. Most of the time I could look in both directions and see no one.

There were a couple of abandoned houses along here as well. The roofs long since rotted away but the walls had been made from large rocks so had mainly stayed intact. I wondered what these had once been used for.

Not long now

My watch was now saying 10 miles to go until the end of the West Highland Way. My campsite was slightly nearer so I’d made the decision to go there first, get set up, and then do the final part of the walk into Fort William without all my kit. I decided that wasn’t cheating. So really I was looking at 8 miles. That didn’t seem like far and I got myself into a sort of clock watching state. Where I was just willing the miles to reduce. After doing this for a couple of miles I realised how stupid I was being. 8 miles is a long way and I should not be wishing it away. Yes, my feet did ache and my shoulders were a bit sore, but I should not be missing this. I reset my mind and started to enjoy myself again.

I noticed what looked like a bus stop and one section of the path. Someone was standing there but I couldn’t see what they were doing. Before I got to them they left and walked on. It was actually a little information centre with questionnaires about the West Highland Way. Asking things like the make up of your group and how you were travelling. I nearly didn’t fill it in but noticed I could tick the 35-50 age box. I thought I’d take the opportunity while I still could and filled it in.

After the long, very long, high path, you start to descend again into part cut down forests. These are working forests so some parts are cut down and replanted. The path spirals through these and does start to undulate up and down. There are still some climbs left in this part of the journey. Luckily, due to my mind reset I was not frustrated by this but just taking it a step at a time. Ben Nevis had now appeared on my right and was looking clear. Looks like the climb was on, sorry feet.

The final few miles to the campsite are on a wide road used by forestry equipment. Again, it consists of loose rocks so not very comfortable on your feet. It did seem to have been recently laid so was participially rubbly. It switches back multiple times as it descends down to Fort William. Finally, at the bottom, where the path turns left to follow a main road to the completion point of the trail, the final 2 miles, I turned right to head to the campsite.

The last bit

I took my time in camp. Had a shower, the first one in a few days, so that was pleasant. Started to charge some of my battery banks. Made sure everything was in order. Then, all fresh and clean, walked the final 2 miles to Fort William and to the old and new finish points. For reasons unknown to me the final point was moved a few years ago.

I called Jenny on the route and we chatted all the way to the end so I didn’t actually do it on my own. The last part isn’t so great as it’s along a road and then through the town centre but I still enjoyed it. Locals looked on while me, a man on his own talking to himself, took selfies at both points. West Highland Way done.

It’s a bit dark

I made my way back from the finish point along the sea front, or is it a loch. This was much prettier than the town centre but everyone likes different things. Headed to Morrisons to get sandwiches for my climb tomorrow, had a McDonalds, and then headed back to the campsite.

My timing was a bit off as it was now very dark and the campsite was 2 miles away. Trying to suppress my panic, I got lost several times, ending up in some scary back streets, before finally making my way down the country lane towards home for the night. I hope my navigation isn’t this off when I climb Ben Nevis.