Blisters Destroyed Knees Lactic acid running through every muscle Blisters Ring Sting Blisters Dead Shoulders Lack of sleep Smelling like a goats arse Looking like a goats arse Blisters Some clothes ruined The haunting memory of sleeping the first night on a slab of concrete with poor shelter Seeing hills, maps, lochs, rocks and imagining climbing, scrambling & trekking when closing my eyes Car looking like its ready to jack it in (struggled to start at Milngavie Train Station and again when I filled up for my trip back) And that was only getting as far as Tyndrum. Had to make a judgement call when getting there, carry on and risk being back too late for work or take the train back and finish it off on one of the May bank holidays. The latter was the better option as heavy snow was still lying everywhere and was knee deep around Crianlarich (despite the weather being amazing throughout) we had the energy to carry on, just not the time. We had adapted to being in the wilderness and were enjoying ourselves, felt like real explorers At the start we struggled through just being WHW virgins and Conic Hill was a ****, a complete and utter ****. I was really asking a lot to do the whole walk in that given time. Planning it out from my desk is one thing but actually doing it is completely different, especially when hitting the trail past Rob Roy's cave. So I've split it over 2 bank holidays. Everyone I met were doing it over 5/6 days and thought we were no right in the head Even though it was tough, it was great fun. After I've went back to finish I'm going to plan a full one again but with 5 days and planned stops at hostels. I would recommend it to anyone, especially if its just to see the talent at the pub in Balmaha Got plenty pictures to put up but going to try and get some sleep, I've got a bout of insomnia and need to at least try sleeping!! ps I hate it when my Grandad is right!!! ****
You should try doing the Cambrian Patrol or Lanyard Trophy, then you'll know what pain is <MUIRLAUGH> Enjoy putting Tink Benz on your blisters <MUIRWINK>
I won't be doing any more walking for a while. Got out of hospital a few hours ago after getting an op on my knee. Tore the cartilage something awful. They've said I have signs of arthritis in it as well, and I'm the youngest person they seen with it.
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LR I'll post pictures of my knee after surgery when I can hook my phone to the computer. Pretty nasty
Tore the cartilage in my left knee, walked a few more miles and climbed conic hill before stopping. Had to go to hospital and was taken in for an op to repair my knee. Took the bandages off today and took a few photos. It's a bit of a mess.
its good that you got taken in early mate, i did mine then hopped up nevis and its bothered me for years. didnt go to the doc at the time and only got told what had happened with it 2 years after i'd done it (too late for surgery/physio the damage was done by that point ). how did you tear it? foot got caught and twisted your knee?
I don't remember anything like that causing it. It just started really hurting and got worse as we went. The docs knew straight away what I'd done and got me to go back Saturday but I only seen a consultant then. Was told to go up to the ward Sunday morning and they took me in and operated. The anaesthetic is amazing. I remember him attaching the thing to my hand, then I had 3 breaths of oxygen. Next thing I know I'm in the recovery room 2 hours later
That Conic Hill was a bastard, there was simply no need for that. Wanted to take the low level bypass but couldnt ****ing find it I'm going back up on one of the bank holidays to finish it. Doing my head in that we didnt have enough time to get it done. Then I'll probably do a full one next year sometime but give myself 5 days with proper stops planned and much less weight.
its all about the weight i didnt envy you after it dumped that snow, knew that from drymen onwards you'd be truding through snow which'll just kill you time wise. how did your feet hold up?
There was a fair bit of snow at Conic Hill but apart from that there was none until Crianlarich and that really slowed us down. If it wasnt for that then I think we would have went for the finish line but we knew we'd hit higher ground and be slowed down even more. Got one big blister on my right foot but other than that they held up fine. Was actually planning on going to the gym this morning just to loosen off and get back into the swing of things but my car is ****ed. Something happened to it on the way back down the road so I'll need to book it into the garage this week
sounds like your feet are not too bad then my plan is still to go for it in a oner in under 48 hours in may, the weather should be a lot better (although the midges will be in force) so that should help, my mate did it in 42 a couple of years ago and think by getting someone to run support and therefore cutting out most of the weight (all i'll carry is walking poles, water and a jacket) it should be okay
It can be done in 48 hours but you'll need to plan your stops carefully. The baggage service is brilliant, we dumped one of our bags at Rowardennan and picked them up at Tyndrum, only costs ÃÆÃâÃâ ââ¬â¢ÃÆââ¬Â âââ‰â¢ÃÆÃâÃââÃÆââââ¬à ¡ÃâìÃÆââ¬Â¦ÃâáÃÆÃâÃâ ââ¬â¢ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ãâ¦Ã¡ÃÆÃââââ¬à ¡ÃÆââ¬Å¡Ãâã7 for each drop off. Dont leave early in the morning though, as you'll end up taking the trail towards Rob Roy's cave at night time and that will bring certain death. You need to climb over hunners of rocks and cross loads of waterfalls, try that at night time and chances are you'll tumble down the steep hill into loch lomond and be found 2 months later by a Kayaker taking a break. You want to plan it so you're hitting Rowardennan at sunrise. Then after you pass Inverarnan the tracks are actually really good for walking (providing the snow has cleared) I heard from others its like that all the way to Fort William apart from the Devil's Staircase which you'll be hitting at sunrise again
yeah we've been speaking about the loch lomond bit and would def be aiming for daylight hours whilst going through, by the end of may the days will also be a lot longer with last light being something like 9pm so that'll be a big help
Might be lighter for longer than that in May, we got light up until around 830 when it started to get dark pretty quick so we set up camp around 845. It was pitch black by 9pm. I was looking at it again after experiencing the walk and reckon the best way to tackle it would be this.... Milngavie 6am - Dinner at Balmaha before hitting Rowardennan by 9pm Leave Rowardennan 5am hitting Inverarnan for a late lunch then making it to Tyndrum by around 9pm. Leave Tyndrum 6am and power it to Kinlochleven. Finish off the last 16 miles leaving early in the morning and catching the last train back down. There are cheap, good hostels at Rowardennan, Tyndrum and Kinlochleven and it means you are always walking at daylight which is important after what I've seen. I would get in touch with Travel-Lite and arrange 4 drop offs for my bag full of clothes meaning I'd just be walking with first aid, a change of socks, energy bars and water. Could make it 3 drop offs and do the last 16miles with the bag. After getting a taste for it I can see how my Grandad done it almost every summer, its a brilliant walk.
we've basically got someone with a van so we'll be carrying **** all and meeting them every 15-20 miles for socks/food/hour break or so we're looking at setting off in the dark as the first 15-20 are pretty flat so we'll have plenty of time to do loch lomond in daylight. the devils staircase is steep and continuous but there's only a short bit that you'd need to watch yourself, othere than that it just be headtorches and tabbing without speaking to one and other spacing it out and doing it all in daylight would be good and actually enjoyable though as its a great walk through glen coe and loch lomond
