Lands End to John O'Groats - Day 049 - Crianlarich to Bridge of Orchy

 

Day:	049
Date:	Sunday, 20 June 2010
Start:	Crianlarich
Finish:	Bridge of Orchy
Daily Kilometres:	22.3
Total Kilometres:	1577.2
Weather:	Sunny and warm with a cool breeze
Accommodation:	Hotel Bunkhouse B&B (£28)
Nutrition:	Continental breakfast; cheese & pickle sandwich and sausage roll for lunch; soup, fish and chips and peas, and sticky toffee pudding for dinner
Aches:	None really.
Pictures:	Here
GPS Track:	Here
Journal:	Knowing I had an easy day, I seemed to take longer to have breakfast and get going, and didn't leave the hostel until 8:45am.  It was already bright and sunny, though cool enough to make for very pleasant hiking.  For the first 20 minutes, I had to retrace my last steps from yesterday, back through the pine forest, to rejoin the West Highland Way. For most of its route after leaving Loch Lomond, the West Highland Way follows the 18th-century military road built by General Wade to pacify and control the Highlanders which makes for easy and very pleasant walking.  The grades are not too steep and the surface firm, if a little stony underfoot.  After a kilometre or two in the forest, the rest of the day was mostly in the open along the floor and sides of valleys bordered by high treeless mountains. I reached Tyndrum, half way for the day, late morning and stopped outside the store there in the sun enjoying a sausage roll and flavoured milk for a while.  There were a lot of walkers out making the most of the weekend's fabulous weather.  For the rest of the day, the pyramid-like Beinn Dorain (1074m) dominated the way ahead, but the scenery all around was classic Scottish Highlands and the easy walking meant that I could maintain a good pace, while still savouring the views.  Around 1pm, I found a shady spot by a bridge and had lunch, before walking the last 5km to the Bridge of Orchy, my destination for the day.  I checked into the hotel's bunkhouse at 3pm and had time for a quick shower and clothes rinse before returning to the hotel and enjoying the last hour of the Italy v NZ game over a large Diet Coke.  It was a good game and a pleasant way to spend an afternoon. After the game, I got on the phone and booked some places to stay after Fort William, finding out whether they would provide packed lunches as well as dinner, bed and breakfast.  There will only be one shop in the last 10 days, and only about five hotels, and I want to minimise the amount of food I will need to carry so, knowing whether I can get lunch helps the planning.  So far I have been able to get a room everywhere there's the possibility of accommodation, though a couple were a bit expensive. Tomorrow morning, my friend, Ian, drives up from near Glasgow and will meet me at the local station where he will leave his car and join me for the last two days on the West Highland Way to Fort William.  From there, he will catch a late-afternoon train (there aren't many on this line) back here to retrieve his car and drive home.  I'm grateful that he's taking the trouble to do this and I'm sure we will have a good few days, especially if the weather holds.

Lands End to John O'Groats - Day 048 - Rowardennan to Crianlarich

 

Day:	048
Date:	Saturday, 19 June 2010
Start:	Rowardennan
Finish:	Crianlarich
Daily Kilometres:	33.2
Total Kilometres:	1554.9
Weather:	Sunny and warm with a cool breeze
Accommodation:	Youth Hostel (£18)
Nutrition:	Scottish breakfast; ham & salad sandwich and ice-cream for lunch; chicken korma curry and sticky toffee pudding for dinner.
Aches:	Right knee sore (3/10) and right heel sore.
Pictures:	Here
GPS Track:	Here
Journal:	I was well looked after by the New Zealand manager of the hostel who couldn't have fitted much more cooked breakfast on my plate if he tried.  I didn't have a great night, with a persistent but spasmodic sharp pain in my left achilles tendon which kept waking me up, but by the morning it had gone....pinched nerve? I left the hostel around 8:30am on a beautiful sunny morning and headed north on the West Highland Way along the eastern bank of Loch Lomond, which I followed for the remainder of the morning.  It was rocky in parts, sometimes necessitating using hands to clamber up or down, and there were lots of exposed slippery roots, making the going very slow, but it was also very pretty, with the Loch to the left, clear water lapping on the rocks and occasional shingle beach, shaded by lovely old deciduous trees and bordered by green moss covered rocks.  Early on the midges were biting, but they were gone by 9:30am. I had my morning break at Inversnaid where I found a picnic bench in the sun and high above the water giving great views down the Loch.  It would have been easy to get my book out and spend the rest of the day sitting right there in the sun.  My right heel was a bit sore where the blister had been, so I spent some time putting a dressing over the area before continuing.  There were quite a few other walkers around, especially since it was the weekend, but mostly I had the path to myself and, although progress was slow, it was very enjoyable. I reached the Beinglas Farm where I intended to make my lunch stop around 2:30pm, considerably later than anticipated.  It was a sort of farm/pub/camping area and was very busy.  I bought an ice-cream and cold drink then walked a few hundred metres further along the path and ate them plus the sandwich I had got from the hostel in the morning.  By now, Loch Lomond had been left behind, and the path became easier walking although the scenery wasn't as spectacular.  The path more of less followed a rural valley upstream with high hills on both sides, but shared with a main road and a rail line, so not very remote.  I made faster time than I expected, listening to the Australia v Ghana game on my radio, and reached the turn-off to Crianlarich, where I had booked a bed in a hostel around 5pm.  The last kilometre was very enjoyable on a pine-needle-covered path descending through a pine forest with the rays of the late afternoon sun warming my back and dappling the path in front of me. I reached the hostel at 5:30pm and, although they had the record of my booking, the computer hadn't allocated me a bed in the booked-out hostel.  The South African manageress spent some time working out what to do with me, and eventually gave me a dorm room in the women's part of the hostel, and asked whether I would mind sharing it with any women if it came to that.  I said it was OK by me, but in the end they found a few more blokes to put in with me instead.  I did a load of washing in their machine before putting it in the dryer and walking a kilometre (that I would have preferred to have avoided) to a hotel to get some dinner.  It will be an easy day tomorrow, and then I will have just two weeks to go.

Lands End to John O'Groats - Day 047 - Kirkintilloch to Rowardennan

 

Day:	047
Date:	Friday, 18 June 2010
Start:	Kirkintilloch
Finish:	Rowardennan
Daily Kilometres:	53.5
Total Kilometres:	1521.7
Weather:	Overcast early, then sunny and warm
Accommodation:	Youth Hostel (£18)
Nutrition:	Donut and ham & cheese sandwich for breakfast; ham & cheese sandwich for lunch; steak & ale pie, vegetables and chips, and hot fudge sundae for dinner
Aches:	Right knee sore (3/10), deep blister on right heel
Pictures:	Here
GPS Track:	Here
Journal:	I got up at 5am and, after packing up and having a donut and coffee, left the hotel and a very quiet Kirkintilloch at 5:45am.  I was a man on a mission.  I had managed to book a bed at the Rowardennan Youth Hostel on Loch Lomond for the night, but knew it was probably more than 50km away, which would make it my longest day.  On the plus side, I knew that the first half would be relatively easy walking along a disused railway and then roads.  On the negative side, I knew it was forecast to be sunny and warm.  I calculated that if I could walk five sessions of two and a quarter hours each, I would average about 10km per session.  I carried a drink and snack for each break and would limit them to 15 minutes, except for lunch which would be 30 minutes. It was overcast and the early miles went fairly easily along the rail trail which passed through farmland backed by increasingly high hills, with the odd village every few kilometres.  There were a couple of people out early with dogs or riding bikes, but I mostly had it to myself.  I wasn't seeking to walk fast, just keep a steady pace.  By the time of my third (lunch) break, my route had joined the West Highland Way and left the rail line and roads for a conifer plantation in the hills.  The West Highland Way is a popular 88-mile walking track from near Glasgow to Fort William, and I had already caught a few walkers, including a man who had left Lands End about a month before me and was following the same guide book.  I had also entered "midge" territory and the tiny biting insect was quite an annoyance while stopped for lunch though not a bother while walking. As I climbed higher and left the forest for the moors, I got expansive views to the south over Loch Lomond and then, when the path passed over the shoulder of Conic Hill, I also had spectacular views north and west over Loch Lomond and a clear view of Ben Lomond.  It was a perfect summers day for sightseeing and as I descended from Conic Hill, I met quite a few walkers climbing the hill from the small village of Balmaha on the lake side, including a large group of teenagers, most of whom had very inappropriate footwear and clothing for hiking.....but they looked cool. I reached Balmaha around 3:30pm and took my last break there, enjoying an ice-cream and cold drink and watching all the holiday-makers.  After Balmaha, the West Highland Way followed the eastern shore of Loch Lomond northwards through pretty woods with occasional views and past stony beaches where quite a few people were swimming, sunbathing and camping.  By this time, I knew I was going to reach my goal sometime around 6:30pm, but I was getting quite tired and knew I had developed a deep blister on my right heel which was bothering me.  The fatigue was offset by the great scenery and the knowledge that I had set myself a stretch target which I would achieve comfortably. I knew the Youth Hostel did not serve evening meals and also that it was about a kilometre past the village of Rowardennan so, when I arrived at the latter, at almost exactly 6:30pm, I stopped in at the pub and had dinner.  The England v Algeria game was scheduled for 7:30pm and I was tempted to stay and watch it, but was very tired and desperately needed a shower and to take my boots off.  I finished dinner and wandered the last kilometre to the Youth Hostel and checked in at 7:30pm.  The first thing I did was about five minutes deep probing with my penknife trying to find the blister deep under the callus on my right heel.  Eventually, I struck pay dirt!  It turned out they had a TV at the hostel and, after I had a shower and rinsed my gear out, I was in time to watch the last half of what had proved to be a poor standard game. I have about 32km tomorrow to the next Youth Hostel which should be an easier day, but I will try to make sure I don't waste time so that I arrive in sufficient time to do a much-needed load of washing tomorrow night.

Lands End to John O'Groats - Day 046 - Falkirk to Kirkintilloch

 

Day:	046
Date:	Thursday, 17 June 2010
Start:	Falkirk
Finish:	Kirkintilloch
Daily Kilometres:	30.0
Total Kilometres:	1468.2
Weather:	Sunny and warm with a light breeze
Accommodation:	Hotel B&B (£40)
Nutrition:	Scottish breakfast; beef pie, chips and peas for lunch; chicken tikka masala and sticky toffee pudding and custard for dinner
Aches:	Few sore spots on feet
Pictures:	Here
GPS Track:	Here
Journal:	After a 7:30am breakfast, I left the hotel around 8:15am and walked down the waking high street of Falkirk on what promised to be a beautiful day.  The sun was shining, but it was pleasantly cool and I was looking forward to a shorter day.  After a kilometre or two, I met the Forth & Clyde Canal and began following its towpath westwards.  The canal surrounds were park-like and there were many people out exercising or walking to work.  On the edge of town, I came to the Falkirk Wheel, which marked the intersection of the Union Canal, which I was following yesterday, and the Forth & Clyde Canal.  The former 25 metres higher than the latter.  When originally built, they were apparently connected by a stair of 11 locks which ceased to operate in 1963, when the canals fell into disuse.  In 2002, the canals were reopened for recreation use and National Lottery funding was used to build the unique wheel.  It was certainly an unusual piece of engineering and I was fortunate to see it in operation as they "warmed up" for the day's pleasure cruises.  I hung around watching for a while, but decided to get moving just as coach loads of tourists began to arrive for the cruises around 9:30am. I then ended up walking for a steady three hours along the Forth & Clyde canal without a stop in the warm sun, pleasantly tempered by a cool westerly breeze.  There were no boats at all along the Canal, but plenty of people using the towpath for recreation - walking, fishing, cycling, drinking - many of the men with their shirts off exposing very pallid Scottish skins.  I left the Canal at Kilsyth, where I had to walk about two kilometres into town before I found a pub where I could have some lunch and watch the inevitable World Cup game.  Kilsyth seemed a bit run down and socially deprived.  After lunch, I found a footpath that took me back to the Canal for my last 10km of the day to Kirkintilloch.  It was getting pretty warm, especially when sheltered from the breeze, and I was happy to finally get to the larger town, also looking a bit run down, around 3:30pm.  I could only find one hotel, which looked a little pricey, but the manager took pity on me and gave me a room for £40 instead of the listed £70, although I could only have a continental breakfast if I wanted it before 8:30am. I had a quick shower and then made more calls and online bookings to finalise my accommodation for the next five days.  Some places were fully-booked and I now have a very long day tomorrow of just under 50km, to reach the Rowardennan Youth Hostel.  To give myself a reasonable chance, I've decided to get a very early start and skip breakfast at the hotel.  I bought supplies for breakfast and lunch at the supermarket on my way back from The Wetherspoon's Pub where I had dinner tonight. This may well be my last night of good internet and phone coverage before John O'Groats in two and a half weeks, so daily reports may come out in batches, at best.  I'm heading into the Scottish Highlands tomorrow and am scheduled to finish on Sunday, 4 July.

Lands End to John O'Groats - Day 045 - East Calder to Falkirk

Day:	045
Date:	Wednesday, 16 June 2010
Start:	East Calder
Finish:	Falkirk
Daily Kilometres:	38.5
Total Kilometres:	1438.2
Weather:	Overcast, mild and humid
Accommodation:	Hotel B&B (£40)
Nutrition:	Scottish breakfast; macaroni cheese and chips for lunch; bangers and mash and caramel apple pie and custard for dinner.
Aches:	Feet sore with a few hot spots
Pictures:	Here
GPS Track:	Here
Journal:	I slept reasonably well, despite seemingly being under the flightpath for Edinburgh Airport, and wasn't disturbed by any of the locals.  I got up at 7am and was walking by 7:45am, with the aim of reaching Broxburn for breakfast.  My route for the whole day pretty much involved walking on canal towpaths and I soon reached the Union Canal at Lin's Mill Aqueduct which carried the Canal high above the River Almond.  The engineering and vision for building this kind of infrastructure back in the 19th Century always impresses me.  The calculations and surveying they must have done to get all the levels right is mind-boggling. There are pros and cons of canal towpath walking.  On the positive side, the walking is flat and it's possible to maintain a good speed and cover log distances.  On the negative side, the footing is often hard and the scenery can be monotonous if the vegetation is high along the canal sides.  Having your foot fall exactly the same way every time on the even hard surface is a recipe for sore feet and mine became quite sore and tired during the day. Broxburn seemed to be a socially-deprived small town, with plenty of boarded up shops and people lounging in the main street.  I reached there about 9:15am and found a cafe where I ordered breakfast.  After considering my options for the day, I decided to walk to Linlithgow for lunch and Falkirk for the night, without really knowing how far each was.  I rejoined the canal towpath, which had no canal boats at all, and set myself to walk to Linlithgow.  A kilometre or so out of town, I passed a gypsy camp, a collection of caravans and motor-homes parked on an industrial vacant lot adjacent to the canal, and shortly after some huge old orange slag heaps.  There were a few other users of the narrow towpath, and I was surprised a few times by cyclists coming up behind me, but generally I had it to myself. It was humid and the temperatures mild and I felt pretty grubby after my night camping.  Looking forward to a shower.  I can get BBC4 on my radio again, after a few days out of range, and that gave me something to listen to on a day which was becoming quite arduous.  I plodded on, counting up the bridges over the canal which are all assigned numbers, but that didn't seem to make the miles go any quicker.  A lot of the time I was in a sort of green tunnel, but I also had periods where I could see out across the rural landscape to the many towns and villages, factories, construction sites and in the distance to the north, the Firth of Forth and the Highlands.  The canal was close to a rail line, the main Edinburgh-Glasgow link, I think, and trains were whizzing by regularly in both directions. It took longer than I hoped, but I eventually reached the busy tourist town of Linlithgow, where I had a quick look around the ruins of the Palace before finding a pub for lunch where I could watch some of the World Cup.  I left there about 1:45pm for the walk to Falkirk, reputedly a large town, where I hoped to arrive soon after 4pm and be easily able to find some accommodation.  The afternoon passed slowly, and my feet became sore and tired, but I trudged on, counting up the bridge numbers.  I have found the BBC radio station which broadcasts all World Cup games live, so I have been listening to that.  Not as good as on TV, but still interesting to me.  Another high aqueduct took the Canal over the Avon River before I eventually reached the outskirts of Falkirk around 4:30pm.  Before heading into the centre of town, I decided to complete the section which took the Union Canal through the 631 metre long Falkirk Tunnel.  It was quite an experience, with dim lighting, and water falling from the rocky roof in many places' making it dank and eerie.  At the other end I left the Canal and walked a kilometre into the centre of Falkirk, where it took me a little while to eventually find a hotel offering accommodation soon after 5pm. I spent time after dinner trying to book some of my nights for the next week, including my four days on the West Highland Way, which I hear is very busy at present.  I still have a few nights to sort out and may end up camping a few times.  I also finally managed to connect with friend, Ian, skipper of the yacht we used in the UK Three Peaks Race back in 2004, who lives near Glasgow.  He's going to come up and join me for the last two days of the West Highland Way, which will be fun. I'm a bit ahead of where I need to be and will, therefore, have a few easier days coming up which my feet will welcome.  Tomorrow is mostly canal walking again and the weather forecast to be more of the same.

 

Lands End to John O'Groats - Day 044 - Peebles to East Calder

Day:	044
Date:	Tuesday, 15 June 2010
Start:	Peebles
Finish:	East Calder
Daily Kilometres:	42.7
Total Kilometres:	1399.7
Weather:	Partly cloudy and mild
Accommodation:	Free camping
Nutrition:	Scottish breakfast; nachos for lunch; ham & cheese sandwich for dinner
Aches:	Right knee stiff and sore (3/10)
Pictures:	Here
GPS Track:	Here
Journal:	Had a better night's sleep and, after my Scottish breakfast, started walking around 8:30am down the main street of Peebles, which was getting ready for the new day.  There was bright sunshine and there were a lot of people out exercising on the first part of my walk which took me along the manicured parkland banks of the Tweed River.  One of my old blisters was hurting quite a lot and I stopped on a park bench and did some dressing.  It seemed to settle down after that.  When I reached the 13th Century Neidpath Castle, my route left the river and began climbing, first across a nice golf course, then through farmland, then forest, to reach moorland.  I wasn't following a long distance path today, but rather an intricate route described in my guidebook and I had to check it regularly.  In some places, there was no path at all, just some compass bearings across the heather-covered moors and the going was often difficult and slow, giving my bad knee a real work-out.  However, the views were, yet again, grand and I often had whole landscapes to myself (well, there were always sheep somewhere). Around 1pm, I descended from one set of hills and moors to a valley and, after a 4km road walk, reached the cute village of West Linton at 1:50pm, just in time to order lunch in the pub and see New Zealand's overtime equaliser against Slovakia.  I took my time over lunch, not really being sure of where I was going to stay tonight, and knowing I was ahead of schedule.  I knew I had another range of hills to cross before I reached some more villages, but I wasn't sure how long it would take me, or whether there was any accommodation available in those villages. I left the pub around 2:45pm and walked past many wealthy-looking houses on my way out of the village.  After 5km of farmland, I climbed into some more remote moors, but the ascent was gradual and the walking generally easy and quick after the slow stuff this morning.  I began to think I could make it to the village of East Calder where I believed there might be some B&Bs by 7pm, so made that my goal.  First, I had to climb over Corston Hill (348m), much of it slow cross-country again, from where I had views of the Firth of Forth Bridge and Edinburgh in the far distance.  I last visited Edinburgh in the couple of weeks before I retired back in 2003 and the visit sticks in my memory because, as a farewell gesture, one of my offsiders, Tom, who was on the trip with me, had my PA write to the hotel in advance of our stay saying that, following a recent kidney operation, I was suffering from incontinence problems and would they mind putting plastic underlays under my bedding and leaving plenty of tissues, etc., in the room.  I thought the receptionist took a long look at me when I checked in.  The boys told me about it the next day with much hilarity. Anyway, after my look at Edinburgh, I began a slow descent, again much of it cross-country, across moorland to a road and then walked into East Calder around 7:30pm.  It was in the lowlands, and a much more built-up area, such as I will be travelling through for the next couple of days.  I walked down the main street, but couldn't see anywhere with accommodation and resorted to Plan B, which was to head down to the River Almond and try and find somewhere to camp out of sight.  The path was in a regional park and there were some people out exercising.  Eventually, around 8pm, I found a corner out of sight and erected my tent, hoping I won't be disturbed by early morning dog-walkers.  I'm even further ahead of schedule now, but will just play it by ear tomorrow on how far I go.  It's supposed to be easy walking, mostly along canal towpaths, and will pass a lot of towns.

 

Lands End to John O'Groats - Day 043 - Melrose to Peebles

 

Day:	043
Date:	Monday, 14 June 2010
Start:	Melrose
Finish:	Peebles
Daily Kilometres:	41.4
Total Kilometres:	1357.0
Weather:	Mostly overcast with a cool wind
Accommodation:	Hotel B&B (£40)
Nutrition:	Scottish breakfast; cheese and pickles sandwich for lunch; tuna nicoise and banana fritters and ice-cream for dinner
Aches:	Right knee sore (3/10)
Pictures:	Here
GPS Track:	Here
Journal:	I had a bad night, waking a number of times with pain deep inside my bad right knee.  I must have given it a hard time descending from Eildon Hills yesterday.  Paradoxically, it continues to be more painful when I'm in bed than when I'm walking.  I got up at 6:45am and left the hostel at 7:15am with the goal of walking to Galashiels, about 8km away, and finding something for breakfast and buying food and drink for the remainder of the day.  Rather than follow the rather fiddly guide-book suggested path, I chose a route that was a mixture of roads and a bike path on a disused rail line, and reached Galashiels around 8:45am.  On my way into the centre of the town, I passed a Super Tesco store which boasted a cafe and decided to get my breakfast and supplies there.  I felt quite alien wandering around the aisles of the large brightly-lit store with my backpack and more than a little out of place in the very quiet mezzanine cafe where I got a "Scottish" breakfast at a reasonable price. From Galashiels, my route followed the Southern Upland Way which climbed westward over a range of mountains on pleasant pathways passing through conifer forests and along treeless ridges, much of the latter over 400m with just fantastic views in all directions.  There were also some well-marked mountain bike trails which looked enticing.  The climbs weren't too steep and I made reasonable time and decided to stick with my plan of making it a long day and aiming for Peebles where I would have more accommodation options and, hopefully, mobile and internet coverage. I left the Southern Upland Way at Traquair, where I passed Traquair House, supposedly the longest continuously inhabited house in Scotland (more than 1000 years and visited by 27 kings and queens).  The guide-book now suggested some complicated off-road options for getting to Peebles but, since they didn't visit anything special and were longer and harder than the road option, I decided on the latter.  There was a bit of traffic on the road, which made it a bit unpleasant at times, and walking on tarmac for 12km can be tiring for the feet, but there were views and things to see and I made good time. I arrived in the attractive Tweed River-side town of Peebles soon after 5pm and, after walking up and down the main street, picked the cheapest-looking hotel with accommodation I could see and got a room.  I had dinner at a nearby pub, bought some food and drink for tomorrow (no resupply options along the way), and returned to my room to watch the Italy v Paraguay match while updating my diary.