Kinlochleven to Glen Nevis, 15 Miles

Our initial sentiment on today’s walk was “dampening”, both to morale and clothing. We walked through some amazing landscapes today, but most of the time it was shrouded in clouds and blowing rain.

Selfie before the dispiriting rain started

After a very tasty cheese and meat board at our B&B, we set off on the trail.

British cheeses…breakfast of champions

We had a steep climb to warm us up before the rain hit, and once it did hit, it was wet and cold.

Looking back on Kinlochleven, our stopover last night

It was definitely our coldest day on the trail So far. We had our sandwiches on the move, as it started horizontal sleeting just as we got them out of our packs.

44 F ambient temp. With the wind and rain, it felt much colder .

The winding trail ahead.

A fair amount of today’s trail was a natural drainage path for the mountains.

These dogs are wet and cold. After 7 years and many hundreds of miles, my boots have lost their waterproof superpower.

When we had a couple of miles left, the storm broke and we had a nice sunny walk down to our Camping Pod at the base of Ben Nevis.

At 4400 ft, Ben Nevis is the highest peak in the UK and is a relatively straightforward climb if the weather is fair. At one point during our trip-planning, we were considering adding the peak to our itinerary, but the weather is so unfavorable for the next few days that we’ve decided against it. Maybe another time.

Ben Nevis is the one on the right, in the clouds

After completing today’s walk, we settled into our very Scandinavian, high-tech camping pod (complete with in-floor heating and LED mood lighting) and tried to warm up. Our bags were a bit slow to arrive today, so we were stuck in soggy clothes for a couple of hours.

Great place. We were able to enjoy the picnic table for a little while, then the rain returned

Very cozy!

We can see the base of Ben Nevis out our front door

We had dinner at the only restaurant/pub in the area. After some soul-warm soup, Bob enjoyed mac and cheese topped with haggis and I opted for a salad (I’ve had enough pub-fare to last for a while). We topped off the evening with sticky toffee pudding and some very fine scotch.

Cheers to our last night on the trail

Tomorrow, we’ve got a short hike to Fort William to officially complete the West Highland Way and then we’re catching the train to Edinburgh for few recovery days before we head home.

Pics will be loaded to the gallery shortly.

Good night!