Walking the West Highland Way - Day 1 - Tyndrum to Bridge of Orchy

On a trip to the UK this spring, I managed to fit in some hiking with my daughter on the West Highland Way which runs from Milngavie to Fort William in Scotland. The whole route is 96 miles, but as we only had  a limited time to walk and we didn't want to turn the trip into an endurance test, we decided to do approximately half the walk - from Tyndrum to Fort William over four days.

Our first day was a relatively short walk from Tyndrum to Bridge of Orchy ( 7 miles) as the morning was spent getting to Tyndrum by train and while the nights are light in Scotland in May, we didn't particularly want to be walking in the evening. 

Originally, we had planned to carry all our belongings, but at the last minute I decided to go for a baggage service Baggage Freedom to carry all but the essentials. I can't tell you what a difference this made to our experience! They were there, as arranged, to meet our train at Tyndrum station and collect the bag, and the ensuing drop-off and pick-ups from our various overnight accommodation went without a hitch. I'd highly recommend them.

After a quick stop at The Green Welly Stop to stock up on supplies for the day (mostly chocolate) it was time to set off.  The path is well sign-posted from the village and relatively flat.

Not far from the village we came across a cottage with some interesting wood sculptures outside:

And further along the trail we saw some black sheep. At this point the path is fairly close to the A82, a fairly busy road. 

But we soon lost sight of the traffic and with temperatures around 60 degrees, it was a perfect day for walking a long distance. As long as those clouds didn't turn grey. The weather is unpredictable in Scotland so you have to be prepared for all types of weather. 

This being Scotland there's no shortage of burns:

At this point the path is very easy to follow:

It's not all flat though:

There's a steep descent to the tunnel underneath the Glasgow-Fort William railway line. 

What surprised me is how few trees there are. It's quite bleak on a gray day, but in a beautiful way.

And then suddenly there was masses of yellow gorse lining the path. 

Sometimes it felt as if we were the only ones on the Way, but an occasional look back would show that we were not alone. 

I'm in two minds about whether being able to see the path stretch out ahead is a good thing. Yes, it means you're not likely to get lost, but it can also be a little daunting about how far there is still to go!

The soundtrack for our walk was mostly the bleating of lambs. They certainly can be noisy!

And finally from the path, we saw our destination for the night - The Bridge of Orchy railway station. 

No, we were not getting on a train. The station depot on the platform has been turned into a bunkhouse for ten people. As it happened the night we stayed there were nine females and one man! Fortunately the guy was traveling with two of the women so hopefully he didn't feel too outnumbered. Helen, who runs the West Highland Way Sleeper  was charming and very helpful. 

And yes, the station is still in use. But if any trains went by overnight I certainly didn't hear them!
 

By the time we'd settled into the bunkhouse, it was time to walk down the road to the village (population 152) for a well deserved drink and dinner at the Bridge of Orchy Hotel.

All in all, a great start to our first day.

Mel writes contemporary fiction with a twist of mystery and suspense and the Detective Rigby series.

For more information about her books visit her website, or sign up for her newsletter.