Day 5: Rannoch Moor – Kinlochleven (15 miles)
Rannoch Moor — Kingshouse (6 miles, 9.66km). Total ascent: 336m, total descent: 270m, max height: 446m. Terrain: The surface is mainly good underfoot but on Rannoch Moor you are highly exposed in bad weather. There is no shelter of any kind available until you reach the White Corries ski centre (12 km) The scenery is spectacular but if conditions are poor, this can be a very tough stage of the Way.
Kingshouse — Kinlochleven (9 miles, 14.4km). Total ascent: 423m, total descent: 659m, max height: 547m. Terrain: The surfaces are mainly good but you are very highly exposed at its highest point you are at 550m before a long descent down to Kinlochleven, although short its still a hard stage in bad weather.
Day 5….an absolute killer!
A very early start after having gone to bed so early—something like 5.30am!!! First job of the day was to brew up and have a cuppa before setting off on the next leg. At that time in the morning, the air was still misty and the clouds were just rising. Again the scenery was magnificent, if not a little eerie at this ridiculous time in the morning.
After a cuppa with water collected from the nearby stream we set off on our way to Kingshouse with the thought of hopefully getting something to eat. We continued along the path, over the bridge at Alt Creagan Nam Meann and up towards the highest point of the first section of today at 446m.
The mist was coming in but the walking, although now painful at times was pleasant enough. Just after Alt Creagan Nam Meann, we stopped for a break and a drink of energy giving lucozade—hopefully this would give us the last blast of energy for us to make it to Kingshouse. At around the point where the track starts to descend, Tim spotted a cairn to the left and never one to miss an opportunity for a view, he decided to make the extra distance to see if anything could be seen.
The cairn was actually a memorial to Peter Fleming, a travel writer whose adventures are said to be even more daring than those of James Bond, the fictional character invented by his brother, Ian Fleming. The area in which we were walking—the Blackmount Estate is actually owned by the Fleming family.
Just past the memorial, we got our first sight of Stob Dearg (1,022m) on Buachaille Etive Mor. As we continued down the path from Glencoe, the A82, Kingshouse and the White Corrie ski area (the ski lift towers running down the side of Meall a Bhuiridh were clearly visible despite the misty weather) came into sight. We continued towards Stob Dearg bearing left at the infamous Blackrock Cottage.
The next 45 minutes or so as we walked towards the hotel at Kingshouse were slow and painful. Our weary and tired, blistered feet meant every step was painful. Having spent the last day or so in complete isolation, it was a shock to have to cross the busy A82. There was another vehicle track running off to the northwest and runs parallel to the main road. Until about 1930, this was the original motor road and was one of the first Military roads in the Highlands in the late 18th century following the Jacobite uprising. After about another mile, we eventually arrived at the Kingshouse Hotel (reputedly Scotland’s oldest inn) at around 8.30am—perfect timing for breakfast—all we had to do was see if they served it to the general public!?
As we ventured inside, the thought of a cooked English breakfast made our mouths water and with fingers crossed, we asked the receptionist if there was any availability—hooray, we were in luck!
Shattered, exhausted, bedraggled and in need of fuel we made our way into the full dining room and sat down with excitement as to what was going to appear in front of us. We must have looked an absolute sight in front of all the nicely showered and refreshed hotel guests. However, this did not deter us (we had earned our breakfast) and the full scottish breakfast was just what the doctor ordered.
A full tummy later, we set off for the next 9 miles to Kinlochleven—this was our penultimate day and we were almost at the end of our adventure. Setting out from the rear of the hotel, we passed board number 6 of the WHW and crossed the infant River Etive towards the hotel’s camping enclosure. Joining the minor road to Black Corries, we walked down the tarmac in the direction of Buachaille Etive Mor. After about 900 yards, we left the old Glencoe road towards the right. It climbed gently up the sides of Beinn a Chrulaiste, running parallel with the main road which was only about 500 yards away.
As we looked back to where we had started from, we discovered that the WHW was a very popular route today. Having not really seen many people for the last couple of days, the stream of people ascending the next section from Kings House was an odd sight. We hadn’t seen this many people for a few days. This all made perfect sense as the fact that the hotel had been fully booked had meant that we had had to take our tent if we had wanted to do the WHW in June.
We continued along the old military road for about 2½ miles and as we progressed, the dramatic coombe of Coire na Tulaich came into view immediately to the right of the summit of Stob Dearg (Red Point) while the neighbouring saddle shaped Little Shepherd (Bucachaille Etive Beag) appeared in the distance.
The path then joined the main road again, about 800 yards just short of Altnafeadh which was partially clouded in mist and cloud. From the solitary cottage at the bottom of the mountain, you could just about make a path up towards the top although from a distance it looked rather steep. Tim took great delight in teasing Keeley by saying that was the direction in which we were heading—the thought of walking up such a steep flank with a large backpack was not a pleasant one I can assure you!
Fortunately, this was not the route we were to take and although the fiercely named Devil’s Staircase was our route (the highest part of the WHW at 550m), the ascent of just over 800 feet to the col was in actual fact nowhere near as bad as the name suggested! Phew!
The origins of the name, Devil’s Staircase are unknown yet the ascent is one of only 3 on the WHW really worthy of being called an ascent (the first at Conic Hill and the last yet to come—the climb out of Kinlochleven). Whilst a slow ascent with weary legs, sore feet and a rather heavy backpack, the ascent actually required less effort than that of Conic Hill and once at the top, the views of the eastern end of Glencoe were amazing. The mist however was closing in on us but it was just too warm to have a jacket on—beside, it was only water and it was actually quite refreshing.
As the path towards the col flattened out a little, it was time for a rest (and for Tim just to double check the map—AGAIN—or was it just an excuse to rest his feet?!).
The path ahead was clearly visible….and very very long…this could have been quite a soul destroying sight but at least the path appeared to be relatively flat—a gentle stroll lie ahead of us….
The col was quite broad and the view ahead opened out quite gradually. The magnificent Mamores were spread about ahead of us with Ben Nevis, Carn Mor Deag and the Aonachs just behind them towards the left. The peaks that we could actually see however were Am Bodach, An Garbhanaich, Binnein Mor and Sgurr Eilde Mor (what strange names eh??).
We continued along the path, crossing a few rivers and one larger river which required us to cross over stepping stones….queue photo opportunity…(you’re probably getting used to the fact by now that every time there is water, Keeley likes to take a photo…. She should live by the sea!!).
The long descent down to Kinlochleven started at Choire Odhair. The surrounding scenery was pretty much mundane being just heather and moorland grasses. Despite the path being a gentle descent, the last 4 days were definitely taking their toll and stops and rests were becoming more and more frequent
Continuing the path down, the Blackwater Reservoir (an artificial lake) came into sight. We continued down the path through a couple of shadow valleys, the Coire Odhair Beag and the bigger Coire Odhair Mhor eventually coming to a wooden footbridge which crossed the Allt Coire Odhair Mhor. It was here that we had our first “together” photo opportunity by a couple of young lads who were walking the WHW from north to south (much harder!). They were absolutely soaked through to the skin having encountered nothing but bad weather along the way and as they had been camping, they had had nowhere to dry anything out. We wonder if they made it?!
After a small climb out of the Coire Odhair Mhor, the path reached the track and pipeline coming down from the Blackwater Reservoir. The pipeline channels water from the Blackwater dam at high pressure to the aluminium smelting works in Kinlochleven where it drives a hydroelectric power plant.
The sight of Kinlochleven and our destination for the evening was a welcoming sight—we were just a short distance away—what we didn’t know though was how hellish those last few miles would be! The descent down was a nightmare—pain, pain, pain all the way!
The path zig zagged around the slopes of the Coire Mhoraire, a picturesque, well forested valley falling from the Munro of Am Bodach away to the south west. This section was very steep in places and going down was so much harder than going up—especially with a heavy pack on (and mega sore feet!).
We continued painfully down the path and eventually reached the bridge crossing a small river where there was a not unpleasant small waterfall. We carried on along the path with the pipeline to our left (a most unpleasant sight in the woods) stopping on a more and more frequent basis.
Almost at the end of our day, we finally crossed the River Leven by an impressive footbridge at the rear of the aluminium works. We then went through a short section of woodland to emerge in Kinlochmore (a suburb of Kinlochleven although being so small, you’d arguably call it a suburb!).
The path soon started to follow the banks of the River Leven as it approached the town of Kinlochleven. It was here that the torrents of water from British Alcan’s hydroelectric plant emerged into the relatively sedate River Leven.
After a long, painful day, we decided to stay in a hotel—we stumbled upon the MacDonald Hotel / Lochside campsite. It was a relatively tired hotel which could have done with being updated and refreshed but it was a hotel nonetheless and more importantly, they had a room!
Once we had offloaded all of our gear, had a shower (bliss, bliss, bliss) and sorted out our feet as best we could (well Keeley’s to be honest—she had a couple of nasty blisters), we went for a little walk around the town (more walking—we must be mad!!). It was whilst we were out that we had our first bit of rain for the day, (“bit” being the operative word!).
We soon came across a relatively nice looking pub—the Tailrace Inn—well, it would have been rude not to have gone in and had a pint. After a well deserved drink, we went on to the local store where we stocked up on beer and snacks.
The plan was to have something to eat in the hotel, return to the room and relax with the beers. It sounded like a great plan!!
Before we headed back to the hotel, we went in search of the starting point for the last day—we wanted a relatively early start and we didn’t want to be messing around in the morning trying to find it!
After putting our booty in our room, we went in search of food (and more drinks).
The hotel bar not only had a fine selection of whisky but it also had a good selection of local real ales, one of which was called Three Sisters… well, it would have been rude not to have tried it!
We settled down for the evening with traditional pub food and local real ales—a nice end to what could only be described as a truly horrible day!
Day 1 (Milngavie – Balmaha) click here
Day 2 (Balmaha – Inversnaid) click here
Day 3 (Inversnaid – Auchtertyre) click here
Day 4 (Auchtertyre – Rannoch Moor) click here
Day 5 (Rannoch Moor – Kinlochleven) click here
Day 6 (Kinlochleven – Fort William) click here
A relaxing 2 days click here
Keels 