Monday, May 20, 2024
West Highland Way-Stage #9 Kinlochleven to Fort William-The Final Stage
Today’s Miles: 16.2
Total Miles: 102
Remaining Miles: 0

We did it! Check the West Highland Way off the bucket list. 102 miles, wow! Today was a loooooonnnng day, 16.2 miles. I think it is the farthest I have ever hiked.

We spent Sunday night at a wonderful little inn in the town of Kinlochleven.They fed us a healthy (well, BIG) Scottish breakfast, and we headed out. The first two miles was uphill as we climbed out of the town and up to a grand valley named Lairig Mor. The valley was relatively desolate, except for the power lines running down it and all the hikers.

Once we got to the top of the climb the views were pretty great. The first picture is looking back at our climb out of the town. The second is looking at the surrounding mountains.

This picture is looking down the long valley we are going to walk through. The valley goes on and on, with the trail snaking through it, around a couple more corners beyond what you can see here. We pass some abandoned farm houses along the way. This would have been a tough place to make a life.

When we got to the end of the valley and looked back this was our view.

And this is our first view of Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in all of Great Britain. It is that big, bare, hump in the middle of the picture.

And, here we are, celebrating at the end. We stopped at our BnB first, had a shower, cleaned up and then headed for the celebratory picture. This is the “sore foot statue” and it is a most appropriate way to end the West Highland Way.

On Tuesday we travel out to the Isle of Skye for a few days as we rest and enjoy more of the beautiful highlands of Scotland.

We did it!

God bless,
Coe