Hiking in Scotland - the Great Glen Way (Part 1)

At the beginning, before the blisters, it seemed like such a great idea - organize a trip that would explore more of Scotland beyond the standard tourist destination of Edinburgh.  Even better, a multi-day hike would really allow us to capture the feel of the countryside, instead of a whistlestop tourist bus itinerary.

So, it was hard deciding, with all of the sparsely populated Scottish highlands to choose from, but I ended up picking the Great Glen Way - a 73 mile trail that links Fort William and Inverness, and winds up alongside a number of gorgeous lochs (lakes).

Perfect.  The plan was made, flights booked, and I even somehow enticed my friends Yanick and Gail to come along.

The one wee part that I didn't fully appreciate it... four days of 15-20 miles each means steps - a lot of steps. I've been doing day hikes for a long time in the English countryside, but a trek like this a bit different... since I had a lot of time on my hands on the trail, I realized that with each step about a yard, and 73 miles all told, that means:

73 miles x 1,760 yards = 128,480 steps.

That's a whole lot of 'ouch', as we were going to experience.

We set off on Wednesday, flying into Inverness.  The Scots proved their hospitality from the outset, as a guy who teased me on the flight for being in his seat offered us a ride into town.  Genius!  The sidenote is that this guy didn't win any points for being politically correct - punctuating his conversation with racist jokes left and right.

Our crazy nightlife included a pint of Scottish ale, then hitting the hay - I had volunteered for a 5:30am bus to Fort William, which meant I'd have the dubious pleasure of waking up at 4:45.  Yawwwn.  Gail and Yanick were a bit more restrained and decided to sleep in.

Fort William serves as the base for most outdoors exploration of the highlands; with Britain's highest point in Ben Nevis nearby, it's easy to see why.  In my case, after an early morning coffee and brekkie at McD's (literally the only thing open before 9am in town), I hiked out of town to start the trail up Nevis.

I wasn't dead set on reaching the top though - a good thing, as the mountain is nearly always covered in cloud, blasted by gales, and in most ways, is fairly unpleasant.

So, discretion proving victorious without too much of a struggle, I made it up halfway, then detoured for a longer loop 'round the mountain.  Stunning vistas were at every turn, and it was shaping up to be an amazing day.

After lunch, I figured, "Right, just drop down the valley there, and work my way to the local whisky distillery."  A great plan but Ben Nevis threw one more wrinkle my way.

Remember that classic video game Frogger, where the hapless frog has to cross an obstacle filled river?  Well, I got to do the Scottish mountain equivalent, as with the constant spring snowmelt and rain, there were four surging streams that I had to cross.

Normally, you'd just hop rock to rock and move on - but this was considerably dicier.  The super fast waters, slick submerged rocks, and long drops meant that crossing dry and in one piece became a bit of a puzzle.  It eventually took me about an hour, with scrambling 200 meters one way, then 150 meters back and son before I finally made it.

A long walk back to town and a taste of the local Ben Nevis whisky was my reward, plus my first sighting of Scotland's famous "hairy coos" (cows)... with all that hair, I keep thinking they're the cattle equivalent of the local stoner/Metallica fan that can be found at the local pool hall:

I met up with Yanick and Gail for a great pub dinner at the funnily named "Grog and Gruel" pub, including the now nearly required taste of whisky, and we crashed back at an amazing bed and breakfast - Mrs. Chisholm's.  Talk about value - for £20 each, we were smothered in kindness and treated to an immaculate room.

Lovely.

The next day marked the start of the 'true' hike... after fueling up at the local supermarket with bread, cheese, and Crunchie candy bars, we set off:

The Great Glen Way doesn't mess around with an easy first day.  Nope, we had 22 miles to cover at the outset, winding our way up a long beautiful canal before working our way past Loch Lochy.

With the stark round highland hills looming on all sides, each step was a succession of "wow" - it was that pretty.

And, for a change of pace, we also got to see a series of locks in operation at Neptune's Staircase - where a half dozen of them back to back lift boats up or down to the canal:

But no matter what, 22 miles is still 22 miles - and by the afternoon we were more than a little excited to be close to a cold beer.  We started down the final slope at Laggan, welcomed by a heavy rain shower but also a pretty rainbow - and then we found one of the better pubs I've seen called the Eagle.

A floating barge, it has the great combination of real ales, a roaring fire, comfy couches, filling food, and dozens of whiskys to choose from.  Throw in the local dog - a big, mellow Alsatian who kept a friendly eye on everything, and it was hard to leave.

So hard, in fact, that we wiled away a few hours, then hit the trail, sluggish and warm, for the last mile to the Forest Lodge.  A shower was much-needed by this point, as I wouldn't be surprised if we were offending even the local wildlife as we walked past.  Sorry 'bout that.