Reflection

The two weeks on the WHW and the GGW went by far too fast. On the train home from Inverness, the first stop was Aviemore. The end stage to the East Highland Way and the Speyside Way. The temptation to just get off at the station and walk the EHW in reverse was almost overwhelming.

Alas the tug of the real world dragging me back for work stopped me from what would have been a great twist in my adventure and blog!

I have also learnt from this backpacking experience. Lessons that I will take with me for the Camino next year and future long distance treks. In a way, Covid postponing it and allowing me to do these two walks, maybe a blessing in disguise.

I have my eyes set on either the EHW or the Speyside Way, spring next year (if I have enough leave available). It should warm me up ready for the Camino.

As an analysis of this adventure, I am going to do a little frequently asked questions type debrief, hopefully it will explain what I learnt and maybe help anybody thinking of tackling these two walks.

What should I have left at home?

Straight off, I’d say the candle lantern. It didn’t produce enough light to be usuable and the citronella candles did not deter the air piranhas.

We took a spare stove incase our gas one faltered or the fuel ran out. We didn’t end up cooking on it as much as we first intended due to the weather conditions. We had plenty of fuel left by the end, however it did break. The ignition mechanism for the stove stopped working, but we got around it with the lighter. So for future treks I would just take the one; we passed plenty of places that sold the gas canisters.

I would also have left behind the insect repellant. The air piranhas did not mind any of it. In fact the Nordic Summer that dad had brought made better waterproofing for his boots than fending off the midges. At least the Avon skin so soft masked the smell from the day’s walking!

We found the best way to keep the blighters from munching on you, was to ensure you’re completely covered. We utilised the midge head nets, that worked a treat as long as you didn’t get any trapped inside! The only advantage of our wet weather was it kept them away. In fact on the GGW we had no bother from the wee beasts.

What should I have brought along?

Easy. The poncho. Not bringing them was our biggest mistake. Even though our packs had a rain cover and we wore our waterproofs for the majority of the walk. This didn’t prevent our rucksacks getting wet.

We found that the rain was running down our backs causing it to ingress in to our bags from this unprotected area. Had we brought our ponchos, these would have covered our rucksacks and the gap.

I hadn’t put my clothes and sleeping bag inside a waterproof liner, so you can guess how that turned out.

At the end of day 2 from spending the day in the rain. I had to dry my clothing on the porch of glamping tent on the campsite. Due to Covid the backpackers facilities were closed, so I couldn’t even dry my gear there.

Luckily I was able to get a few bin bags from the site office but it wasn’t until day 4 when we stayed at the BnB in Crainlarich, that I was able to dry anything. Upon reaching Fort William I did buy some dry sacks. I will be ordering some more in the near future.

For me, the waterproof jacket did not breath. This made me uncomfortable and hot very quickly. By the end of the day I was just as wet through perspiration as if I hadn’t worn it at all. With a poncho, I would have been able to easily remove it after the rain showers and put it back on when required.

As I was having issues with my pack, having to take it off after getting it comfortable for a jacket wasn’t ideal. On numerous occasions, I wore my jacket like cape/poncho that worked until the wind picked up.

Was the tent a good choice?

I think the Scafell 300+ was a little too big and heavy for long distance trekking. The awning space was really handy to store our wet bags and gear over night, however I think we could have got around this by using large plastic bags or even a dry sack to put the packs in and bring them into the inner tent without getting it wet.

We also found that over the course of the trip, the sides weren’t as taut. We tried adjusting the straps etc but we couldn’t get it right. It seemed like the tent had to be pegged 10cm off the ground at opposite corners to get the tension. The night at Beinglas and Gairlochy it was really windy, where at one point we thought the outer tent would be sailing off across the campsite. The constant flapping of the tent also disturbed our sleep.

If we were to do another long distance walk, we would each take a small lightweight tent. This would be more versatile and reduce our carrying weight. Some campsites would only allow pitches for small tents to allow sufficient social distancing.

Even though my Vango Banshee 200 is the right size, it weighs over 3kg without a footprint. There are reasonably priced tents that are half that weight. So I’m looking into getting a new tent.

Did the anti-gravity backpack work?

Yes and no. The Osprey Atmos withstood the rigor of the adventure. However, like most things, they are not made for people, like me, who are built like poles.

Even at the shortest point, the belt wasn’t tight to hold the pack above my hips. This is where the frame of the Atmos distributes the weight, keeping it off your shoulders. For the first 3 days I suffered greatly with sore shoulders and generally feeling miserable with it.

I solved this problem by tieing my jumper around my waist to pad the belt out, keeping it from slipping down my hips. Once I got it in the right position, the AG system came into it’s own. I hardly noticed I was carrying over 15kgs.

The jumper method comes with draw backs though. It falters when it rains. The belt gets wet and it expands (an issue my dad had). The jumper becomes wet; I only packed one jumper so there went my mid layer. I had to buy another in Fort William.

With the rain, out comes my waterproof jacket. This bypassed my jumper system, as it reduced the friction between the pack and the padding, causing the belt to slide down my hips and my shoulders bearing the weight.

Really, the last 2 days and the stage from the Bridge of Orchy to the Kings House, were the only days I got on with the Atmos.

I am going to have to devise a way to enable the belt to shorten or put some kind of padding around it for my next adventure.

Were blisters an issue?

For me no. I had gone to Cotswold’s to take advantage of the free boot fitting/consultation serivice as described in an earlier blog. Coupled with the socks they recommended, I had very little problems.

As part of my research into the Camino I had come across the blister topic frequently and looked into it, hence the kinesiology tape. There were a few times I felt “hotspots” on my feet indicating that the tape needs applying. This worked and prevented any blisters forming.

You have to be very aware of how your feet are feeling while walking such long distances. If you are starting to feel uncomfortable or something doesn’t feel right, you need investigate immediately, not wait till the end of the day or your next refreshment stop.

I didn’t have to apply the tape really after the first couple of days until the Scottish jet wash finally breached my boots; when your feet get wet, blisters start to appear due to the increased friction.

My dad however suffered very early on and remained in discomfort for the remainder of the adventure. He was having to pop and drain them each night and taped up his feet each morning. Until we arrived at Fort William, there was was nowhere to buy a more substantial treatment for them.

We got the compeeds for his heels and the sides of his feet. For his toes we got a silicon bandaged tube, that you cut to size. This really improved the comfort for my dad while walking.

One thing we both suffered with was the hard surfaces we walked across. There were long stretches of road, especially on the GGW, to navigate. The impact of our feet on the solid surfaces really took it’s toll on our bodies.

They ached something fierce after a mile or so on such surfaces; exacerbated when going down hill, like the descent in to Drumnadrochit. After massaging my feet for 30 minutes at the end of the day eased the pain and revitilised them.

I think this will also be an issue for the Camino next year, so I will be getting those gel cushioned insoles for my boots.

Would I do it again?

In a heartbeat. I really had a great time despite the trails and tribulations. Even during the day from hell, not even for one moment I wished I was somewhere else.

If I were to walk the WHW again, I would skip the Loch Lomand section. You spend most of this section within the forest line, obscuring the views and made the walk quite mundane; unless you like walking through woodlands.

I would get the train to either Crainlarich or Tyndrum and start from there. The views were better and the terrain more varied. The best stretch was from the Bridge of Orchy to the Kings House; if you wanted you could get the train to the Bridge of Orchy and go from there.

I wouldn’t do the GGW again. I didn’t enjoy this as much. The majority of the route is within the pine forests that follow the lochs. Unless you take the high roads and the weather was on your side, you don’t get the views. I mentioned in the blog, I enjoy climbing mountains rather than skirting around them. I felt with the GGW there is more skirting than climbing.

I’m glad I did it for the experience but it isn’t one I will repeat in a hurry. We also struggled on this route due to Covid. We ran out of food over the first two days because the places to eat described in the guide book were closed; even google couldn’t be relied on to establish if places were open. Had we known the situation we would have stocked up at Fort William.

The two Australian’s we met walking from John O’Groats to Lands End also ran out of food at this stage. I managed to contact them through Facebook to guide them where to buy food and camping sites.

What gear/kit worked well?

This is where I get a bit geeky. I bought a power bank for 20 quid from Amazon a week before leaving. The product description states it will charge the iPhone X up to 5 times before being depleated.

This bank kept my phone, my dad’s phone and my smart watch charged while we camped days at a time. It is a bit heavy, but for the price and the capacity is worth it.(I also liked the dogs paw)

I have a Garmin forerunner 35 watch. The battery life on this is exceptional with its built in GPS it lasted the whole 11 hours of the day from hell. It also bleeps after every mile you complete. I found this really helpful for keeping track of the distances we covered. The Garmin App also plots on a map the route you had taken; a nice feature.

Although I bought guides that included maps, I mainly relied on the Ordnance Survey App. The route is very well sign posted however there are times you need to consult a map. The app has both the land ranger and explorer maps built in. This enabled me to precisely pin point our location on the walk. The signal was really good throughout the trip with only the top end of Loch Lomand and some areas around Loch Ness, where the reception dropped.

I highly recommend you get this app and for the £25 subscription you get all the Ordnance maps across the UK. Even when the signal drops you still have access to the maps if you download them for offline mode. It also caches the map so you are still able to view if the signal temporary drops.

As I was writing this blog, the Bluetooth keyboard made this easy. I’m glad I took it along and will use it for the Camino next year.

Walking poles are a must. Dad had the two from the start and swears he wouldn’t have made it through the day of hell without them. As we were scrambling over the wet rocks on that fateful stage, he slipped and fell. The sticks saved him from toppling down the bank into the loch.

I’ve only really used sticks for descents as this is when my knee tends to play up. I only took one this time as I tend to find it awkward walking with the two. However when my right knee became painful I relied on two sticks.

I expected my left knee to be an issue, as it always has in the past, ever since I hurt it doing the Total Warrior challenge in Shap a few years back. Knowing this I kept my left knee strapped up for the entire adventure and had no problems at all.

After getting a support for my right knee and using the sticks, I was able to keep going and it slowly healed. It made its presence known during the GGW but didn’t cause any issues.

We also took electrolyte tablets for our water. Either we drunk a bottle of it once we finished or dropped a tablet in our water for the day. Coupled with warm down stretches at the end of the day, we believe this is the reason our muscles didn’t complain throughout the trek.

What advice would I give for the WHW and GGW?

With the problems caused by Covid, you would perhaps not encounter some of the issues we had. Rowardennan, the stage end for day 2, was closed to campers and the BnBs were full. The nearest campsite to Rowardennan had to be booked 2 days in advance and that area of Loch Lomand doesn’t allow wild camping until the end of September. Therefore we stopped at Milarrochy 7 miles short of Rowardennan.

The plan was to get to Inversnaid to have something to eat at the hotel there before continuing to Beinglas. As you know, Inversnaid was closed and nowhere to buy food. This impacted us greatly; we had very little substantial to eat that day, hence why we ended up so exhausted.

We almost had a similar situation on the GGW. So my advise is to carry more food. Also having a water filter was a God send. On this stretch there was nowhere to refill our bottles. Having the filter allowed us to get water from the small streams along the way.

I would also recommend taking the high road from Inversnaid avoiding Rob Roys Cave and the tretcherous terrain the low road entails. The cave is nothing special and the high road is better underfoot and wouldn’t have brought us to the brink of collapse.

For the GGW we rented the key to the facilities along the way. I wouldn’t bother with it. Most of the toilets were unlocked and there are outdoor taps at the locks to fill your bottles up. We ended up paying £10 each for a key we never used, that I now have to post back!

How much have we raised for Prostate Cancer UK?

At the time of writing this blog we raised £1623. We had a few donations once we returned which we put on to my justgiving page. This far exceeded what I imagined to raise. I put the target at £500 thinking that would be too high to reach. I have been blown away by the support we have had and I am grateful for everyone that has donated. Honestly, it has spurred us on and has been a source of encouragement for us both. The kind words and best wishes in response to my blog both on WordPress and Facebook have kept us going.

You genuinely have our heartfelt thanks.