Walking, and walking, and walking…..

my friend John Cogan and I started the West Highland Way walk in Scotland on Wednesday, a “short” day – 12 miles. We started in Milngavie about 30 minutes north of Glasgow and the start of the West Highland Way. It has been raining for weeks here and the day we arrived was the first clear, sunny day. The forecast is favorable with several days of sunshine and no rain! Rain brings out the midgies – tiny biting flies that swarm – and makes the trail muddy and the many rocks slippery. We have our midgie/tick spray and head netting but hopefully we won’t need the netting but are definitely spraying.
We had a really nice first day. The 12 miles went by quickly and the bucolic scenes were breathtaking. Lots of green hills with sheep and goats and a well maintained walking path.
our first night went well. Our first Scottish fish and chips with pea mash and sticky toffee pudding were really good. No Haggis for us.
Today, our second day, was a tougher walk. Fourteen and a half miles with a steep uphill climb of Conic “Hill” – some hill! What goes up must come down and it was very steep and rocky. The night before we read hikers reviews. It was labeled everything from “a breeze” to “a beast”. Some folks gave up after coming down the rocky steep mountain trail and took a cab to the next destination. We did the last 5 miles of steep up and down along side Loch Lomond. No Nessie” to be seen but beautiful views. We got in to our hotel (built in the 1800’s around 5. Our bellies are full of angus beef burgers and sleep will come easy.
we rated the walk 3.5-4 on the “breeze to beast” scale with 1 being “a breeze”.
We have another 14.5 miler tomorrow that is billed as technically challenging, rocky, requiring scrambling over rocks – but absolutely beautiful. Today was rated by the hiking company as moderate (though many thought it much harder). Tomorrow is rated “strenuous” and a slower go than today.
I can’t remember how to add pictures but I’ll try to figure it out.
john is the best traveling companion – easy going, fun and funny, doesn’t complain, has gratitude for each day and the ability to enjoy trips like this. We share that view.
I’m still slow to go through the steps to publish a new entry. I’ll try to write something each day so that it will get easier.
I feel happy.