15 May 2013: 25km. Started 09:30. Arrived 17:00.
The weather was set fair with just a few showers. Straight after breakfast I went to the post office across the road and organised postage and packing home for 1.75kg of unneeded bits and pieces that I was carrying. I had also left in the bin in my room heavy card backs from notebooks, medication insert leaflets, soap, a soap dish and an almost empty shoe cleaning liquid can. My load was therefore reduced easily by about 2kg.
Strangely, there were a lot more people on the route – it was the last day so I could understand if it was a Friday or Saturday that people would have been walking on different schedules but would mainly want to have their last day at the end of the week ready to get back to work the next Monday. However it was a Wednesday. The two Dutch walkers overtook me early on and later the Belgians overtook. I wasn’t the slowest as I overtook some people wearing disposable rain ponchos. There were excellent views back to Kinlochleven and over the loch as well as onward views of mountains.
I walked with a Dutch lady – she spoke French, Italian, Spanish, German and English but explained to me that she feels intimidated in Germany regarding getting the grammar wrong. This seems odd as when I have spoken German in Germany it seems to have been appreciated despite a lack of grammatical niceties. Following completion of the West Highland Way she was taking a day break in Fort William prior to kayaking and walking the Great Glen.
A German man caught me and we walked together for a while. He had been an obese, smoking executive but had made a decision to turn his life around – losing weight, stopping smoking and now enjoying running, mountain biking and walking. However he was missing his girlfriend with whom he had just broken up.
By the time Ben Nevis came into view I was walking alone again. The summit was in cloud at first but this cleared.
Despite my recent easy days and my diminished load I was tired as I walked down the road to Nevis Bridge. I looked for the end point at the Scottish woollens shop near the bridge but it wasn’t there. I passed lots of B+B signs saying “vacancies” which was odd given my difficulty in finding somewhere to stay. Perhaps they had hoped for doubles not single occupancy or perhaps they expected longer than a one night stay.
I arrived at my B+B where my boots were duly whisked away for drying. At the far end of the town I found the bench marking the end of the West Highland Way. It had been moved there as part of the agreement with Travel Lodge and Wetherspoons – which had only opened less than two weeks previously. I ate the “Manager’s Special” which was clearly an opening offer – £5.99 for a 14oz steak with chips and peas. I shared a table with two men who had spent the day climbing Ben Nevis – they reported two feet of snow and whiteout conditions at the summit.
Where's Kathryn? 