Karinsmiles

My last WHW

The last time I attempted the West Highland Way I didn’t finish. In fact I gave up at Rowardennan after only two days walking; but that was 30 years ago, in fact I’m not sure the route had been opened officially, and I was young and naive and it sounded like a fun holiday.

Bill and I had beautiful new matching Karrimor Jaguar V rucksacks (still being used every week to carry shopping) and a lovely little Robert Saunders lightweight tent (also still in use), but we filled the sacs with piles of heavy unnecessaries and hefted them on to our backs in Milngavie with no idea at all of how much they weighed. Nonetheless, we started out with a spring in our steps and looking forward to the whole adventure. The myriad clangy, spring-loaded gates along the old railway line didn’t exist then and I remembered the stiles as huge ladder stiles that we initially clambered over without a thought and latterly stopped to take our packs off and drag ourselves over them unladen. However the photos I’ve found tell a different story (though I’m still glad they’ve replaced them).

Amongst other things (books, jeans, trainers, kitchen sink) we were both carrying SLR cameras with several lenses so I’m surprised at how few photos I can find, but I think we were rapidly too tired to care to take the cameras out. So here’s a few scenes we did think worthy of recording.

We camped at Drymen, in the field below the main road with the funny wee hill in it, got out our two (TWO!) stoves and cooked something before heading off to the pub. I remember pitching the tent as the light was going but we took this photo of a football match and the pubs shut at 10, so it probably wasn’t as late as I recall.

Billy Connolly was apparently in the public bar (his local at that time) but I was so knackered I refused to leave the comfort of my seat in the lounge. I remember feeling completely done in and I would like to think it was tired but happy, but again the pictures tell a different story.

Here’s our super wee tent – and both rucksacks appear to be full though the tent has still to be stowed. If we had kept our old canvas Vango we probably wouldn’t have even got past Carbeth.

There are a couple of photos from day two

We camped at Rowardennan, got eaten alive by midges in the evening and again in the morning, and called it a day. We used the excuse that we were going to run out of food around Crianlarich on a Sunday, with little prospect of re-stocking, but we both knew that in truth we had stuffed far too much in our packs, it was still a long way to Fort William and it was meant to be FUN!

We took a ferry across the loch, got a bus to Arrochar and then a train up to Rannoch Station and spent the rest of our holiday staying with my aunt and uncle in Bridge of Gaur and had a fabulous time there.

So my second attempt at the whole WHW is just a day and a half away but I’m fitter, stronger, more prepared and definitely more thrawn than ever I was then. I’ll just go and add a couple of books, spare trainers and my laptop to my sac and I’ll be ready

4 Comments so far
Leave a comment