Day 13 - Kinlochleven to Fort William

Day 13 - Kinlochleven to Fort William Hike Day 6 - Kinlochleven to Fort William #westhighlandway2024

Distance 25km / 15.5 miles | Walking Time: 6-8 hours | Ascent: 730-790m / 2400-2590 ft Terrain: Mostly good mountain paths and tracks through open moorland and areas of forestry (parts might have been felled or replanted recently). Sometimes a little challenging underfoot.

Long and steep climb out of Kinlochleven. Then gentler gradients and some up and downs after Lundavra, followed by a long descent towards Glen Nevis; from there, choice between off-road and roadside path to the finish point.

At he bnb waiting for the cab to ferry us back to yesterday's ending point, it would be a lie to say soreness is not top of mind. One final push and then freedom to rot in bed all of tomorrow. One weird thing is no one set up a hiker's spa in Fort William... Would make a killing

We're off!

Finally done, the last 6km or so were pure will power... Will update later... Body is gone, feet? Gone.

Ok need to stop procrastinating, here's the stats

Breakfast time first

Waited for the cab for the pick-up back here then got to the starting point in today's first starting post

After exiting Kinlochleven the trail properly started here

Then we got the Devil's Staircase 2: Electric Boogaloo (name is a work in progress), it's not named but it's still like 240m in only 1.5km so it's up up up... At least we had fresh (modulo being tired from yesterday) legs this time instead of getting it at km 20

And some views going up as the town receded

Then it switched back into the old military road for like 10km, back to that endless road feeling... The day started grey and cloudy but at least no rain

However a recurring theme was small streams we had to get through either by plowing through, going over taller rocks, or trying to avoid sinking mud on the sides... Farah dubbed it Stream Mountain

Pics not chronological, just didn't take many of the water though there was tons

This was the first test of endurance as t felt endless and legs were tired from yesterday and the initial ascent, did get some really grand views...

I did feel like I was in the Fellowship of the Ring

We did get some midges (small scottish biting gnats) near the beginning of this section, but thankfully only really there as we read horror stories when researching, luckily that was it but Farah did come prepared as bugs love her

Finally we reached the gate (there's so many of these through the trail to fence in goats and other livestock) that marked the "end" of this part of the road probably around 10 km in. By now we had tired feet so we stopped got a small lunch not much after and kept going

The next part was through a zone that clearly had been a forest before but now was littered with tree stumps and tree carcasses, not really sure why they were removed but the stumps left, probably deforestation back in the day... At least it meant we could see he mountains...yay.

Probably little time capsules of what it used to be like

The part had a fair amount of up and down that got even worse later

This should have gone before the other ones, it marks the halfway point for the day and we filled out a survey about the trail

Trail continued much the same with some new mountains including Ben Nevis, the UK's tallest mountain coming into view in the distance. We also started to get pops of blue in the sky

Then a bunch more going up and up and up

And more up and up and up but it was almost the beginning of the end...

Got to the service road which we went up briefly.on before it started descending into the city

At this point it was a long descent but our feet were leaden and only sheer willpower let us keep putting one in front of the other but the views of Ben Nevis and the surrounding mountains were breathtaking

It was, indeed, as the kids say:

Another cute solitary tree at the end of the world

View going down

More going down (like 3+ km of it)

Until finally... We saw pavement marking the end of trails and the beginning of civilization... 4km to go and having them be on concrete after all this walking is cruel

Then we just plodded on at a slow speed passing by this national treasure

Soon (though it did not feel that way at the time) we saw actual buildings and the old ending... Could have been done here but alas... Onwards

We could almost feel the end which would let our weary and pounding feet finally rest, funnily enough the cab driver that gave us a ride to the start this morning (and the bnb yesterday) noticed us and honked, what are the odds

Then as posted before we were done.

Funnily the place behind it is where we ate yesterday and we had no idea it would also be the end today

Cool little sidewalk memorialization

Then went to get food and let our bodies start to feel again (not a good thing at this point)

Shout out to my daily carry and the magical power of merino stuff to resist odor formation beyond what should be possible with 6 days of use

With that, good night and more wrap up tomorrow on the whole of it... Weird to not have to walk tons anymore and it means the real world is waiting...