We were going to get up early this morning to be at the post office for 9....surprisingly we over slept so this didn't happen. By the time we surfaced and were going for showers Jonas was all packed up and pretty much ready to go so we said goodbye as we were unlikely to catch up with him. The showers in this place were really strange. There was three showers in one room and the only curtain was on the main door. Weird!! We found a half eaten punnet of raspberries on the bench next to our dishes, i guessed that they must have either just been left by Jonas or the other couple that were there so started eating them but jade was worried that they had been poisoned so wouldn't touch them!
When we were ready we went to he post office then got walking. The day started with a massive hill! We could see the big pipelines coming down and they looked like massive watersides. Scariest watersides ever!! By the time we got to the top of the hill we were sweaty messes!! Definitely the biggest climb so far. However, it was definitely worth it as again the view was lovely and we were surrounded by mountains. Lots of people walked past in full waterproofs and we were disgusted....how could they be wearing so many clothes?! It was boiling!
We carried along the path through the mountains and at the top of the next big hill we could see someone sat on the grass and as we approached they said "hello." Turns out it was our new frine Jonas! and he had been waiting for us and he had been there for 90 minutes! How cute! So we walked with him for the rest of the day. He asked Jade if we enjoyed the raspberries.....he had left them for us!!! Haha jade looked silly, definitely not poisoned.
We carried on walking for a while then stopped for a quick lunch before the rain came in.It didn't seem to take us long to get to our destination- Kings House- and it was still very early, only about 3 o clock, so we decided to buy a drink so we could use and abuse the facilities before walking on to find somewhere to wild camp. After chatting to a group f guys who had come from that direction we found out that there was no wild camping for the next 10 miles so we ended up staying where we were, pitching our tents in a nice spot by the river. There was a really tame deer which was just wondering around outside the pub which we thought was really strange but also very cute!
After dinner we were back in the pub for a cup of tea! We played some cards and Jonas taught us some new games which were fun, you can play so many more card games with 3 people. Jade also embarrassed herself by asking who Federer was. You don't ask a swiss person who federer is!! When we got back the the tent me and jade had to write our diaries which we've been writing in every night. There was a mysterious squeaky noise and we couldn't work out if someone had a squeaky nose or if there was a noisy bird outside the tent.....you'd think it would be easy to work out but we still don't know what it was!!
Sunday, 3 July 2011
Day 16- Fort William to Kinlochleven
Was not impressed with the cold shower this morning! Was even more unimpressed that Jades was hot! She got the lay in and the hot shower...so unfair.
Today was the start of the West Highland Way. Where we joined the path there was a sign for a missing dog named Davey. The sign gave a description, phone number to ring if you found him and also said if anyone found him there was a one thousand pound reward!!!! So....we jotted down the number. A thousand pounds would come in very handy!
Todays walking was lovely and our first taste of what felt like real 'wilderness' as we walked through the mountains. We passed lots of people walking in the opposite direction but saw only one couple going the same way as us. We wondered why this was but later found out that the West Highland way is traditionally walked south to north.
We found a nice spot with a brilliant view for lunch and had fun watching and feeding the weirdly tame birds. There were loads of them surrounding us....i felt like snow white! They were so cheeky! They were peeking at our pitta breads, sitting on our bags and when Jade lined bread up down her leg they were swooping in to get it!! After lunch we experienced how changeable the weather is in the mountains, we turned a corner and went from sunshine into pouring rain! Again we had the dilema of whether to get wet and saty cool or put coats on and boil!
Just before we started down the path to Kinlochleven we met a man named Patrick who was on his way to John O Groats. We love meeting LeJogers and hearing some of their stories and getting advice. When we got down into the village the first stop was the post office as Jade had a parcel to collect. We got there to find that on Wednesdays it shuts at 1 oclock....today was Wednesday. We were planning on walking on past here to wild camp but because of this we had to change our plans and after an amazing hot chocolate in the pub we walked to the campsite.
We set the tent up then started cooking on a nearby bench. Jade noticed that there was a boy roughly our age sitting alone on the bench just behind us. He seemed to be on his own so in the end Jade decided to go and invite him to join us. He turned out to be swiss and jade was worried that after inviting him over he may not even be able to understand us.....but there was nothing to worry about as his english was amazing!!
We sat out chatting for a few hours and were being eaten alive by midgies! I've never seen so many in one area before...it was ridiculous! So...we decided it was time to find somewhere else to sit. Fortunately Jade has code breaking skills which i never knew about and we managed to get past the youth hostels high security and sneak into the dining room. Result! We enjoyed being free of the midgies and took advantage of the kettle and made a hot chocolate! At this point i think Jonas thought we were criminals and when we told him to do a guilty face for a picture he looked confused and said "i can't do a guilty face." We found some trivial pursuit cards and had a little game. We were so impressed that Jonas could understand and answer trivial pursuit questions in a foreign language!! We then snuck out again and filled the drying room with stuff before heading to bed.
Today was the start of the West Highland Way. Where we joined the path there was a sign for a missing dog named Davey. The sign gave a description, phone number to ring if you found him and also said if anyone found him there was a one thousand pound reward!!!! So....we jotted down the number. A thousand pounds would come in very handy!
Todays walking was lovely and our first taste of what felt like real 'wilderness' as we walked through the mountains. We passed lots of people walking in the opposite direction but saw only one couple going the same way as us. We wondered why this was but later found out that the West Highland way is traditionally walked south to north.
We found a nice spot with a brilliant view for lunch and had fun watching and feeding the weirdly tame birds. There were loads of them surrounding us....i felt like snow white! They were so cheeky! They were peeking at our pitta breads, sitting on our bags and when Jade lined bread up down her leg they were swooping in to get it!! After lunch we experienced how changeable the weather is in the mountains, we turned a corner and went from sunshine into pouring rain! Again we had the dilema of whether to get wet and saty cool or put coats on and boil!
Just before we started down the path to Kinlochleven we met a man named Patrick who was on his way to John O Groats. We love meeting LeJogers and hearing some of their stories and getting advice. When we got down into the village the first stop was the post office as Jade had a parcel to collect. We got there to find that on Wednesdays it shuts at 1 oclock....today was Wednesday. We were planning on walking on past here to wild camp but because of this we had to change our plans and after an amazing hot chocolate in the pub we walked to the campsite.
We set the tent up then started cooking on a nearby bench. Jade noticed that there was a boy roughly our age sitting alone on the bench just behind us. He seemed to be on his own so in the end Jade decided to go and invite him to join us. He turned out to be swiss and jade was worried that after inviting him over he may not even be able to understand us.....but there was nothing to worry about as his english was amazing!!
We sat out chatting for a few hours and were being eaten alive by midgies! I've never seen so many in one area before...it was ridiculous! So...we decided it was time to find somewhere else to sit. Fortunately Jade has code breaking skills which i never knew about and we managed to get past the youth hostels high security and sneak into the dining room. Result! We enjoyed being free of the midgies and took advantage of the kettle and made a hot chocolate! At this point i think Jonas thought we were criminals and when we told him to do a guilty face for a picture he looked confused and said "i can't do a guilty face." We found some trivial pursuit cards and had a little game. We were so impressed that Jonas could understand and answer trivial pursuit questions in a foreign language!! We then snuck out again and filled the drying room with stuff before heading to bed.
Day 15- Another Rest Day in Fort William
Set no alarms this morning and just woke up when we were ready. When we eventually got up we showered, went and asked if we could charge our ipods in reception, then started packing everything away.We decided that today we would move to the Glen Nevis campsite which was 4 miles away and right next to the West Highland Way. We thought it wouldn't be much effort today and we would appreciate it tomorrow!
Glen Nevis campsite was right in the valley surrounded by mountains and at the bottom of Glen and Ben Nevis.... it was beautiful! When we got there we set everything up again then walked back the way we had just come from into town. In town we got a few more jobs done before popping into tescos for some lunch which we then went and ate on a bench in the high street. There was a dutch guy sat behind us who then started talking to us. Him and a friend had just finished walking the west highland way the day before and his friend had decided to walk up Ben Nevis today but as his feet were too sore he didn't go with him.
Next stop was the pub from yesterday to make the most of the wi-fi again and fully charged ipod. Had a lovely couple of hours just relaxing and watching the apprentice and waterloo road. Waterloo road was very emotional so we were both sat in the pub crying!! After this we walked back to the campsite. It was a gorgeous evening and when we got back we found a bench and sat down to cook some dinner....very civilised!
Glen Nevis campsite was right in the valley surrounded by mountains and at the bottom of Glen and Ben Nevis.... it was beautiful! When we got there we set everything up again then walked back the way we had just come from into town. In town we got a few more jobs done before popping into tescos for some lunch which we then went and ate on a bench in the high street. There was a dutch guy sat behind us who then started talking to us. Him and a friend had just finished walking the west highland way the day before and his friend had decided to walk up Ben Nevis today but as his feet were too sore he didn't go with him.
Next stop was the pub from yesterday to make the most of the wi-fi again and fully charged ipod. Had a lovely couple of hours just relaxing and watching the apprentice and waterloo road. Waterloo road was very emotional so we were both sat in the pub crying!! After this we walked back to the campsite. It was a gorgeous evening and when we got back we found a bench and sat down to cook some dinner....very civilised!
Day 14 - Rest Day Fort William
Of course it rained today! We were never going to make it to the hospital for 10am.... we started off with a lie in and it was a 2 mile trek to the hospital, spent about an hour in a&e this morning and had the xray, was told no bone damage but soft tissue damage, given stronger painkillers and we were off! We were starving as didn't have much time for breakfast so we treated ourselves at nicos fish and chips and had amazing sausage, chips and lots of mushy peas!
After lunch I was on the hunt for a new base layer as i had somehow annoying lost mine in Inverness, Fort William was suppose to be the 'Outdoor capital of the UK' and i couldn't find one I liked! Instead of buying a bsase layer i got a very lovely new north face coat as an early 21st birthday day present!
Finding internet in Fort William was very difficult! And tourist information tried ripping us of and i was having none of it, luckily we were recommended Nevis Sport which was an outdoor shop, cafe, internet cafe and bar all in one! Lovely! We managed to put up most of the pictures on to the internet but Beck's camera ran out of battery which was a shame but hopefully they will be up soon. As my phone was broken i rang up orange to arrange to deliver anew one but the stupid woman kept saying to me that she could only deliver inside of the UK, i lost count telling her of course fort William was in the uk, it was in Scotland! WHICH IS IN THE UK. She explained to me that she had live in the UK for 9 years, i think shes needs to live here for another 9 to brush up on her geography (currently day 20 and stil no phone)
As it was rest day we found a lovely pub on the high street with free wifi and caught up on the apprentice, then the long walk back to the campsite, as feet still needed repairing we decided not to climb Ben Nevis :( but to take another rest day.
After lunch I was on the hunt for a new base layer as i had somehow annoying lost mine in Inverness, Fort William was suppose to be the 'Outdoor capital of the UK' and i couldn't find one I liked! Instead of buying a bsase layer i got a very lovely new north face coat as an early 21st birthday day present!
Finding internet in Fort William was very difficult! And tourist information tried ripping us of and i was having none of it, luckily we were recommended Nevis Sport which was an outdoor shop, cafe, internet cafe and bar all in one! Lovely! We managed to put up most of the pictures on to the internet but Beck's camera ran out of battery which was a shame but hopefully they will be up soon. As my phone was broken i rang up orange to arrange to deliver anew one but the stupid woman kept saying to me that she could only deliver inside of the UK, i lost count telling her of course fort William was in the uk, it was in Scotland! WHICH IS IN THE UK. She explained to me that she had live in the UK for 9 years, i think shes needs to live here for another 9 to brush up on her geography (currently day 20 and stil no phone)
As it was rest day we found a lovely pub on the high street with free wifi and caught up on the apprentice, then the long walk back to the campsite, as feet still needed repairing we decided not to climb Ben Nevis :( but to take another rest day.
Day 13 - Laggan Locks to Fort William
Today was a long day. Woke up to some really heavy rain! We were hoping it sounded worse in the tent then it actually was but nope, it really was raining that heavily! We made3 it to the toilets 50m away and our waterproofs were drenched!
We eventually got out of the tent after packing away and getting ready as much as we could from our shelter. We had our first putting the tent down and away in the rain...... then went to find someone to return Steves key to.
Gary wasn't there (guy we were told to return the key to) so we asked around and a weird guy told us that he worked there....only later to say that he didn't actually (rubbish psych) we instantly knew tht he was strange and even weirder when he took the toilet and shower key off beck#s arm! We were pretty much robbed! Thankfully Gary came past and saved the day! So it was down to business, the weather wasn't playing ball and could not make it's mind up whether or not it wanted to rain or shine....which led to us getting very sweaty walking uphill in rain coats! The first break of the day was not relaxing as we were midged. They came in their swarms and they came in there hundreds! It was time to move on!
The second break wasn't much better my feet (jade) were in agony again so we had a break (midged again) and met Ann and John (although John might not be his name, he looked like a john) we had been looking out for them for the past few days since Iain had told us they were on their way, they were a couple in their 60's walking LEJOG and they informed us that Fort William was still 13 miles away! so we got a move on and we hoped that a small village at the end of the road would sell food as supplies were now down to an apple each.... But it didn't. It was now a long walk along one of the most boring canals I have ever walked along (walked along 2) in the rain. And we were hungry, Becks stupidly asked me if i was okay and i told her about the Victoria sponge i was thinking of, she told me to stop talking as she was really hungry so we stopped and had a dissatisfies apple (desperate times!)
Fially made it to a small village on the outskirts of Fort William called Caol where we found a londis and binged. We no longer looked like human beings but crazy women from deep in the woods that had emerged and found chocolate muffins and milionaire shotbread. I was starting to feel sad as my toes were sore and everyone we asked in caol kept giving us different directions to the camp site, we must have rambled around for another hour until we finally saw Lochy Caravan Park! Today marked the first time we had to call home for Google street map directions as surprise suprise my phone was broken. I rang mum which was a bad move as she had told me that she 'tidied' my room e.g. thrown out all the stuff i need, she said i had 94 pairs of socks and that no one needed that many so she threw some out...... and some underwear! I was so angry, and took it out on poor Becks (hope mum feels bad).
When we finally got to the caravn park we sheltered in the showers as we were sick of the rain, we then manned up and set up the tent, i could hardly walk by now and knew that i should go to the hospital in Fort William, we asked the camp site owner for a taxi number ad he insisted that he took us to the hospital! Very lovely as it was pretty late, we arrived at A&E and only waited half an hour or so to be seen, they told me that it didnt look good and the worst thing i could be doing for it was walking, Giving up now was not an option! I was told to come back in the morning for an x ray as they couldnt do it at night.....
We eventually got out of the tent after packing away and getting ready as much as we could from our shelter. We had our first putting the tent down and away in the rain...... then went to find someone to return Steves key to.
Gary wasn't there (guy we were told to return the key to) so we asked around and a weird guy told us that he worked there....only later to say that he didn't actually (rubbish psych) we instantly knew tht he was strange and even weirder when he took the toilet and shower key off beck#s arm! We were pretty much robbed! Thankfully Gary came past and saved the day! So it was down to business, the weather wasn't playing ball and could not make it's mind up whether or not it wanted to rain or shine....which led to us getting very sweaty walking uphill in rain coats! The first break of the day was not relaxing as we were midged. They came in their swarms and they came in there hundreds! It was time to move on!
The second break wasn't much better my feet (jade) were in agony again so we had a break (midged again) and met Ann and John (although John might not be his name, he looked like a john) we had been looking out for them for the past few days since Iain had told us they were on their way, they were a couple in their 60's walking LEJOG and they informed us that Fort William was still 13 miles away! so we got a move on and we hoped that a small village at the end of the road would sell food as supplies were now down to an apple each.... But it didn't. It was now a long walk along one of the most boring canals I have ever walked along (walked along 2) in the rain. And we were hungry, Becks stupidly asked me if i was okay and i told her about the Victoria sponge i was thinking of, she told me to stop talking as she was really hungry so we stopped and had a dissatisfies apple (desperate times!)
Fially made it to a small village on the outskirts of Fort William called Caol where we found a londis and binged. We no longer looked like human beings but crazy women from deep in the woods that had emerged and found chocolate muffins and milionaire shotbread. I was starting to feel sad as my toes were sore and everyone we asked in caol kept giving us different directions to the camp site, we must have rambled around for another hour until we finally saw Lochy Caravan Park! Today marked the first time we had to call home for Google street map directions as surprise suprise my phone was broken. I rang mum which was a bad move as she had told me that she 'tidied' my room e.g. thrown out all the stuff i need, she said i had 94 pairs of socks and that no one needed that many so she threw some out...... and some underwear! I was so angry, and took it out on poor Becks (hope mum feels bad).
When we finally got to the caravn park we sheltered in the showers as we were sick of the rain, we then manned up and set up the tent, i could hardly walk by now and knew that i should go to the hospital in Fort William, we asked the camp site owner for a taxi number ad he insisted that he took us to the hospital! Very lovely as it was pretty late, we arrived at A&E and only waited half an hour or so to be seen, they told me that it didnt look good and the worst thing i could be doing for it was walking, Giving up now was not an option! I was told to come back in the morning for an x ray as they couldnt do it at night.....
Invermoriston to Laggon Locks
We were up by 7 and stuff was sorted by the time Steve was leaving for work so he took lots of our stuff with him. Before he went he asked if we had a set of keys for the toilets and showers at the locks. We replied no wondering why he thought we might and he lent us his own set saying just to leave them for him in the morning. We later found out that people normally have to pay for keys so this was very kind of him!
With only one light bag between the two of us we got walking and it was amazing how much faster progress was. However, we had not gone to far when Jades toes really started to hurt. She battled on for a while but when we got to a sign that said Fort Augustus (a place we were passing through) 2 miles, this pushed her over the edge and the first tears of the trip were shed. She took some parecetamol and battled on and we were soon there. We really liked Fort Augustus, it was really pretty but there were lots of tourists about. We were watching two funny Japanese ladies for ages. One was taking a picture of the other posing touching the ground with one hand and she must have taken hundreds of the same photo but with a slightly different patch of grass!! Very funny!We stopped here and ate lunch by the canal before carrying on. From here it was along the canal the whole way to Lagan Locks. Along the way we spotted a really cute looking tea rooms which was just lots of tables someone had put in their garden, we didn't really think that we should stop because we'd had a break just 10 minutes before but we couldnt just walk past!....so we went in.
An hour and a cup of tea and scone each later we got walking again. We passed a couple out on a bike ride who on hearing what we were doing gave us some money for the childrens hospice. We then turned the corner and saw the sign saying Laggan Locks. We were shocked! We thought we still had a long way to go yet because the lady yesterday said it was a really long way. This was a nice surprise! After finding Steve and being reunited with our stuff we put the tent up, cooked and went to bed.
Monday, 27 June 2011
Day 11- Lewiston to Invermoriston
Worst shower so far...was so disappointing!! This morning we met the first walker coming the other way, heading for John O Groats, we later found out he was called Ian. Was nice chatting to him and sharing stories. He told us that he'd met a few couples walking the same way as him including a couple in there 60's so we said we'd keep an eye out for them. Today was much the same as yesterday, a path through the forest. It seemed to be a very stop start day for one reason or another and we soon decided to stop in Invermoriston and have an early night rather than go on to Fort Augustus which was the original plan.Today we sawe a deer, slow worm and a frog, good day for wildlife!
We found a bench that was on a patch of grass looking over loch ness, it was like a stage! We had the ipod out and had a little performance...rude not to!We nearly got caught singing and dancing to loch ness as a group of cyclists came around the corner. We quickly stopped what we were doing....i think they thought we were a bit weird with our leki poles (microphones) in our hands and looking guilty.
When we got into the village we got some food for dinner and asked the lady about campsites. She told us there was one a mile down the road. This was a bit out the way but we thought oh well we'll have to walk the extra. Whilst we were looking round the shop the lady then came over an said, "i could see you were looking tired and my aunty owns the campsite so i rang her and she's coming to pick you up," this was lovely of her and we thought as long as we walk back here to the shop in the morning that will be fine because we wont have missed out any distance. The campsite was small but really nice, the toilet/shower was really decieving....from the outside it looked really run down buit inside it was amazing!! Best shower yet!
Attacked again by midgies so we stayed in the tent with fly sheets done up! The campsite owners husband (Steve) walked up to our tent and asked if we were heading to Laggan Locks tomorrow. He went on to say that if we were he worked there and was leaving at 8 in the morning but if we wanted he could drop some of our stuff off there to save us carrying it. This was an amazing offer so we did not refuse, we just had to make sure we were up early the next day!
We found a bench that was on a patch of grass looking over loch ness, it was like a stage! We had the ipod out and had a little performance...rude not to!We nearly got caught singing and dancing to loch ness as a group of cyclists came around the corner. We quickly stopped what we were doing....i think they thought we were a bit weird with our leki poles (microphones) in our hands and looking guilty.
When we got into the village we got some food for dinner and asked the lady about campsites. She told us there was one a mile down the road. This was a bit out the way but we thought oh well we'll have to walk the extra. Whilst we were looking round the shop the lady then came over an said, "i could see you were looking tired and my aunty owns the campsite so i rang her and she's coming to pick you up," this was lovely of her and we thought as long as we walk back here to the shop in the morning that will be fine because we wont have missed out any distance. The campsite was small but really nice, the toilet/shower was really decieving....from the outside it looked really run down buit inside it was amazing!! Best shower yet!
Attacked again by midgies so we stayed in the tent with fly sheets done up! The campsite owners husband (Steve) walked up to our tent and asked if we were heading to Laggan Locks tomorrow. He went on to say that if we were he worked there and was leaving at 8 in the morning but if we wanted he could drop some of our stuff off there to save us carrying it. This was an amazing offer so we did not refuse, we just had to make sure we were up early the next day!
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