SNT (day 8) - Tyndrum to Kinlochleven (West Highland Way)

Best views on the entire trail so far, if the day wasn't so cloudy it would be even better.

The section up to Bridge of Orchy was running along an old cobblestone road and the hotel there was a great stop for a morning cup of coffee. From here trail was going up and meandering between various hills, you could truly feel that you are in the Highlands now.

I've had my lunch at Kingshouse Hotel and carried on through the valley with a magnificent Stob Dearg peak to the left, it would be perfect if not a busy road running right through the middle of the valley.

I've reached the Devil's Staircase leading to the highest point on the trail at about 2pm, after switchbacking for half an hour and reaching the top the view opened up to reveal a vast landscape of mountains with a path winding right through it, it might have been my favourite view so far.

From here it took about three hours to reach Kinlochleven, I was planning to stop and camp beforehand but there wasn't any opportunity to do so, I was chatting with two guys from Israel on my way down, it was their 50th birthday anniversary trip, they hiked a lot of places I wanted to go to like Romania and Georgia so there was interesting topics to cover.

At Kinlochleven I've bough a bag of Doritos and a coke at a local Coop, sat on a bench and ate it and went to a free city campsite which was rather underwhelming (but free), I've pitched my tent in the least muddy and most levelled spot and called it a day.

Tomorrow would be my last day on West Highland Way, and some interesting planning decisions of how to proceed from there.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Appalachian Trail (day 99) - Birches Campsite to Katahdin / mile 2198 [The End]

Image
"When you get to the top of the mountain, keep climbing." Jack Kerouac  It is over, and what a bittersweet feeling it always is, my body is ecstatic that it can get some well deserved rest but my mind would like to keep on going. We started the ascent onto "Momma K" as people tend to call Katahdin around here at 5 AM I left the campsite with Trademark and we went all the way to the end together which allowed for extra remarks and pictures along the way. We left some of our gear by the ranger station so the packs would be lighter on the way up, it was almost like slack packing. Hunt Trail was our chosen path up, it was steep and technical but in a fun and challenging way, good weather was definitely a deciding factor why this was the case. Around half way through the trail plateaued and has been quite easy from here all the way to the top. Views were spectacular with rock gardens, alpine plants a...
Read more

Appalachian Trail (day 92) - Middle Mountain to Shaw's Hiker Hostel / mile 2081

Image
Another early start in order to push to the last town stop on the AT - Monson, Maine. My initial plan was to stop before Monson and have a nero day there tomorrow, but a prospect of a shower, comfortable bed and of course town food was too good to pass on, especially as it was the last chance to have it. [Snail and myself with his massive food ressuply for Hundred Mile Wilderness] The theme of the day were river crossings, three to be precise. After climbing over Maxi Bald Mountain with great views of the surrounding area, the flat, muddy trail was going through the Bald Mountain Pond, Bald Mountain Stream and Piscataquis River. Since there was not much rain for the past couple of days all of the crossings were safe with the riverbed clearly visible and water at the knee level with slow to medium current. It still meant that my feet were wet for the entire day but it was a price I was willing to pay for very little elevation gain along the way. ...
Read more

Philadelphia

Image
My third stop was in Philadelphia. I've stayed here at the Apple Hostel located close to Delaware river in quite central location. First place I visited was the Philadelphia Museum of Art featuring the famous Rocky Steps and two of his statues! Tourists were running up the stairs and raising their hands on the top as Sylvester Stallone has done in the movie, there was a sizable queue to take a picture with both Rocky statues as well. From here I went to see the top site on my list of things to visit in Philadelphia: Eastern State Penitentiary, Americas first prison which promoted solitary confinement and emphasized reform rather than punishment. It got closed in 1970s and was kept in the state of explorable ruin ever since it became a museum, it really scratched that urban exploration itch I had for a while. I'd say it was 23$ well spent! The following day I went to see t...
Read more