Genesis: When I was hiking in Ireland in 2019 (scroll downnnnnn through the blog posts), one of the hikers I met said there was nowhere better to hike than Scotland. I asked my friend, Ray Douglas, with whom I hiked a beautiful portion of the Pembrokeshire Coastal Pathway in Wales in 2018 (scroll even farther down the travel blogs), if he would like to do a hiking trip to Scotland last year. He expressed interest, and I happen to have a patient from Scotland whose daughter plans trips there. I contacted her and after a prolonged back and forth, we decided on the West Highland Way, but we ended up using Contours, a hike planning company in the UK we used in Wales, instead of her. They worked out all the particulars, and it was not that expensive. I have been to Scotland once before, to visit my friend Ollie Wagner and his wife, Heather, while he was doing an internship there. We had some good adventures, but it was back when we were poor before I graduated from medical school in 1990.
Getting There and around: We flew out of Newark on British Airways. That used to be a reliably good way to get anywhere, BUT THEY SUCK NOW! Check in for both legs of the journey took forever. credit card readers didn’t work right and there was a ridiculous amount of data entry for each of us. The flight from Newark was on a Boeing 777, so of course the air conditioning was broken for economy, and we were delayed taking off. It was very warm in the plane (80s - 90s) with poor airflow. I hardly slept because my neck was soaked with sweat on the pillow and in general. On the way back from Heathrow, the air conditioning was broken again (!!), this time in an Airbus plane, but it was not that warm in London and it worked better on the flight. Still we sat in the heat at Heathrow for 75 minutes after having boarding completed 15 minutes before scheduled takeoff because of a “minor problem, 10-15 minute fix.” Arrived 45 minutes late. BA is a 3rd class airline. Once at Glasgow, we took a taxi with a lovely driver who was super helpful. Same thing on getting to the train back in Fort William (he is the one who broke the news Taylor Swift was doing three shows in Edinburgh while were were there - “You shouldn’t even go. Just stay in Glasgow :-)” We took a slow train ride from Fort William back to Glasgow that was scenic at times, and a very crowded but speedier train from Glasgow to Edinburgh where I couldn’t get a seat.
The Hiking: The West Highland Way is a world famous multi-day track that is 96 miles long, starting in the Glasgow suburb of Milngavie and ending in Fort William. It is usually done in 5-7 days but can take longer. We worked out a 6 day plan, which still required two days of more than 21 miles of hiking. The trail included varied terrain, and it varied from narrow single track paths through forests to wide military roads built centuries ago with rough, slippery rock surfaces (I did not enjoy those portions). There were lots of puddles and wet spots, especially later in the week. We met people from all over: Australia, the USA, continental Europe. People were generally nice, and we tended to run into the same ones throughout the week. There were a lot more forests than I thought. Lots of stretches were through rain forests as that portion of Scotland is the rainiest. We found out about the pests they call Midges, small, silvery gnat-like bugs with an itchy bite and voracious appetites, before we left the USA, and I came prepared. I got a few bites despite the bad weather, but overall they were not too bad. They are much worse when it is warmer, so think twice about summer hikes there. The route includes a few steep climbs, but nothing too hard or dangerous (I took great pleasure in roaring to the top of Conic Hill and the Devil’s Staircase). We did bypass a treacherous portion in the worst high winds and rain, and later talked to some young men who had just done it who called that area borderline deadly. There was not much wildlife to be seen, and none of the classic Scottish cattle. We did encounter the odd sheep or three, but they usually ran away.
The Weather: I followed the weather as soon as the extended forecasts showed up on my feed, and it was looking rainy but warm all along. It was cloudy and mild the first day, but fairly sunny and warmer the second along Loch Lomond. After that a front moved in and sat there, sending squalls over us nearly hourly, some with heavy downpours and high winds. I have all the gear, and it was not that hard to put up with it. The sun would come out and the climbs could get a little warm, but just when I got a little sweaty, the wind would pick up and the rain would return. It was much colder than we expected the last three days, with overnight lows in the low 40s, which made for cold hands since I had no gloves. The weather in Edinburgh was glorious in comparison.
Running: Readers of my travel blogs have to put up with my favorite part of traveling: running in new places. Even though we walked a lot, I still love to run enough to wake up early and go out. Each run was special, but the absolute standout effort was in Kinlochleven on the last morning of the hiking. It was raining pretty steadily and chilly, and we had walked over 22 miles the day before, but I still went out and found parts of the trail we missed and the absolute highlight of the trip, the Gray Mares Waterfall, a Yosemite level powerhouse in the woods just outside of town on a nice trail. I didn’t have a camera, but I will never forget it. The other highlight was a 5+ mile run all over Edinburgh, around the castle, through Princes Park (where I found myself locked in at one end. I heard someone yell, “How did you get in there?!” I saw a woman in a dark jacket come over, and I told her I got in by the graveyard at the other end. She told me someone must have forgotten to lock that part, but she was very kind and friendly, asking me where I was from and telling me I did not allow for near enough time in Edinburgh. Very true. She told me she was there to unlock it, but she had a hard time, so she handed me the keys and I unlocked the huge padlock from my side of the gate. I love little things like that.), then down the Royal Mile to the Holywood Palace and then the park near it, where I covered a lot of ground. It seemed much longer. The shortest run was 5k in a driving rain in Crianlarich the day after our longest hike. It was a boring route, but still running in Scotland. I ran all over Milngavie as well.
Pull Ups:Though there are no videos, I did pull ups in Scotland for the first time at a small park in Milngavie we’d walked past the day before. The bars I used were so low I could not go all the way down. In Edinburgh, our hotel had a nice little gym where I did several sets. I am pretty close to 30 countries where I have done at least 4 pull ups.
Food: I enjoyed every meal. We had a breakfast included every day except the last (and Ray found a really good place near the hotel where I ate a huge amount). I almost always got cold cereal and milk, but often some porridge and other fruit. I ate 3-4 protein bars while walking (close to 1000 kcalories), and Ray, an enthusiastic but not voracious eater, usually found the place to eat in the evening, sometimes places he booked (fortunately) well in advance of our arrival. I could usually at least stay vegetarian, though I had a huge and very good fish and chips (made with haddock) portion at the renowned Real Food Cafe in Tyndrum (the large, with vegetarian soup, mushy peas and a huge piece of carrot cake - probably close to 3000kcal in that one meal). I got some gelato the last evening in Edinburgh after a nice dinner at a French Restaurant. Below are the French meal I had in Edinburgh, seasoned potatoes and French Gnocchi, Irn Bru, the iconic Scottish soda, and the cannoli display at a bakery where I bought three. I also ate Spotted Dick with Cream (next photos), which the server said I should never say aloud again, Haggis balls (next), veggie Haggis (next), and sticky toffee and sticky date pudding (last one).
One of the best sticky date puddings I’ve eaten!
The Scenery: I was a bit underwhelmed overall, as there were long stretches in forests and through fields where we could see little. The stretch by Loch Lomond was pretty, but it can’t match most lakeside places I have been. The last two days were in the highlands more and very pleasant to look at. I would say a 6/10 overall, well behind Canada, Ireland, Iceland, Switzerland, and New Zealand (though most reminiscent of there), but ahead of Swaziland, South Africa, and Australia.
The Hiking, part 2: Ray and I are fairly compatible walking, keeping roughly the same pace (about 3-3.5mph) when walking steadily. We were faster than most. One time, near the end of the 4th day, two young women caught up to us. It struck something in me, and I sped up and would not let them by. I thought Ray was right behind me, but I’d put a considerable gap between us. I finally let the women by at a gate I opened for them when I realized it wasn’t Ray behind me, but them. Ray is quite fond of tech and has a GPS device he uploads all the maps on, along with having the photos of the maps on his phone and another mapping device. We still got off the trail by half a mile on the longest day and had trouble finding the end of the hike. We didn’t stop to eat most of the time, but occasionally took a break to get the packs off. I usually only drank about 60 ounces of water during the day, but Ray usually did 4 liters.
Fails and Successes: I bought new hiking boots worried my old ones wouldn’t be comfortable over the distances, but the new ones were hurting my feet in the week before so I took my old boots. Fortunately the worked out fine. I forgot my brand new white, waterproof hat and took an old, useless white hat by accident. I also forgot my Garmin watch charger, but Ray had his so I borrowed it every day. I did spend about an hour going through all my stuff again and again looking for it. My Arcteryx gore tex jacket was the MVP, keeping me dry and not too sweaty. I took along my new mirrorless SLR camera but only used it on the good weather days. I think my camera on my phone takes better photos still. I set a PR one day with 55000+ steps.
Funny Stories: 1. After our dinner in Fort William, Ray stayed in the shopping area to get some souvenirs, and I started walking back to the lodging. After only a short distance, I suddenly felt the urge to pee. It was only a few minutes back, but it got terrible very fast. I started walking faster and faster as I could feel my bladder straining. I got out of the downtown and on the main road, moving as briskly as I could, but I was also looking for possible places to pee if it got any worse, a good shrub or alcove. It was critical bladder fullness in just a few minutes as I finally saw the sign to our place. I hurried into the building I thought my room was in. Wrong building! I did a quick scan, as there was a room for breakfast there, to see if there was a rest room. No! Now back out and I remembered which place was ours, about another 50 yards. It was really bad. I was saying out loud, in case it worked better than just thinking it, “Don’t pee your pants!” I got up to the top of the stairs and found my room. I got the keys out and put them in the lock. It wouldn’t work! Wrong key! Just then I felt some warm water on my thigh. I was peeing myself! I got the key in and got the door open and ran to the bathroom as a little more pee came out. I finally got my pants down and peed for a long time. Sigh. Then I rinsed off my pants and underwear, which weren’t bad - it was only a little pee, but it was still pee, and I hung them to dry. 2. There is a video on Instagram of me finishing off the climb up the Devil’s Staircase at about the 15 mile point of a 21.5 mile hike on day 5. I felt good at the bottom so I powered up the 900 foot climb, holding back a little because I didn’t know what it was like. It wasn’t bad at all, and I got to the summit just as two older (but probably younger than I am) English women got there as well. I was shooting a video as I walked and decided to do some push-ups at the cairn there to show how fit I was. I could see there was no good place to put the camera/phone, so I quickly asked one of the women to hold the camera. She did not know what I was going to do, but she did a brilliant job of filming me doing ten quick push-ups (could have done way more, but didn’t want the video to be even longer), and they had a great reaction. It took me a while to watch it, as I thought it would be terrible, but it was nice, so I posted it. 3. The first morning in Milngavie, we ate breakfast at the hotel. It was very chaotic, as the room was small and there were more people than should be in the space. As I was about to leave, I noticed a bunch of fat, biscuit/pancakey things and decided to take two and make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to eat on the hike. I wrapped it in a bunch of napkins and put it in my pack. We stopped midway and I pulled it out. Turns out they were crumpets, and crumpets taste more like cardboard than cardboard does. But I got it down with some water and doubt I will ever try another crumpet.
Recommendation: The West HIghland Way is a worthy challenge and well organized adventure. Definitely worth the money and effort, and a good motivation to get superfit. The Scottish people were universally lovely and fun.