Now that I’m mostly dry again after the torrential rain in Scotland rain, it’s time to take a look back at what I saw on that trail. The West Highland Way (WHW) wasn’t my first European long trail, but it was my first trail in the UK. So I probably shouldn’t have been surprised at how much it truly differed from my other trail experiences.

Perhaps the real contrast between the WHW and my other thru-hike comes from all the new things I tried on this solo trek through the Scottish Highlands. I went much slower – walking only about half the mileage each day that I might normally hike the US. I hiked the trial inn-to-inn instead of camping. And I used a baggage transfer service so that I didn’t have to carry 100% of my gear each day.

The metrics below give a flavor of what this experience was really like.

Overview

• Distance of the WHW: 96.8 miles
• Southern Terminus: Milngavie, Scotland 
• Northern Terminus: Fort William, Scotland
• Year the trail opened: 1980
• Highest elevation: 1,801 feet (Devils Staircase)
• Lowest elevation: 33 feet
• Number of people who walk the entire WHW annually: 36,000
• Popularity among all of Scotland’s Great Trails: #1

TRAVEL

• Distance I flew to get to the UK: 5,006 miles
• High-speed train miles to the Scotland: 412 
• Train delays into Scotland due to someone threatening to jump from a bridge: 1
• Nights spent in Glasgow before my thru-hike:  1
• How I got between Glasgow and the WHW’s southern terminus: ScotRail train
• Number of buses I used mid-hike: 2 (between Tyndrum & Bridge of Orchy)
• Reason why: to break up the 19-mile stage 
• How I arrived planned to depart the northern terminus: train
• Consecutive days the train from Fort William to Glasgow was cancelled: 2
• Reason: 7 inches of rain in 48 hours!
• Train ticket refunded to me due to flooding: £36.20
• Bus tickets to Glasgow unexpectedly cancelled: 1 (also due to flooding) 
• Hotel reservations I had to shuffle/cancel as a result: 3
• Hours of sleep I lost fretting about travel disruptions: too many
• Means of transport used to get home: 5 (bus, train, tube, airplane, car) 

HIKING STATS

• Days spent hiking the WHW: 8
• Longest mileage day: 16.4 miles
• Shortest day: 7 miles 
• Average mileage: 12.1 miles/day
• Miles willing to detour off-trail for any given sight: ~1.5 mile
• Farthest I had to walk off-trail for lodging: 0.6 miles
• How I hiked the trail: solo
• People I saw thru-hiking the WHW with their dog: 1
• Largest group of people I met hiking together: 4
• Nationalities I met on the trail: 7 (US, English, Scottish, Dutch, Danish, German, Israeli)
• Fellow state highpointers I crossed ran into: 2

OUT IN NATURE

• National parks traversed: 1 (Loch Lomond & The Trossachs)
• Lochs directly beside the WHW:  4 (Lomond, Tulla, Leven, Eil) 
• Waterfalls photographed: > 40
• Ferries motoring past me on Loch Lomond: 1 
• Ferry boat passengers waving wildly to me as I hiked: ~12
• People spotted waterskiing on the loch: 1
• Forests where active timber harvesting was taking place: 1
• Ski resorts along the WHW: 1 
• Livestock gates I passed through: ~50
• Sheep creeps I walked into: 1
• Hydroelectric plants beside the trail: 1 (Kinlochleven)

HISTORY ON THE WHW

• Castles visited: 1 (Mugdock Castle)
• Infamous caves I accidentally bypassed: 1
• 2,000 year old fort sites visited: 1 (Dun Deardail)
• 14th century priory ruins located on the WHW: 1
• Historical battlefields: 1 (Battle of Dalrigh) 
• Year of that historic battle: 1306 AD
• Military memorials on trail: 2
• Scotsman with most things named after him: Rob Roy
• Scottish king I learned the most about on the WHW: Robert the Bruce (1274-1329 AD)

WEATHER 

• Days I needed my sunglasses in Scotland: 0
• Days with some rain: 6 (75% of the trek)
• Total amount of rainfall during my 8-day hike: 2.5 inches
• Rainfall received in the 48 hours immediately after my hike: 7 inches!!
• Total rainfall for my 10 days in Scotland: 9.5 inches
• Typical monthly rainfall for Scotland in October: 5.6 inches
• Number of days I got stuck in Fort William due the rain: 2 
• Days hiking with 20 mph headwind: 1
• Massive rainbows spotted: 3
• Umbrellas used on the WHW: 0 (I deliberately left it back in the US)
• Plastic ponchos purchased in its place: 1
• Cost for said poncho: £4 
• Items ruins by this poncho: 1 (my expensive rain jacket that it stained yellow)

FURRY COMPANIONS

• Scotland’s favorite pet: the dog
• Days I encountered dogs on the WHW: 100% of them
• Most dogs I saw accompanying a single day hiker: 6
• People I met taking their dog on a WHW thru-hike: 1
• Number of days I crossed paths with Benjamin (the thru-hiking dog): 2
• Evenings when dogs were sitting/laying inside the restaurant where I dined: 3
• Most common dogs seen: Border collies & golden retrievers
• Number of Scottish Terriers (Scotties) I saw: 0

OTHER ANIMALS

• Highland cows seen: 0
• Shetland ponies beside the trail: 3
• Sheep along the route: too many to count
• Most unusual sheep: Herbridean sheep (they grow double horns!)
• Free range chicken farms: 1
• Wild bears spotted on the WHW: 0
• Taxidermied (stuffed & mounted) bears: 1 (in the lobby of the Drovers Inn)
• Last time a wild bear actually roamed Scotland: 450 AD
• Reptiles I mistook for a snake: 1 
• What it really was: a slow worm – a type of legless lizard
• Only snake that’s native to Scotland: the Adder (yes it’s venomous too!)
• Unusual color of the frogs spotted near Loch Lomond: red

FOOD & DRINK

• Varieties of hard cider I tried on the WHW: 4
• Scottish Beers I tried: 1
• Whiskeys consumed while in Scotland: 0
• Cups of instant coffee I drank: 12
• Reason why: The Scottish people seem to abhor brewed coffee (in favor of tea!)
• Squares of Scottish tablet I tried: 2
• Scottish macaroni cheese pies devoured: 1
• Grams of fat in this savory meal: Approx. 1 gazillion
• Number of honesty boxes I passed selling snacks: 4
• Honestly boxes I patronized on the WHW: 1
• Times I ate haggis: 0
• Restaurants that served a vegetarian version of haggis: 2
• Favorite breakfast item in Scotland: eggs with smoked salmon
• Bakeries visited: 1
• Where I ate most my meals: pubs

LOGISTICS

• Nights spent camping on the WHW: 0
• Local Scottish inns I stayed in: 3
• Year one of these historical inns was first established: 1705 AD (Drovers Inn)
• Nights spent at a local B&Bs: 3
• Bunkhouse stays: 1 (Kingshouse)
• Stays in an old converted jail: 1
• Number of laundromats along the route: 1 (in Tyndrum)
• Loads of laundry washed during my hike: 1
• Cost for my inn-to-inn baggage transfer on the WHW: £70

FORT WILLIAM

• Nights I planned to stay in Fort William: 1
• Number of nights I actually spent there: 3
• Reason for the extension: heavy rainfall and flooding in Scotland
• Fort William’s claim to fame: gateway to Ben Nevis (the UK’s highest peak)
• Elevation of Ben Nevis: 4,406’
• Other trails that use Fort Williams as a terminus: 1 (Great Glen Way)
• Year the old fort (An Gearasdan) was built there: 1654 AD
• Number of outdoor clothing outfitters in town: 6 
• Celebratory meal at the end of the WHW: Indian food
• Breweries visited: 1 (Black Isle Bar)
• Times I’ve been to this Scottish brewery before: 1 (at their Inverness location in 2022)

Final Thoughts

The West Highland Way was a unique adventure that kept me on my toes. And while there was far more rain that I hoped for on this autumn trek, I’m eager to see more of the UK in the future. Perhaps I will try one of their trails in England or Wales in 2024.

Until then, if you’d like to see how this shorter hike stacks up to some of my other adventures, check out my “By the Numbers” page containing lots of fun details and trivia I experienced on other similar trails.