West Highland Way

Geniusforhire

Planning to 'celebrate' my 50th birthday next year by doing the West Highland Way (about 96 miles ) from near Glasgow to Fort William in late July with the intent of finishing on my birthday. Good general fitness and have done the Western Way Marathon the last couple of years inside 8 hours but have little experience of multi day back to back trail/trek walking other than 2 day hill walking festivals. If any of you have experience of this particular walk or this type of distance advice and suggestions gratefully received

Alun

I've done a good few of these long distance footpaths in the UK ... Two Moors Way, (part of) South West Coast Path, Offa's Dyke, Anglesey Coast Path, Cleveland Way and have just recently completed the infamous Coast to Coast.

Generally speaking they're all very well signposted, and although you should always carry a map and/or the official guide book (which contains 1:25k OS map excerpts) and have the requisite navigational skills, in practice you rarely need them in my experience.

Regarding how long to do it in, the company I've used in the past for accommodation booking and luggage transfers etc. (I like my creature comforts!) does options ranging from 5 to 9 days walking. Take a look here http://www.contours.co.uk/walking-holidays/west-highland-way.php and you'll see the staging options they offer. That doesn't mean to say you have to go with them though, it's just to give an idea of the options available. The official guide book is based around a 7 day version (the same as in the link above).

As far as these kinds of walking holidays go, I always find that after the first 2 or 3 days, you just get into a routine and the time just flies by. The second or third day is usually the 'why the hell am I doing this' day, but that soon passes. You'll find yourself arriving in places at the end of the day and finding all the shops shut, and then realising that it's Sunday and that you had no idea what day it was.

You won't be alone either .. there's always other people walking the same schedule as you, especially if you start on a popular day like Saturday. There's always great craic along the way, and you may well find yourself latching onto other walkers for part or all of the way. Of course, if you prefer to be by yourself, you may be better off starting mid week.

I can't think of anything else, but if you have more questions just let me know.

duckysauce

hi alun



How did the coast to coast go for you, did it take the full two weeks?