We are home after a wonderful holiday. We appreciate, and are grateful, for the privilege and joy of travel. In this, my last post on our trip, I want to reflect on some of the highlights.

Most Enjoyable Scenery Day: Bridge of Orchy to Kingshouse. This was about a 12 mile day, but the weather was great and the trail was not too difficult. We spent much of the day walking over Rannoch Moor where there were no roads, power lines, trains, or buildings anywhere within sight. It was beautiful and striking. We passed beautiful streams and mountains that dwarfed us. Late in the afternoon, we came around a corner and were face to face with the amazing Buachaille Etive Mor (pictured below). It was a great day.

 

Hardest Day: Day 4 – Rowardennan to Inverarnan. 14 miles, including about 5 or 6 of the hardest miles of the trip. The trail was difficult with many rocks and roots to climb over and navigate. It was one of those trails where you have to watch where you put your foot for almost every step. We started at about 7:45AM and didn’t finish till 5:30, so it was our longest day in terms of hiking time. When we finally finished we had a delicious dinner at a little inn called the Stagger Inn, the name could not have been more appropriate. I will never forget those nights in Inverarnan, where we spent the next two nights and enjoyed a much needed rest day. That first night, I could barely haul my suitcase up the stairs to the bedroom. I was dehydrated and exhausted. The rest day was just what we needed. But, hey, we accomplished that day!

Easiest Day: The easiest day was stage #6 of our walk and took us from Tyndrum to Bridge of Orchy. It was only about 7 miles and was beautiful. We had a little bit of a climb out of Tyndrum, but the rest of the day was easy. It was flat and beautiful. We walked along the base of a big mountain called Ben Durain. We got into Bridge of Orchy about 1:00 or so and had a nice lunch and relaxed before getting our room and cleaning up. It was a beautiful, and delightful, day. 

Best meal: We had lots of good food. I ate smoked salmon almost every chance I got. Smoked salmon and scrambled eggs for breakfast. Smoked salmon sandwich for lunch. Smoked salmon appetizer for dinner. It was very good. But my very favorite meal was a Chicken and Leek Pie at the Oak Tree Inn at Balmaha. It was a wonderful pastry crust loaded with chicken and creamy leek gravy and then the same gravy poured over the top of the pie and the side of roasted potatoes. Ohh, it was so good.

Most water consumed in one day: Normally, I wouldn’t comment on something like this, but it turned out to be a really important part of the walk. There were some very long days and some warm weather and some big elevation gains. There were days that we would get to our inn completely soaked in sweat. I had to train myself to drink. One day I consumed three liters of water, more than I have ever consumed while hiking. This was an important learning experience.

Longest Daily Mileage: 16.2 miles from Kinlochleven to Fort William. Wow, that was a long day. It was our last day, however, so that made it a little easier. Sometime, when I was back in college, I did a 20 mile walk for charity, but that was 50 years ago! I think I like 6-10 miles of hiking a day better.

Best Accommodation: Overall, we had very nice accommodations on this trip. We rated them all either a 4 or 5 on a 5 point scale and there were more 5’s than 4’s. But the best of them all was Allt-na-Leven Guest House in Kinlochleven. The owners were delightful. They took our bags up to our rooms for us (what a treat). The room was large enough to have some chairs and was wonderfully appointed with everything you could ever need. The shower was the largest and best we had. It was delightful. I really didn’t want to leave the next morning.

Weather: We were really fortunate again on this walk. We never got rained on while walking. The only days of rain were either on our non-walking, rest days, or after our walk was completed. Thank you all for your prayers and thank God for answering them. It would have been a whole different, and harder, experience in the rain. We were a little sad not to have good weather on the Isle of Skye, but that was something we could give up in return for the good walking weather.

The People We Met: Judging from the languages we heard, there were people on the trail from all over the world. Naturally, it was easiest for us to pick out the American accents and strike up a conversation. It was interesting that most of the Americans that we met were from the coasts. There were three older gentlemen from Washington, DC that we spoke with most evenings. We also met a couple about our age named Phil and Susan. They lived in Olympia. Phil was retired from Puget Sound Energy and knew many of the names that I knew from my utility career. We saw them almost every day from beginning to end. They were very nice. We met people from Florida, California, and Oregon. Finally on the Isle of Skye we met our first mid-westerners from Indiana. We also got to where we recognized people from other countries that we didn’t know, but always greeted.

What did I learn? We tested our limits on this hike, so I think I learned what I can do at 70 and my current physical condition. It would have been nice to weigh 10 pounds less, but that’s life. As always, I am so thankful for my wonderful travel companion and hiker babe, Janet. If you can just put one foot in front of the other, and have an encouraging travel companion, you can do almost anything.  I have said this before, but hiking poles are an absolute essential. They make both going up and going down easier and they significantly improve my safety, especially when tired and walking on rough trails.

We’re not done hiking. We have some hikes planned for this summer and are thinking about New Zealand, the Dolomites, and perhaps even some Switzerland hiking in future travel. But truth be told, even a river cruise might be sounding good at this point.

What we know for sure is that we love to travel, we love to hike, and we feel especially blessed to be able to do both.

Thank you all for following along with us on this adventure. I have read and loved all your comments. Your support and encouragement has meant so much.

I leave you tonight with this last picture from the Isle of Skye. As we were waiting to catch the ferry back to Mallaig, a young boy of perhaps 9th grade showed up on the dock with his bagpipe and began playing. He set out a hat for donations and played away. He was very good. It was a wonderful closing memory for our trip.

God bless you all,
Coe & Janet