Day 10: Arriving at Fort William! And another pub.

The last day of the hike was also the longest: over 15 miles from Kinlochleven to Fort William, with no other habitation in between to break up the walk. By this time there was no question of my doing even part of the hike with her. But it so happened that the place to pick up the trail was pretty much just across the street from our hotel, and down a few yards. (As I may not have made quite clear in Day 9, the trail coming into town was more or less on the other side of town.)

Because the path was so long, Debbie made a point of leaving early. Well before I was ready to leave the hotel I walked her to the trailhead, gave her a quick kiss for good luck, and watched her set out. This particular part of the trail looked like a comfortable amble through a city park, and I felt sorry that I wasn't going with her. But I also knew that 15 miles would be more than I could handle.

Day 9: On to Kinlochleven

This morning after breakfast, the taxi came for Debbie to take her back to the Glencoe Ski Center (which you remember she had reached on Day 7). Looking at the map, we had figured out that there was no reasonable way I could walk the first part and then skip the rest, because there is no human habitation along the Way between Glencoe and Kinlochleven. Also, this leg of the walk involved climbing a stretch called the Devil's Staircase, which reaches to the highest altitude anywhere along the Way. After my experience with Conic Hill, I was not eager to challenge this particular incline.

But Debbie was determined. So off she went in the taxi to begin her walk. Meanwhile I had confirmed which bus would take me to Kinlochleven: it was, in fact, the same bus we had taken the day before to go into Glencoe Village, but I had over an hour to wait for it. So I made my way to the bus stop, and waited.

The bus was more or less on time, and an hour later I was in Kinlochleven. I didn't have a map with me (Debbie had the maps), so I ambled around for a minute and finally asked someone where the West Highland Way comes into town. I got directions, and set off to find it.

Day 8: Rest day in Glencoe

This was our "rest day." But we didn't just hang out doing nothing. We took the bus from our hotel into Glencoe Village and walked around. There was a museum but it was closed that day. But we were able to buy some art and souvenirs. Debbie visited a yarn store that was attached to a café. I waited outside while she was buying yarn, but then joined her in the café for lunch. After lunch we took the bus back to our hotel, napped for a while, and then had dinner and repacked for the next day.

          

Day 7: Arriving in Glencoe and Ballachulish

This morning we had one last breakfast at The Real Food Café, and then waited for the taxi. Debbie had called them the night before to clarify the instructions: the driver was to take her to the Inveroran Hotel, and then was to take me straight on to the Glencoe Ski Center. The former was covered under our package deal with the travel agency; the latter required me to pay him in cash for the extra miles. But the Glencoe Ski Center was our planned terminus for that day. From there, our itinerary said that another taxi would drive us to the Ballachulish Hotel for the night. Two nights, in fact: when the agency first planned our trip and we asked for something more leisurely, they gave us a rest day in Ballachulish.

Day 6: More hiking and a GREAT conversation in a pub

The plan for today was to hike from Tyndrum to the Bridge of Orchy, and then take a taxi back to spend a second night in Tyndrum (since all the accommodations in Bridge of Orchy were already full).

The hike wasn't difficult, not the way Day 2 or Day 4 had been. Mostly the route followed an old military road from a couple of centuries before, so it was rocky and closed to cars but pretty much straightforward. But my feet still hurt from the day before, and after an hour I told Debbie I was giving up and going back to the hotel. (Of course the walk back took another hour.) The first thing I did when I got back was to take a nap. After that, I know I spent part of my day writing up notes on the trip so far. I forget if I ever bothered to get lunch.

Debbie called me early in the afternoon to say that she had already reached the Bridge of Orchy, and didn't really feel like sitting around for a few hours until the taxi was scheduled to pick her up. So she hiked on another two miles from the Bridge of Orchy as far as the Inveroran Hotel. Then she called the taxi company to let them know where she was, and to ask for a ride back to Tyndrum whenever it would be convenient.

Day 5: From Inverarnan, by way of Crianlarich to Tyndrum

This was the last day that I slowed down Debbie's morning progress. Not that I got any better—oh no! But after today (or maybe tomorrow, depending how you count it) it was no longer practical for me to join her in the mornings, because there were no longer convenient spots early on in the day where I could call it quits. As you get deeper into the Scottish Highlands, the scenery gets ever more spectacular but human habitation becomes correspondingly sparser.

Day 4: From Rowardennan to Inverarnan and a haunted inn

After breakfast, a taxi took us and several other hikers to Rowardennan. On the way a conversation picked up, with the result that Debbie exchanged email addresses with one of the other women, and they each promised to visit the other at home sometime in the future. (To be clear, the other woman was English. Debbie, of course, is American.) Once we got to Rowardennan, we set off.

The route to Inverarnan hit a halfway point at the village of Inversnaid. And our hiking instructions stated clearly that there are two routes between Rowardennan and Inversnaid: an easy one that follows the road, and a hard one (but much more scenic!) that closely follows the shore of Loch Lomond. After my experience on Day 2, Debbie and I agreed we would take the easy way. But we never saw the road branch, and finally we deduced that we were taking the hard way. It really was profoundly beautiful; but it also meant that we were clambering over tree roots and crossing large rocks that had pre-empted the path. My progress was not fast.