West Highland Way Day 5 (Kinlochleven to Fort William)

After a good nights sleep in the cabins at the Mcdonald resort everyone strapped their feet up for the final push to the finish line.  We all went into the hotel for breakfast and it turned out to be the best breakfast we had had on the route so far.  Martin was seen eating his words from the night before along with his bacon and egg. Fair play to him, he apologised to the owner for his comments the night before and then complimented the chef for an outstanding breakfast.  There was some serious suffering going on and while we all intended to cross the finish line together we decided to set off in our pairs as some were feeling it more than others at this point.  The owner of the hotel directed Kerry to the local quacks to get her heel patched up with some special gauze after half her heel had peeled away in the form of a blister the night before. Nice.  Once the injury was patched up everyone was on their way. 

Into the Wild

It's a steep climb right from the off when you leave Kinlochleven and seems to be a lot harder than the ascent of the Devil's staircase.  Calf burn, like I had definitely woke me up and there was some serious sweat dripping going on.  It was also the busiest we'd seen it so far and there seemed to be loads of people on the route on this particular day.  Once the climbing finished the track levelled out but was again solid under foot.  We passed a couple of old ruins, on either side of the track and I can't help thinking the people that had lived there must have had calves like bricks and popping to the shops must have been a long weekend event.  After winding through around 6 miles of the magnificent mountains we decided to stop for lunch.  Our friend the Robin decided to join us yet again and I thought it was going to land on my shoulder at one point, it got that close. 

Batman's Mate

After lunch we travelled a few miles further down the track which wasn't too difficult and arrive at a big sign which said, Fort William 7.5 miles.  I thought it must be a mistake because I was led to believe, by Sherpa Wilson that we still had around 10 miles to go.  I have to point out at this point that when the Sherpa normally says 10 miles to go, that means 15 in real miles.  It's a bit of an affliction she has, ask Martin.  Apparently, by the time Marting and Kerry arrived at this point the sign had been removed so if you're looking for it you might not find it.  The route is a bit of a climb from here on a narrow track along a grassed hillside and this caused more leaking around the forehead.  There was a lot of ups and downs as we moved closer to the end and it seemed like every time we came out of a wooded area there was another drop into a gulley and a climb out the other side.  It got so steep at one point they have put a set of steps in place.  After one final climb we started on the final descent and could see the the beast Ben Nevis and the Glen Nevis camp site.  We knew we were close.  We followed a long, winding track before it straightened out towards Fort William.  Un-fortunately there was a short diversion in place, due to tree felling so we ended up cutting through the Braveheart car park onto the main road which we stayed on for the last mile and a half or so.  Finally we arrived at the original end of the West Highland Way.

Not Quite There

This is not quite the end any more as the end of the route has been moved to the other end of the high street so we made our way to the Crofters pub in town to wait for the others.  Everyone arrives and we have a bit of a celebratory drink before walking the short distance to the finish line which has a map of the route carved into the ground and a chap rubbing his feet, sitting on a bench.  You get an enormous sense of achievement on completing the walk and while many have done it quicker, 5 days is difficult and sore.  To rub salt in the wounds our hotel is back down the opposite end of the town but we could hardly complain at having to walk a few hundred yards after completing the 96 miles of the West Highlan Way.

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