Day 13: Kinlochleven to Inveroran

Distance: 18.4 miles
Time: 7 hrs 25 mins
Weather: Sunny
Cumulative distance: 229.4 miles

A long day in the mountains.......

For the second time in a hostel, I had an uncomfortable night's rest. The mattress was too hard, the bed too narrow and, being in the top bunk (which was not very accessible for someone of my tender years), I had an irrational fear of falling out and ending my journey in drama. I arose early, ate a hasty breakfast from my rucksack (fruit smoothie, instant porridge in a pot and a croissant). I set off at 7.45, before anyone else had arisen.

A beady eyed reader has commented that, based on the content of my blog, I seem to spend more time in restaurants and bars than I do walking. If only this were true! However, to redress the balance, today's blog will focus on the walking.

The path out of Kinlochleven involved a long gradual climb out of the town. Before long I was in tough, uncompromising mountain terrain. The track consisted of small rocks, so it was difficult to walk quickly, even where the path was not uphill. Progress was unsurprisingly slow and it took me two and a quarter hours to cover the first five miles. On the descent I met three Cornishmen, who were walking the WHW to raise funds for Motor Neurones disease - I naively said to one that it was a long way to drive from Cornwall to the Scottish Highlands, but he responded, pointing at the sign on my rucksack, that it was much easier by road than on foot! I also met four Scousers, who wished me well with good humour.

The route then skirted the lower slopes of the magnificent Buachaille Etive Mor, which I'd climbed as a student in Glasgow exactly twenty years ago. After a few miles, the path crossed the A82 road close to the Glencoe Outdoor Activities Centre and plotted a route across Rannoch Moor, which my guide notes had described as one of the most inhospitable places in Britain, especially in adverse weather conditions. Today, however, the sun gods were with me again and I was rewarded with impressive views of forbidding mountains circling the vast wasteland. I passed over fifty hikers who were walking in the opposite direction, but, as is now a familiar story, only a couple were following my route.

I finally arrived at my accommodation, a hotel in the middle of nowhere. I've been dreaming for some days of soaking in a hot bath at the end of a day's strenuous walk, but I was again to be disappointed, although the shower was still invigorating.

I pre-ordered my 3 course dinner and investigated the choice of ales on offer. But this blog is about walking, so you don't need to know!