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The original was posted on /r/Ultralight by /u/Border-Infamous on 2024-10-12 16:55:43+00:00.

I got back from the West Highland Way earlier this week and am so, so happy that I just went for it despite my limited experience; it was a really nice one to do as (even as we go into off-season), there’s so much tourist infrastructure to help you along.

This was the second time I’ve ever camped, and my first time solo camping and/or solo thru hiking. I still have a way to go in my UL journey and thought I’d share my gear and trail reflections here. Partly for anyone thinking of going in October and/or with a limited amount of time to do it, and partly to see what people think of my pack improvements (I’m sure there will be some giggles at my current pack).

That being said didn’t get a single blister, nor did I aggravate a shoulder/back injury or have any leg fatigue after the walk. I’m pretty happy that my gear choices and resulting pack weight let me do what I wanted to without injury.

Itinerary

I did a modified version (71 miles instead of 96) over 3.5 days as I had to get a 2.30pm bus out Fort William on day 4:

Day 0: Leave London 5pm > Glasgow 

(Stayed in a hotel by Glasgow station, then left work gear in a left luggage)

Day 1: Milngavie to Milarochy Bay (20 miles) 

Day 2: Milarochy to Inversnaid (14 miles- half day due to rain)

Inversnaid> Tarbet > Bridge of Orchy 

Day 3: Bridge of Orchy to Kinlochlaven (22 miles) 

Day 4: Kinlochleven to Fort William (15 miles) 

Leave Fort William 2.30pm > Glasgow > London by 11pm 

(Picked up left luggage and had a shower at Glasgow Station) 

I had intended to do 23 miles on day 2 (rather than 14). However, I had a late start at Millarochy Bay due to rain and ended up getting the latest ferry from Inversnaid (3.30pm). That ferry took 30 mins to get to Tarbet, where I had 10 minutes to change onto a bus (otherwise I would have been waiting until late evening). By the time the bus was passing through Inverarnan (where I planned to get off and walk 9 miles to Inveroran, past Bridge of Orchy) it was 4.30pm. As much as I wanted to get to the Inveroran Hotel and wild camp by the lake, I decided to get off the bus at Tyndrum. It meant I could take advantage of drying rooms at By the Way campsite and get a cooked meal in town. I got the first bus to Bridge of Orchy in the morning- 8.30am in October (Bridge of Orchy is 2.5 miles out of Inveroran). The 8.30am bus time did mean I had to watch my pace to get to Kinlochleven (22 miles away including the Devil’s Staircase), but the damp and low light made it difficult to start much earlier anyway.

Weather

It was max 16 during the day and got to about 8 at night (celsius). 

Changing between clear and dry to overcast and drizzly during the day, with heavy rain at night. One morning of heavy rain meant a half day on day 2. Last day (day 4) was glorious sunshine. 

Cold wind on some of the exposed final sections. 

Pack

• Base weight : 9.35kg/20.6lb (all items minus food, water, worn clothes and boots)
• Skin out base weight: 11.38kg/25lb (all items, including clothes and boots, minus food and water)
• Skin out weight: 13kg (all items)
• Loaded packed weight: 11.2 kg (in my bag at the start)

Items I’d loose:

• Map. I didn’t need my map on the WHW, and I don’t thing most people would. I bought the GPX map from the Going The Whole Hogg blog and it was great; the GPS worked the whole way and it was really useful to quickly see where water and camping spots were (as I’m still developing my map reading skills!).
• Mid layer fleece (Patagonia FZ100) OR puffy (Forcaz down MT100). It was a cosy treat to have them both on in the evening, but one or the other would have been fine, particularly as both have hoods and I also had gloves and a headband.
• Socks and undies for each day; I took a second top and pair of leggings with me, undies for every day and lots of socks! I wanted fresh socks and undies and assumed that nothing would air dry even if I washed it somewhere. I don’t think anything could have air dried, but on the WHW has lots of campsites had laundry facilities with laundry and drying rooms that you can pay to use.
• Kindle. I didn’t use it. There wasn’t a whole lot of time for reading in this itinerary as my days were pretty long. There’s also plenty of opportunity to socialise in the towns.
• Electric pump for air mattress. It was good, but extra weight.
• Pillow: it just annoyed me.

Things I’d add

• Midge net/spray; even locals insisted I didn’t need to worry midges at all in October, but I still managed to get some bites on my face (luckily I was otherwise covered up) and wish I’d taken something to stop them.

I’d definitely appreciated and would keep the same:

• Wide and warm sleeping mat. I’m 5’3”/160cm and a gym-fit size 10/12, but I carry alot of my fat on my thighs and bum. It was only down to 8 celsius at night, but the ground was wet and cold. If I’d had a regular width sleeping mat, I would have spread over the sides upon lying down and felt the cold around my middle and not slept.
• Windproof shell rather than waterproof: I took a very old but recently re-waterproofed Goretex H5 Active jacket (a heavier version of Shakedry that doesn’t bead quite as well). I it bought for when I used to cycle to work. I run hot and wore my Montane Dart top over a Shock Absorber sports bra (wide straps, lots of coverage) and was still sweating with my average pace of 2.5 mph (that’s including breaks and steeps etc). As I run hot, it doesn’t make sense for me to wear a proper waterproof unless it’s really heavy rain. There was only one morning of walking time when it was heavy rain, and I was able to just adapt around it because there’s plenty of infrastructure on teh WHE. My choice was to either start later or buy a cheap poncho/pac-a-mac to go over my jacket if I really wanted to get the miles in. I just waited it out a couple of hours, which meant I had a shorter day and ended up getting the bus a bit longer- but if it had been Summer or Spring, I would have just walked until a little later.
• Battery pack; it wasn’t actually that easy to charge my phone given the pace I wanted to keep, so I’m pleased I had a battery pack.
• Camp shoes: the ground at camps was saturated enough that it caused a splash as you walked through. That would have been miserable barefoot and trying to put boots on whist keeping dry and not letting midges in the tent would have been tricky. My Madrid EVAs got well used each night.
• Microfibre towel (perhaps a lighter one?): I used this to dry my feet and legs when coming back into the tent at night (leaving the towel in a bag outside), and also to wipe the tent down in the morning. When I came in at night, I could sit my bum in the tent and then wipe my feet and legs off before bringing my legs in and shutting the midges out!
• Poles. My knees are so happy. There’s a lot of firm ground and downhill sections.
• Water bottle capacity. I took a 750ml water bottle- that was the right call. There was plenty of fresh water on the last stretch, and lots of taps along the way. I bought a 500ml plastic bottle for Kingshouse>Kinglochleven in case I ran out of steam and had to wild camp, but I didn’t need it. I could get a lighter bottle.
• Boots and daily fresh socks; I wear a pair of Meindl boots that are on the big side and had fresh Bridgedale socks every day. Lots of people at camps were dealing with horrific blisters (even doing half the distance I was and with just day packs), whereas my feet were completely fine and I think that’s because I had clean socks and roomy boots (but I could have just washed stuff rather than taking so many pairs on the WHW). Trail runners would be softer on your feet on the Old Military Road sections and would definitely be the way I’d go in Spring or Summer for that reason, but I think having dry feet was key to keeping my feet blister free (albeit tired).

I’d also say that, given my time constraint and (not truly UL) pack weight, cutting out Inversnaid to Bridge of Orchy was the right call. It had been so slippy coming down Conic Hill that I can only imagine the scrambly part of Loch Lomond after Inversnaid would have been miserable. Plus I got to have an Irn-Bru and a Tunnocks Caramel bar on the ferry cruise! The other section I cut out (Inverarnan to Bridge of Orchy) was just walking alongside the road (albeit in a beautiful setting), and everyone agreed I didn’t miss much there. 

Definitely carry food and snacks from Inverraran/Tyndrum/Bridge of Orchy through Kingshouse if you go in October and aren’t booked into the Kingshouse hotel; don’t assume you can get anything at Kingshouse. I did Bridge of Orchy to Kinlocleven on Day 3 and planned to buy lunch and snacks at Kingshouse. However, the Inn in Kingshouse is shut in October and the Kingshouse Hotel was only taking food orders from those who had booked 6 months in advance; it’s a pretty formal setting and there’s no ‘shop’ element. I got lucky and managed to get some soup and bread, but my walk over the Devil’s Staircase to Kinclochlaven would have been miserable if I hadn’t been able to.