Month: February 2023

Ben Nevis highest mountain in the UK.

After a huge week walking the west highland way, you would think an old guy would take some rest. However, you don’t get many opportunities to climb big ben,especially in the winter. While celebrating our success, Caleb and I decided to meet at 8 am in the morning, taxi to Ben Nevis visitors centre, and more than likely, hike to the summit. When I stepped outside at 7 am, the fog was that thick, you couldn’t see across the road. I contacted Caleb and said I think I’m chickening out. Then after Caleb arrived, we talked to a couple of serious hikers, and they showed us the equipment we would require to summit Ben Nevis in the winter, we both most definitely decided to leave it for another day. Like Tasmania, which I have been fortunate to walk parts of, it can be sunny skies one minute, and snowing the next. So it turned out to be a very easy decision. The rest of the day, I relaxed checking out Fort William, after saying goodbye, to my very good friend Caleb, who caught a train to Edinburgh to visit family. I will now head back to Glasgow, and later this week, fly to Morocco and meet up with my Gayle for an exciting trip. Can’t wait. I will rest from blogging till the end of the week, when our new journey begins. Cheers Hank, thanks for letting me share my ride.

All over red rover

After breakfast this morning,I look outside and Caleb is waiting for me, dressed like a mummie. The sky is the clearest we have experienced,which means it’s well below zero. I now put on extra clothes and my gloves and ear warmers. As we head out of town,I ask Caleb to undo the top of my backpack and take out the serviette. Inside it, I had made him a bacon and black pudding toasted sandwich. You couldn’t wipe the smile from his face. The first hour is straight up a mountain. Now I’m sweating, but my fingers are still frozen. The next few hours are much the same. Lots of climbing on rocky tracks. Eventually the track levels out,and the valley goes on forever. Beautiful colours. The puddles, and there are plenty of them,are completely frozen over,which make a difficult walk. Very slippery. The views stunning under blue skies, but a lot of the time needed, be looking at the path in front of you. Also forever wiping a runny nose. The gloves stay on most of the day. After five hours, I wonder when these valleys will end. We stop for a break and I have a well earned cup of tea.I also share jam sandwiches I made at breakfast. All of a sudden, we see a lot of sheep coming from the other way, sharing our single file stony track, with a 45 degree drop off on one side, and steep hill on the other. We yell, and they all jump off the track except for the large ram with large horns .As he prepares to charge, we prepare to jump . However, at the same time,Caleb and I push our feet along the stony ground, like a bull would,ready for his charge. The ram wisely pulled out and joined his sheep . Finally, we turn a corner and down in the next valley, we get our first glimpse of Fort William. It lifts our spirits enormously, and we high five. The next two hours meandering down zig zag tracks till we finally reach the road and walk into Fort William and onto our finish line. Still numb fingers and a very tired body we achieved this wonderful journey together.

Easy peasy day

Not a lot to report today. Tried to sleep in this morning. Im not catching the bus till after midday. Woke up early and tried going back to sleep with out luck,so I watched TV, trying not to feel guilty. The fact a thirty three year old man and his dog have been missing for a few days in the Glencoe area is a worry, and probably happy that I am not walking that section. Had another full Scottish breakfast, so will definitely need to walk tomorrow, or I’ll end up looking like a house. Didn’t bother with lunch and caught the bus to Glencoe, and then waited for another bus,which took me to the Tailrace Inn in kinlochleven. After checking in there, relaxed and chatted with Emily till it was time for a pint. Similar to last Sunday. I contacted Caleb,and unbeknown to me, he had spent time down stairs in the bar. He said he moved on and got a room at the hostel. I’m relieved he made it and is coming back here for dinner. We will then organise to walk together tomorrow. A young lady I spoke to on the bus said, this was the first day this year, she had seen the sun out. Seriously, it wasn’t out a lot, and for a pretty cold day, it was pretty good. A lot of people enjoying the fact it was such a good day. I’m in the pub, it’s packed, as there is a roaring fire, I’m in a singlet, although every one wearing jackets and beanies. Can’t work them out.

Three dumb musketeers

Caleb and I enjoyed a humungus breakfast. We started with  juice,a large bowl of porridge, then bacon,two sausages, beans, mushrooms, eggs and toast and a cup of tea. Truly the best breakfast I have had to now. Caleb is blessed. He not only was able to have a hot shower and slept in a bed,he got an incredible breakfast, all for 10 quid. I am so happy for him.I didn’t want to leave after that. As we opened the front door, the sun was shining, but that can be a false start, as the weather changes quickly. My adopted grandson, and I had only walked about 50 metres and joined Connal. He is a Scottish lad from Glasgow, I had come across a couple of times this week. He is one hell of a funny guy. The next few hours was so funny, with an aussie bloke an Irish bloke and a scots man. The bullshit we were all coming out with made the walk really pleasant.Laughter the order of the day. Apart from freezing cold wind,nothing else mattered. One thing that was really funny, Connal pointed out a bird and said it was called a curlew, reason, the bird opens its mouth and says curlew. He mentioned another bird that made the same noise as it’s name. So then I said, in Australia we have a bird called oomedooly bird. And I explained that is what the bird screams as he is landing. They asked why,and I said, the bird has no legs, so as he bounces across the ground, he screams, oomedooly. What made it even funnier, Caleb thought I was telling the truth. We reached the Bridge of Orchy,and that was where Connal was catching the train to head back to Glasgow. It was also where my accommodation would be for the night, as there was nothing open for another 30 kms. We are now heading towards the highest part of the way. Weather, this time of year can be and is deadly. The forecast for the next few days is well below zero,and Glencoe ski resort will more than likely be covered in snow. So with some advice, I have decided to skip the highest point and take a bus to Kinlochleven. I could walk along the highway, but it’s very narrow, and cars fly along there. In the rain I wouldn’t fancy walking along it. My Irish mate will walk the track ,and I hope he will be safe. I will catch up with him in the next day or two. The village, Bridge of Orchy, has a population of about 30 people. So many of these places I stay at are really small. I can’t see how they exist in the winter and understand why most establishments are shut. Must be really popular in the summer to make it work. It was really good to Skype home this morning and talk to some of the neighbours doing the happy hour on Friday night. This evening, I hope to join the locals and enjoy a pint and some great scottish tucker.

Walk in the park

I felt for Caleb yesterday,as he was putting up his tent, and the rain started ,I had ten minutes to walk to a nice warm hotel and hot shower. My knees were screaming and the rest of my body wasn’t far behind. My last word to Caleb, before we departed was, probably see you around 8 in the morning. Unbeknown to me, my booking included a cooked breakfast, starting from 8am,so ,there was no way I was missing that, after only having a banana for brekky yesterday morning. So arriving back at the camping area, he was already gone. Less than 20 minutes later, I caught up with him,and we enjoyed another day of walking. No day on the west highland way is easy, but compared to yesterday, this was a walk in the park. Cold and crisp, we were now seriously headed for the highlands. Every ascent was much higher than the descents. By 12 o’clock it was still in the minus, as the puddles were still covered in ice. Later in the day, after around 20ks,we arrived at Tyndrum. I pressed the front door bell, and an older couple greeted me. I asked if Caleb could wild camp opposite their establishment. They said if I gave up my beautiful room and went to a double room, Caleb could stay for 10 quid including breakfast. He agreed before I did, lol. He contacted his mother ,to inform her of his situation, she said, good you met a nice friend. He then said, my friend is nearly as old as grandad, and I’m struggling to keep up with him. For a small village it was nice to hear there was a masseuse on hand, so I had a well deserved massage, before having a pint,gamon steak dinner, and back to the cottage.