[Kitchen Cottage]

fat and fifty and walking this for charity commencing on 1st june 2016 with 3 dogs.  I have 2 youngish working cockers and an elderly westie who has a backpack.  The westie (13) routinely walks 10 miles but I have the doggie backpack if he packs up!

I have my boots, which I am wearing in,  I am walking 13 miles each day at the weekend with my dogs, I have a midge mask, clothing, day pack and transport lined up along the way for back pack. 

Things I DON'T  still have is dog friendly accommodation for the first night (the Georgian Hotel in Glasgow was booked but it cancelled.... which I am actually grateful for given the reviews).

I understand I can park in the station in Milngavie but should tell the police I am walking the walk. 

Questions are

(a) the average day is 12-14 miles.... which I do easily in Essex..... but we aren't noted for our hills.  Does anyone know what the ascent is like?
(b) We have a long 19 mile day, my dogs paws are fine on my Essex country park path, would you take any protection for them or fit them with boots?
(c) Are there any parts of the walk where we won't be able to stock up at a corner shop? 

Any advice or comments would be gratefully received.  I still have 3 weeks to gird my loins!

ps.... my dogs now have GPS collars in case they get lost.  They won't be off lead but these things are GREAT and only £23 !

[Dan]

You might want to buy a guide book to fill in the gaps:

http://www.rucsacs.com/books/West-Highland-Way/

The 'Planning' extract on the site has a route profile, total ascent is about 13,500ft across the route - Essex it ain't!

http://www.rucsacs.com/lookinside/West-Highland-Way/

[Womble]

I'll help if I can, but I'm going to need a bit more info!


a) Which ascent?  Milingavie to Drymen is basically flat. After Drymen there's Conic Hill, which is a small lump of scenery marking the Highland Boundary Fault. After that, it's up and down a little along Loch Lomondside, before a long slow drag up to Tyndrum, then flat-ish along Rannoch Moor plateau. After Rannoch Moor, you've got the Devil's Staircase which is long and steep and takes you up and over to Kinlochleven. From there, it's up and over again into Glen Nevis and then down into Fort William, which provides ice cream and cold beer.


b) The leads will help, since they'll then only walk the same distance you do, rather than 5x as far. I'd take boots though, since if you suddenly find you need them on day four, you're stuffed if you haven't already got them with you (You're using a gear sherpa service aren't you?).


c) The guidebooks will tell you, but basically yes. You may be able to buy things in campsite shops etc, but there are no 'proper' shops between Drymen and Crianlarach. Tyndrum has a good shop that sells all of the essentials, but then there's not much between there and KinlochLeven, and again between there and the end. Does that help?

[suziequeue]

MOZZIES........


They can be a NIGHTMARE in the summer. Keep your sleeves rolled down if you can and use insect repellant containing 50% DEET........ but if you don't fancy that then anything. I would suggest that you also invest in one of these hats with a net veil.

[Fleecewife]

The only bit I've done is the Devil's Staircase from Glencoe over to Kinlochleven.  The dogs managed fine and so did I.  I'm not fit and don't do uphill well, but I took my time with the ascent and really loved it.  It can be quite crowded around that area, but I think there will be some lonely stretches.
The one rather odd item I would always take now is, weirdly, a telescopic umbrella 

[Kitchen Cottage]

Thank you for this, the more tips the better!

Can anyone recommend a particular brand of midge repellent.... we don't have midges in Essex!

which ascent?  I didn't know there was more than one.  I am just doing "the WHW".  I have a guide book and map but thought it was a single path?  So... all 93/4 miles of it might be the answer?

The leads are essential as one dog might run at deer.... I shall get boots.  They are cheap off email.

I am using a gear Sherpa, as well as the suitcase I'll be transporting a dog crate for the dogs at night (I want to minimise cleaning for the hotels)

We are taking some "stocks" in our backpacks...

Anymore tips would be very gratefully received.... People keep saying things like "oh you must stop off at this distillery" or "you must climb ben nevis".... but basically at fat and fifty with 3 dogs.... I suspect side tours are out of the questions!

[SallyintNorth]

Hereabouts, all the farmers swear by 'Avon Skin So Soft' to keep the midgies away.  The local agri merchant even sells it!

It is reputed that eating Marmite makes you less appealing to midgies, but that could be rural myth!

[pharnorth]

Sally on my next trip up to Cumbria any visit to the Cockermouth livestock market will be enhanced by looking at the lovely complexions of those hill farmers. Your not an Avon rep are you?   

[Womble]

Skin so soft is an Avon moisturiser that people found also works as a midgie repellent. In my experience, it works by making your skin so greasy that the midgies get their mouthparts gummed up - i.e. I've never really been that impressed by it. Likewise I don't use DEET anywhere near my skin. Horrible stuff - you might as well use Crovect!    Marmite meanwhile will make you less appealing to everybody! 

One that definitely does work is "Autan Family". Couple that with a midgie net, and you'll be fine.

The WHW is just a long distance footpath, but obviously it goes up and down. (Though technically since it starts above sea level and finishes at sea level, I guess it's really a descent!?). Does this help?:



As you can see, it's not exactly flat, and thus wrong to talk about it as "the ascent", when actually there are lots of hills along the way. There are loads of blogs online from people who've done it. The big tip is space things out well (which you seem to have done). Also buy a large pack of Compeed blister plasters, and put them on IMMEDIATELY, AT THE FIRST SIGN of any irritation.

[Fleecewife]

Great visual Womble.  Just as well you're not starting at the Fort William end Kitchen Cottage - the Devil's Staircase looks quite a climb from that approach (although it's several miles so not nearly as steep as the DS from the west).  I did it from the Glencoe end so the bit to Kinlochleven was all down hill 

It sounds as if you really need to do some research into exactly what the route is like, with photos and a detailed description of the path.
Do take a good large scale map for when you accidentally take the wrong turn.

Yes, a midgie net is essential - those critters eat you alive, especially in the evenings.

It might be an idea to put a couple of knee supports in the luggage which is being transported for you.  I have always found that the downhills are very hard on the knees.

The emergency midgie repellent is bog myrtle, which you should be able to pick along the way. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myrica_gale

[Kitchen Cottage]

I've got the book and I've been reading blogs but it is hard to visual

My steps are
Milngavie to Drymen
Drymen to Rowardennan
Rowardennan to Ardlui
Ardlui to Bridge of Orchy (which is the one that scares me!)
Bridge of Orchy to Kingshouse
Kingshouse to Kinglochleven
Kinglochleven to Fort William.

Would it be possible for anyone to mark these in order of ascent.

The chart is great.. but doesn't have the first bit?
I have my knee supports already, I assure you xx

[Womble]

Don't worry about it unduly. The folks that fail (or hate it) are the ones who try and do it too quickly, and without any preparation. You've got a good route, with stops well spaced out. You've done some preparation, so your feet will be a bit hardened already, and you're not trying to carry all your worldly possessions either. Take it steadily and you'll be fine! 

There's not much point in ranking the climbs, as everybody will find different bits difficult. To take each of your sections in turn though:

Milngavie to Drymen - Pretty flat. Am I allowed to say boring? 
Drymen to Rowardennan - Small hike over the shoulder of Conic Hill (Balmaha) if you wish, but can be bypassed by sticking to the main road from Milton of Buchannan to Balmaha, and then the path around the lochside {edited for clarity, and also to say don't do this - see post below}. Otherwise flat (because it runs along the loch)
Rowardennan to Ardlui - Again no major hills because you're following Loch Lomond. However, the path does go up and down a bit depending on whether it's right by the loch, or going up higher along the side of the hill.
Ardlui to Bridge of Orchy (which is the one that scares me!) - Why does that scare you?  (is that your long day?) It's a long drag up, but not particularly steep. Start early, put one foot in front of the other and you'll make it.
Bridge of Orchy to Kingshouse - A few minor hills, but really you're up on the high plateau of Rannoch Moor, so nothing too dreadful.
Kingshouse to Kinglochleven - A steep ascent up the Devil's Staircase, then a long descent into KinlochLeven, which is at sea level.
Kinlochleven to Fort William. A steep ascent up and over into the Glen, then down into FortWilliam.

BTW, if you haven't already, add some tick hooks to your first aid kit, both for you and the dogs.

[Kitchen Cottage]

Thank you so much Womble!

Tick hooks added (Princess Nym, my friend and walking companion is a nurse so as a solicitor and a nurse we've got a lot of injury bases covered  )

The fear is... yes, the long day.  I am a fast walker but Princess Nym and her elderly Westie aren't, so I want to leave at 5am... which I doubt she'll do

That is so helpful 

[devonlady]

I would also suggest a small jar of Vaseline in case of blisters/ sore bits of feet. Don't apply to your foot but to the bit of boot that's rubbing.

[SallyintNorth]

Your not an Avon rep are you?   

I am so not.