Glad it was helpful! .. Nigel ran 'The Wall Run' a number of years ago .. 70 miles from Carlise to Newcastle long Hadraisn Wall in parts .. beautiful part of the world ..
Hey there, we walked the WHW in May last year too. We camped along the way plus a couple of cabins. When we got to Fortwilliam, we stayed in a nice hotel (The Garrison Hotel) as a treat. We put a do not disturb sign on the door mainly as we were drying our kit. Viewers may like to know that from Fort William you can start the Great Glen to Inverness. We did so and it is a wonderful trail. Tip: buy a facilities key for £5 at the first lock on the Caledonian Canal, which can be used to access hot showers and loos - one even has a washer and drier - wild camping available at each of the locks. Consider walking Hadrian’s Wall Path next. It’s lovely and very manageable and varied and doable in a week.
Thanks Cath .. some great tips there and in fact I had considered going back and redoing the WHW (slower) and then tagging on the Great Glen Way too ... one day for sure .. I actually ran the Hadrians Wall as an ulra (69 miles) in 20 hours .. fantastic place and yes would be another great slow walk :)
Planning on hiking in september, so a very usefull video. Will be hiking over 10-11 days as well to enjoy the experience a little bit more. (And because I will have dog with me) Thanks.
Cool - hope you have good weather for it. I observed quite a few folks doing it with their dogs so very manageable I'm sure .. and yes, if I had the time I would certainly consider adding a few extra days on. With a dog, you may need to take a different route before you drop down to Loch Lomond .. I think it depends on the time of year/lambing.... Its a fabulous walk
Excellent summary Nigel. It's definitely on our bucket list. My nephew and friends completed it a few weeks ago for a charity. He's 29 and pretty fit. The 3rd day along Loch Lomond was the worse part of the walk for him. He had heavy rain and a large pack on. Said it tested him out physically and mentally. He loved the challenge of the whole walk though and is so glad he did it. Safe travels up north............Andy.
We just completed the WHW at the start of October, Rowardennan to Crianlarich was a LOT harder than we anticipated. Nearly crawling at the end! But we were super lucky with the weather, no midgies and the views were awesome. I would encourage everyone to do it once :)
Some useful points here. This is going to be my first long distance trail, lockdown permitting in September / October 2021 aiming to miss the worst of the midge season. Everything I have seen so far indicates that you want to stop in the pubs and villages so that is food for thought. I am looking to be self-supporting and wild camping. One thing I need to sort out though is pack weight. I have got lazy over the last couple of years so need to strip things back. I look forward to seeing more of your adventures.
My biggest advice .. if you can afford it .. take your time .. do it over a longer period of time .. say 10 days .. slow down, mix up wild camping with perhaps a bit of campsite/bunkhouse.. go of the track a little .. sit down and enjoy the views .. fingers crossed for you and if you have any other questions let me know
Lots of great advice here. I was hiking the West Highland Way in September but sadly had to drop out due to injury. Heading back out in spring and videos like this are helping me get pumped up for it. p.s - subscribed to your channel after watching this video.
Good stuff ... you know it was so good I'm even thinking about going back and doing it again some time ... all the best for your walk in the spring ...
I am planning the WHW now, coming from Australia so this vid was very helpful. I will be tagging the Great Glen Way on after the WHW. I am looking at April/May 202, with plenty of wild camping sites and on real time frame, I will only plan the first night and Drymen looks the goods for the first night. Thanks Again
Thanks so much for this, your video is an honest and useful account, as I am planning a mid-Sept trip! With baggage transfers and a bed for the night though 😁
I must admit with the recent lockdown I'm tempted to head back out and do it again .. but this time take it much much slower .... really explore the area around ...
Thanks Mr. Cooke. Lots of valuable insights. My wife and I would love to do the West Highland Way (TWHW) but we’re 70 and 71 respectively and have not walked long distances. We’re currently working a walking regimen to establish if it’s doable for us. Your comment about doing the WHW over, say, 10 days or more is likely what would work for us. And we would not do any camping, wild or otherwise. We would stay in hotels and BNB’s if we could. I will contact a travel company that specializes in TWHW so see what accommodations ( distances etc) that could be arranged. I’d appreciate any suggestions on those companies/organizations that you may know of. Again, thanks for the information you provided. And looking forward to the lemon drizzle whatnot you were so high on ! Best Regards, Laurie Lyon, Toronto, Canada.
Thanks Laurie .. for sure there are lots of companies helping to organise and I'm sue they can put something together that works for you both .glad my ramblings were of some us and let me know when you come to do it :)
Be very wary of using a luggage transfer service!! Quite often the luggage is left in non secure areas of campsites and B&B’s. I was hiking Hadrians Wall last year and all my luggage was stolen after it had been dropped off, and travel insurance does not cover camping equipment that is left unattended!
Yup things were left in non-locked areas on the days I had transfer booked ..but I assume given how many folks choose this option / how few have issues, the problems seem to be minimal ..
Very interesting thoughts. I'm planning to do the WHW next year in September, probably with baggage transfer since I have some trouble with my back. What month did you do your trip? I want to avoid the midges and there had been billions in your video. Happy hiking, Reiner P.S.: YMMD when I heard that your cats name is Guinness. Slainthe 😁
Hola ... I did my trip in May and mostly avoided the midge ... the Bridge of Orchy camp being the one exception ... I think it can be hit or miss with midge unless you are doing it in deepest darkest winter ... I hear they get more vicious as the year goes on so perhaps think about a spring walk ? Baggage carrier service was a life saver ... All the best
Great advice and some handy tips. Thanks for sharing. We are doing WHW May 2023, we have just finished the Hadrians Wall path and loved it.
Glad it was helpful! .. Nigel ran 'The Wall Run' a number of years ago .. 70 miles from Carlise to Newcastle long Hadraisn Wall in parts .. beautiful part of the world ..
Thanks for being so open and honest about what went well and less well
Hey there, we walked the WHW in May last year too. We camped along the way plus a couple of cabins. When we got to Fortwilliam, we stayed in a nice hotel (The Garrison Hotel) as a treat. We put a do not disturb sign on the door mainly as we were drying our kit. Viewers may like to know that from Fort William you can start the Great Glen to Inverness. We did so and it is a wonderful trail. Tip: buy a facilities key for £5 at the first lock on the Caledonian Canal, which can be used to access hot showers and loos - one even has a washer and drier - wild camping available at each of the locks. Consider walking Hadrian’s Wall Path next. It’s lovely and very manageable and varied and doable in a week.
Thanks Cath .. some great tips there and in fact I had considered going back and redoing the WHW (slower) and then tagging on the Great Glen Way too ... one day for sure .. I actually ran the Hadrians Wall as an ulra (69 miles) in 20 hours .. fantastic place and yes would be another great slow walk :)
Planning on hiking in september, so a very usefull video. Will be hiking over 10-11 days as well to enjoy the experience a little bit more. (And because I will have dog with me)
Thanks.
Cool - hope you have good weather for it. I observed quite a few folks doing it with their dogs so very manageable I'm sure .. and yes, if I had the time I would certainly consider adding a few extra days on. With a dog, you may need to take a different route before you drop down to Loch Lomond .. I think it depends on the time of year/lambing.... Its a fabulous walk
@@TheTravellersCookeBook thanks. I am really looking forward to it!
Excellent summary Nigel. It's definitely on our bucket list. My nephew and friends completed it a few weeks ago for a charity. He's 29 and pretty fit. The 3rd day along Loch Lomond was the worse part of the walk for him. He had heavy rain and a large pack on. Said it tested him out physically and mentally. He loved the challenge of the whole walk though and is so glad he did it.
Safe travels up north............Andy.
We just completed the WHW at the start of October, Rowardennan to Crianlarich was a LOT harder than we anticipated. Nearly crawling at the end! But we were super lucky with the weather, no midgies and the views were awesome. I would encourage everyone to do it once :)
Enjoyed this video, I'm planning on doing the WHW next April. Good advice shared here. Thanks for posting it.
Some useful points here. This is going to be my first long distance trail, lockdown permitting in September / October 2021 aiming to miss the worst of the midge season. Everything I have seen so far indicates that you want to stop in the pubs and villages so that is food for thought. I am looking to be self-supporting and wild camping. One thing I need to sort out though is pack weight. I have got lazy over the last couple of years so need to strip things back. I look forward to seeing more of your adventures.
My biggest advice .. if you can afford it .. take your time .. do it over a longer period of time .. say 10 days .. slow down, mix up wild camping with perhaps a bit of campsite/bunkhouse.. go of the track a little .. sit down and enjoy the views .. fingers crossed for you and if you have any other questions let me know
I may look at that and look at some Munro’s and Corbett’s
Nice summary. Good to see Guinness still around and hope you enjoy your Scotland trip - looking forward to the vlogs again.
Lots of great advice here. I was hiking the West Highland Way in September but sadly had to drop out due to injury. Heading back out in spring and videos like this are helping me get pumped up for it.
p.s - subscribed to your channel after watching this video.
Good stuff ... you know it was so good I'm even thinking about going back and doing it again some time ... all the best for your walk in the spring ...
@@TheTravellersCookeBook Thank you. Good luck to you too when you go back to do it again too. :)
I am planning the WHW now, coming from Australia so this vid was very helpful. I will be tagging the Great Glen Way on after the WHW. I am looking at April/May 202, with plenty of wild camping sites and on real time frame, I will only plan the first night and Drymen looks the goods for the first night. Thanks Again
You'll have to let us know how you get on. Best of luck 👍
Thank you for a great video - full of good detail! I'm solo-hiking the WHW in August over six days with luggage transfer.
You are very welcome ... all the best for your walk .. it's a fabulous one to do :)
Thanks so much for this, your video is an honest and useful account, as I am planning a mid-Sept trip! With baggage transfers and a bed for the night though 😁
I must admit with the recent lockdown I'm tempted to head back out and do it again .. but this time take it much much slower .... really explore the area around ...
Thanks Mr. Cooke. Lots of valuable insights.
My wife and I would love to do the West Highland Way (TWHW) but we’re 70 and 71 respectively and have not walked long distances.
We’re currently working a walking regimen to establish if it’s doable for us.
Your comment about doing the WHW over, say, 10 days or more is likely what would work for us. And we would not do any camping, wild or otherwise.
We would stay in hotels and BNB’s if we could. I will contact a travel company that specializes in TWHW so see what accommodations ( distances etc) that could be arranged. I’d appreciate any suggestions on those companies/organizations that you may know of.
Again, thanks for the information you provided.
And looking forward to the lemon drizzle whatnot you were so high on
!
Best Regards, Laurie Lyon, Toronto, Canada.
Thanks Laurie .. for sure there are lots of companies helping to organise and I'm sue they can put something together that works for you both .glad my ramblings were of some us and let me know when you come to do it :)
Thanks mate! Brilliant advice! Subbed!
Be very wary of using a luggage transfer service!! Quite often the luggage is left in non secure areas of campsites and B&B’s. I was hiking Hadrians Wall last year and all my luggage was stolen after it had been dropped off, and travel insurance does not cover camping equipment that is left unattended!
Yup things were left in non-locked areas on the days I had transfer booked ..but I assume given how many folks choose this option / how few have issues, the problems seem to be minimal ..
Very interesting thoughts. I'm planning to do the WHW next year in September, probably with baggage transfer since I have some trouble with my back. What month did you do your trip? I want to avoid the midges and there had been billions in your video.
Happy hiking,
Reiner
P.S.: YMMD when I heard that your cats name is Guinness. Slainthe 😁
Hola ... I did my trip in May and mostly avoided the midge ... the Bridge of Orchy camp being the one exception ... I think it can be hit or miss with midge unless you are doing it in deepest darkest winter ... I hear they get more vicious as the year goes on so perhaps think about a spring walk ? Baggage carrier service was a life saver ... All the best
✍️ get ✍️ lemon ✍️ drizzle ✍️ cake ✍️
Where is your accent from? It sounds like you were born in NI, but you moved to Scotland later in life