The West Highland Way is a very popular 150 km route stretching from the outskirts of Glasgow to the foot of Ben Nevis at Fort William. Remarkably people come from all over the world to walk the trail. Although it undoubtedly passes through some superb mountain scenery, it takes a relatively low level route and misses the best that this area has to offer. As a lover of the wild places and mountains in particular, I sought something quite different - a high level enchainement of peaks that is a world away from the signposts, even paths and endless stream of people on the West Highland Way. This route, whilst far from perfect, is my solution. It seeks to follow the railway line as far as possible, picking up peaks as it goes South from Fort William to Arrochar and Tarbet. The journey is bookmarked by Ben Nevis at the start and the much-loved peak of the Cobbler at the end.
I took the train to the start which is very much part of the journey, building anticipation on the three hour ride North from Arrochar to Fort William. I completed the journey in five days of walking, but an extra couple of days would make it more comfortable. The length is 176 km with 13500m of ascent, but the numbers don't do justice to the rough terrain. The West Highland Way it is not! Over a period of three days, from the summit of Ben Nevis to Ben Chalum near Tyndrum, I saw no more than a handful of people on the hill. In the next four miles along the West Highland Way I passed 85 people on the trail.
This site documents the route so that others can make their own journey. Have fun!
