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lovely day with Kate – thanks Katey for flying up for the day. Lazy morning reading the papers in a Wetherspoon pub ( whatever you think of Tim Martin – (Jonathan, I know you are a fan,) he does a great cheap brecky), a very cultural whizz round the city taking in the statue of Walter Scott and then some admin.

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A bit of route amendment due to accommodation needs and we are all good now to Carlisle. It was soon time for Kate to depart and I am now trying to catch up on Peaky Blinders. Tommy Underwood is joining for a day tomorrow as I start my walk down to England over the next week.

You’ll be pleased to know Kate stayed off the booze today and so managed to stay awake all day.

Drymen to Milngavie. 11.09 miles, 846 ft of elevation, 27,792 steps. I think about 180 miles in total so far

An early start today leaving Jonathan to pack up the tents and sort out the gear whilst I again walked with a very light pack. There was a serious amount of snoring going on at the campsite last night (more of a paddock than a campsite). Having been kept awake one inevitably has to get up for a comfort break…. It’s a mission going out for a pee in the night with a dog in tow. Firstly they think that’s its walkies, and then having got themselves soaking wet they get back in the tent and settle right on top of the sleeping bag.

The walk today was taking us in towards Glasgow and it was clear that it was more suburban, agricultural and with a real smell of silage. Still, there was not a cloud in the sky…. marvellous!

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The weather was spectacular and I took great pleasure in wishing all the walkers going the other way a ‘enjoyable hike’ whilst secretly hoping it will pee down with rain at some point – come on, they have to have the full experience?!

The finish was lovely and my valet was there to record the finish (which is actually the start as we walked the wrong way) and join me for a few beers and late breakfast.

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Kate arrived for a weekend in Glasgow and it will be lovely to catch up although a couple of glasses of wine at dinner and she is now fast asleep in the hotel (must be the excitement of seeing her beloved). Schooner went home with Jonathan for a well deserved break and will be joining again in a couple of weeks. A really sad moment as he has been fantastic company and I now have some days on my own coming up which will not be the same without him.

“Rest up well schooner, we shall be reunited again soon”.

Rowardennan to Drymen. 17.44 miles, 2,949 ft elevation, 28,184 steps

Firstly, can I apologise for any typos on this blog. I am doing it all by mobile and with the limitations of the phone combined with my own IT limitations it’s a surprise any of it makes sense.

First interesting spot today was an old phone box still with the actual phone inside. Much to my disappointment it didn’t work but still makes a change from a stack of second hand books.

Not much else to say on the first half of today’s leg. We followed the shore of Loch Lomond, Schooner had a swim and it rained a bit. I was chasing down the miles for my late breakfast having set off with only a marathon bar for sustenance.

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This afternoons walk however was spectacular having climbed Conic hill which I believe is one of the top 10 views in the UK. A panoramic view which I know my photos won’t do justice to but have tried anyway.

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On our way down Schooner took interest in a calf and slowly made his way over to say hello. We all got a shock when Mum all hair and long horns popped up out of the grass to say hello. How on earth can something that size hide in the grass…..

Anyway, after all the excitement of the afternoon I got to our campsite only to be told by the farmer that Jonathan had disappeared with two girls to the local pub…. poor souls must have been bored so had to rescue them from his Boris talk and we had a jolly evening talking about the WHW, boots and raincoats.

I knew it was time for bed when I called Kate thinking it was 11:45 only to Ben told it was in fact 8:45. Exciting times……

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Crianlarich to Rowardennan. 22.33 miles, 2,753 ft of elevation, 35,448 steps.

Today we really moved away from the Highlands and in to more lowland walking. A beautiful start to the day after a fantastic night at Beinglas campsite – great place which has developed over the last 20 years from a sheep farm to a great walkers retreat.

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After a quick cup of tea at 11, we had our first sight of Loch Lomond and my first go at listening to the cricket. I tried this periodically during the day but decided the distraction of hearing our woeful performance today was too much and soon gave up and preferred the sound of nature (basically roaring waterfalls every five minutes getting rid of all that rain water from earlier in the week.

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the rest of the day was a tough clambering afternoon over rocks and tree routes all pretty tough terrain. We passed Rob Roy’s cave and Rob Roy’s prison. No discernible difference as they both seemed to be just a pile of rocks.

I did pass a lovely memorial for a chap called Bill Lobban who died in 1975 making the ultimate sacrifice. Thanks to the wonders of the internet I discovered that he was a school teacher, 42 years of age who died saving two other teachers and a student who fell in to a raging levy. (Full story on this link – https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19751125&id=D_0-AAAAIBAJ&sjid=XE0MAAAAIBAJ&pg=5422,5294607&hl=en

Anyway, I thought lucky him that it was on the West Highlands Way and all could see his memorial. But then obviously not lucky him in the first place . Whatever – it seemed a nice touch and certainly a good distraction from the cricket.

Jonathan and I decided to go all sophisticated tonight and have treated ourselves to a first rate Chile Sauvignon Blanc. I think that is what Jonathan intended to order, he could have just asked for some cold white wine……..

I discovered that today is my 25 year anniversary at Aon. How time flies. I’m sure I haven’t changed on bit.

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Inveoran to Crainlarich. 17.17 miles, 2,267 ft of elevation, 20,970 steps

Today started as per previous days with rain. So on goes the wet weather gear (which has been kindly dried by the local hotel – despite us sleeping in the woods opposite. Must be a testiment to all the beer we drank), then a steep climb for the first two miles to ensure you are soaking wet inside and outside.

What followed was five miles or so of driving rain straight at us as we walked alongside the Fort William train lines

The end result of all this was Jonathan’s knees being shot to bits. All the training and preparation Clearly did not pay off and the jeans are destined for the street once again. In all seriousness, I am now down a partner and whilst we never spoke because of the weather it was sad to see him get on the bus.

So it’s just me and Schooner for a while. Jonathan has kindly offered to stay and enjoy the evenings together and so I duly felt that I should at least give him one day of Brexit discussion. However, no more as I am officially done.

As luck would have it, no sooner did Jonathan leave but the sun came out. A glorious afternoon followed with the best walking of the trip by far. Even Schooner seemed impressed

Final thought for the day. I am so impressed with the Dutch, in particular the young, and even more the women. They are by far the largest representation and the number of girls doing it the tough way with heavyweight packs and wild camping is seriously impressive. I don’t know what they have In their blood but they are super strong. Well done.

Kinlochleven to Inveroran hotel. 19.43 miles, 3,051ft of elevation, 25,978 steps

More of the same really. I am walking like John Wayne thanks to the need to spend all day in waterproofs. The top is to keep the wind out, the bottoms to keep the rain from running down my legs to my shoes. None of it is actually keeping any of me dry.

So I have been in/on a cloud all day (not cloud 9 I can assure you) although it was another day of no Brexit (although he made up for it in the pub). This is basically a very long, and wet pub crawl but with only one location per day….

Anything else to add today? No not really. I feel like we are now properly in to the West Highland Way and have made a decent dent in to it. Plus the forecast is looking better for the latter half of the week. I might yet get a smile out of Jonathan!

16.11 miles, 2,431 ft of elevation, 28, 609 steps

A different walking companion today, having said goodbye to Grace yesterday and hello to Jonathan. Jonathan is even less well organised than me and this is what he intended to wear for the walk

So, thanks to a jacket and buffalo kindly lent by HB (thank Howie), and a bit of shopping we finally made a start on the walk about 11. Luckily it was meant to be an easy first day with only 16 miles to cover.

I will start with the positives:

1. There is a drying room at the campsite
2. there is a pub in Kinlochleveb
3. As we had our hoods up Jonathan could not bore me all day with his Brexit chat
4. the dog loved it
5. i am curled up with the dog in the tent and it is LOVELY

Now for the negatives:

Rain, rain and more rain. Just so miserable and soo wet. Forecast for tomorrow, more of the same.

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8.68 miles, 200 ft of elevation, 37,401 steps

Well rested, dried out and would you believe it the sun is shining. We had a luxury night in a hotel next to Neptune’s staircase(a series of locks taking boats up on to the Caledonian canal from sea level). Quite picturesque when having a cup of tea in the sunshine. Completely forgetable when freezing cold and miserable.

We walked back up the Caledonian canal almost to what should have been our starting point to the day and on the way had a good look at Fort Tor. We weren’t expecting Bodiam but even our low expectations were above the farm yard we eventually worked out was on the original site.

Eventually we got back in to Fort William for Grace to have one last pie (5 for the trip), a quick sort out of kit and then escorted her on to the Sleeper train to Euston. An emotional goodbye from me and Schooner, left me to sort out his ticks, meet up with Jonathan (who arrived 5 minutes after Graces departure) and then on to the next adventure. 6 days in the West Highland way, camping everyday and with a man whose choice of clothing is jeans and a t-shirt. “John, you have more than one pair of pants and socks? No wonder your pack is heavy…..”. What could go wrong?

I have loved every minute of the last week and spending this amount of time with Gracey and seeing her push herself well beyond her comfort zone has been a real privilege. Thank you for joining me , it makes me so proud to be doing this ….xxx

Just an aside, and if there is at all a silver lining to the weather up here (£2.88 a pint – even with my poor maths that’s three for the price of two). At least that will keep you going on those cold wet days.

9.42 miles, 345 ft of elevation, 21,637 steps

Today was meant to be a big day followed by an easy stroll in to Fort William tomorrow. However from the off we were rained on so hard that we were drenched before the wet tent was packed away.

6 miles in and we reached the end if loch Oich and down the locks to Laggan Locks. We stopped at an outdoor cafe and Grace went downhill quickly. Freezing cold and shaking. Time for an alternative plan and with the prospect of another 10 miles and then a wet tent ahead of us, we called time and took the opportunity of being near a road to grab a bus. We have headed in to Fort William and got warm and dry. We will then head back out again tomorrow to do the last days walk back again in to Fort William.

It feels like a failure and am disappointed for Grace but still think she has done amazingly. No such luxuries shall be offered to you next week Jonathan.

I know I shouldn’t say this and I have only been here four days but with the prospect of another wet week ahead it’s more of an endurance than I had imagined and have not been able to see a single mountain yet…….

16.44 miles, 1,257 ft of elevation, 33,923 steps.

Started the day with a cooked breakfast at the B&B. I basically said yes to everything they offered and ended up with a huge plate of guilt free food – even the haggis tasted good.

It has rained basically all day today, with the odd break. It was at its worst this morning and Grace found a bus shelter 5 minutes from the off and didn’t want to move. We then found ourselves along a route which must have had the highest number of waterfalls per mile in the UK. I have posted our favourite but can assure you there were plenty to choose from….. by midday we had reached Fort Augusta and a nice pub lunch. Grace has had it by then but we still had a way to go – at least the going was a bit easier now we were on the Caledonian canal.

Graces feet are now starting to hurt and whilst no blisters, I think they are taking a pounding. This afternoon seemed a long walk to nowhere but thanks to the lock keeper, he suggested a fantastic wild camp spot. He even told us about the abandoned house and the dry wood inside so even managed a small fire to keep the midges at bay.

Now it’s raining again so am in the tent – schooner seems fine for now. Let’s see how he is during the night….