Long distance walking and camping
Hiking and wild Camping in Scotland
Walking the West Highland Way
Great Glen way holidays
Southern Upland Way trips

The West Highland Way

Our Walk of The West Highland Way, Carn Mor Dearg Arete & Ben Nevis Summit Camp

  1. Milngavie to Drymen
  2. Drymen to Ardess
  3. Ardess to Inverarnan
  4. Inverarnan to Tyndrum
  5. Tyndrum to Bridge of Orchy
  6. Bridge of Orchy to Kingshouse
  7. Kingshouse to Kinlochleven
  8. Kinlochleven to Glen Nevis
  9. End of West Highland Way
  10. Carn Mor Dearg Arete & Ben Nevis Summit Camp

Thursday 1st September:
Drymen to Ardess (14 miles/22 kilometres)

Drymen Loch Lomond badly fitting rucksack
Walking up beside the forest past Drymen and pleased with the positive turn of weather. Views back to the "Milk bar" campsite. First glimpse of Loch Lomond. We're glad we didn't continue from Drymen last night in the pouring rain, as where the wild campsite should have been, the forest has been cut down and is now marshy bog! It is important to have a comfortably fitting bag, even when carrying lightweight gear. This however is an example of "banana bag" and does the wearer no favours whatsoever!

Today we start refreshed and energized, looking forward towards Loch Lomond, something Alan hasn't seen before. Its sunny with strong blustery wind and we dry all of our stuff in twenty minutes flat by hanging it on the site's barbed wire fence and the tent's guylines. We write our journal (this!), and lacking toothpaste brush our teeth with soap. Jo is learning to insert contacts without a mirror. We walk through several miles of forest trail with gorgeous weather and are glad we didn't continue last night because it seems that the designated wild campsite had been cut down! Approaching Conic hill, we deem that a descent into the valley before it will be good practise for climbing the Carn Mor Dearg Arete later on - how naive we are! As we mount the beautiful Conic Hill we catch our first glimpse of mountains to the North and Loch Lomond proper. At the top a path curves round the conical tops (which are optional). On this path we happened upon a group of five students originally seen back at the railway line, before, we climb the steep side path to Conic Hill's highest peak. Conic Hill is a remarkable structure, with four distinct rounded steep mounds arranged linearly, with several supporting grassy knolls at the long ends.

Path up conic hill Islands of Loch Lomond Ben Lomond
The path up Conic Hill Conic Hill is a marvellous and unusual structure with its multiple conical hill tops - run up and down each one! The tops make perfect spots for lunch with views over the islands of Loch Lomond Looking up Loch Lomond, with Ben Lomond visible on the right. Conic Hill makes a lofty vantage point, but these photos don't convey the feeling of height.

We make a partial descent and take lunch on one of these knolls, gaining unobstructed views over Loch Lomond and the thickly forested island chains that it harbours. We also make out what we later firmly identity as Ben Lomond. At this early stage, we already feel the need to establish a lunchtime boot removal policy, to aid foot rest. Alan takes the opportunity to perform oncho (nail) surgery on Jo's foot. After lunch, the steep descent changes the perspective of view rapidly, and lush vegetated valleys obscure the loch further down.

Dumgoyach squint photo Looking through guide book
Looking South, The hillock of Dumgoyach can be seen, small amongst the fields, and we get an impression of how far we've come. One of Alan's infamous tilted photos. Here, however, he's excused as he simultaneously trims one of Jo's digging-in toenails. No blisters yet though! We're not lost, honest! Just identifying the surrounding features, but with some concern as we realise how far we still have to go on this, our longest day.
West Highland Way photo Conic Hill midges
The master navigator squints all-knowingly against the evening sun. Conic Hill descends into hillsides lushly carpeted with undergrowth. A midge infested bridge by Loch Lomond - a short rest and we move on quickly as we have already become accustomed to doing!
Loch Lomond Loch Lomond Ardess wild campsite
Sunset by Loch Lomond. We push on, eager to make the attractive wild campsite at Ardess, which is pictured in our Trailblazer guidebook (which we recommend). Tired and glad to get to the campsite in the failing light. The first job is to get yourself covered in midge repellant before you do anything at all!

We emerge in Balmaha on the side of Loch Lomond, and realising that evening is catching up with us and that we have a long way to go, we begin round the coast of the loch at an extraordinary rate. Jo was particularly energetic, though we are both in considerable pain from packs and shoes. Earlier that day, we had started off near pain free as our body parts had already started becoming used to strain. Today is our longest (and we hope our latest starting) day. Midges keep our breaks in check. We are treated to beautiful views across the loch and mountains, and to an orange sunset with the mountains on fire over the water! "Together we are stronger! Weaker never! Pole! Pole!" (Pole is Swahili for "slowly / take it easy") We repeat our motto with growing determination! We encounter a group of three - as yet unseen - foreign hikers, the female of whom is plainly in considerable foot pain. They pass us later but only by taking the road instead of the track. On seeing us, the two guys quickly get back on the trail again! We pass them again later, though do not see them at the wild campsite that evening - it seems they went to a hostel or B&B, yet they are loaded with equipment - bigger packs than us!

Ardess wild campsite Ardess wild campsite Ardess wild campsite
The next morning, Jo gets to planning the day ahead... Ardess wild campsite (round the back of Rowardennan Youth Hostel) is arguably the WHW's best designated "wild" campsite. Lovely and spacious, with flat grass, dotted with trees and a river running through it. To our surprise, we had the place to ourselves, as the more inferior hikers opted for the Youth Hostel. I think Alan might be a bit obsessed with this tent.
Ardess wild campsite Ardess wild campsite Ardess wild campsite
OK that proves his obsession. This picture also illustrates the technique of pegging your guylines well out to trip unwary axe-murderers in the night (one of Alan's more irrational preoccupations)! Lots of room and a lovely site too. No campfires though, which is quite understandable, and a sign requests that you limit your stay to one night only. A view of the trees on the far side of the river.

Ardess wild campsite, just beyond Rowardennan Youth Hostel, arrives more quickly than we thought it would to our rejoicing! It's a lovely site: flat, tree-dotted and cooled by the gurgling river that flows through it - and what's more it's deserted! We immediately don the roll-on midge repellant (highly convenient) and throw ourselves into a fantastically efficient camp set up. Jo puts up the tent and inner, Alan lights the stove and makes dinner. We only just make it into the tent within twilight to indulge in a spaghetti dinner even bigger than the previous night's, but we finish it all! Spaghetti, mushroom soup, dried onion, cheese, apricots and margarine all combine for ultimate satisfaction. By way of entertainment, we read the first of "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson, a novices account of his part-walk of America's massive 2200 mile Appalachian Trail. The weather this day had been the best that could have asked for and the on-site midges are tame. Today was our longest day - approximately 14 miles - a long trek with the packs, especially with Conic Hill, requiring about 9 hours of walking.