West Highland Way
Copyright © Barry Smith 2012. All Rights Reserved.
Day 6 - Kinlochleven – Fort William 14½ miles
For our final day we again had great weather, sunny and not too warm. We started with a long sustained
250m/820ft climb out of Kinlocleven which provided ever improving views of the departed town and Loch
Leven down below.
At the top we picked up the ever present cobbled, military road which
was to traverse the mountains and rise gently through a wide U-shaped
valley to a broad pass, the Lairigmor at 330/1082ft. Throughout the day
Martyn was again suffering, and had to make a real effort get through
some sections.
The Way descends then climbs again through a series of dense conifer
plantations, and provided fleeting glimpses of Ben Nevis as we went.
(Also, three of us were mildly surprised to find that on the last day we
had again turned into a foursome; the sarcasm and berating having seemingly, eventually worked).
When we at last emerged from the forest track we were presented with magnificent views of Ben Nevis
with Fort William down below in the near distance. Once again the descent was misleading, it looked short
but proved to be a long way down to the road and then (with aching feet
and a near crippled but determined Martyn), an unbelievable distance to
the end of our quest.
However, by now the adrenaline was pumping and we made it. That feeling of achievement was ever
present as we congratulated each other and took our obligatory photos.
We stayed at St Andrews Guest House, and that evening, after having
briefly explored the town, finished as we had started by eating Chinese.
The next day Phil made an early exit to catch his train down to Wales, where he staying a few days, and
the rest of us we caught the bus back to Glasgow, navigated our way
back to Milngavie and jumped in the car for the uneventful journey back
to Shropshire.
Post Script
This walk was to be notorious, as it was the first – and possibly the last - excursion where we hadn’t
become ‘misplaced’. This however, had nothing to do with our improving navigational skills, but all to do
with this route being so magnificently signposted and waymarked.