Day 12- Kinlochleven to Kings House
Actual distance 18.96Km or 11.78miles
Total Ascent 761m
Day 2 of the West Highlands Way was a little easier though again it was a late start as we had to take the vehicles to the end-point first and then took a cunning short cut on the way back to our starting point, only to find our way blocked by roadworks!
It was a doubly tough start as we were hoping to start with a full Scottish breakfast. Disappointingly the campsites restaurant couldn’t serve us as they had a party of 28 coming in, so it was back to a chocolate spread sandwich and an instant coffee for us all!
We set off in good spirits, with the older adults taking the walking poles for the first time (as they were accidentally left in the car yesterday!), and the youngest kids quickly stealing them! About 2km into our ascent Ollie announced his toe hurt, and on inspection he had a paranychia (infected skin around his toe nail) and broken skin around it. With a good clean and a magic Compeed dressing he was able to continue.
It was a long trip up the valley with constant climbing for about 4 hours, peaking to around 555m. The views were utterly spectacular and well worth the climb. The peak was immediately followed by the dreaded ‘Devils Staircase’, which happily was actually easier than the descent into Kinlochleven yesterday!
With only 4km left along a fairly flat and well demarcated path, the girls (who hard walked slightly ahead of us as they were desperate to reach the toilets at Kings House) attempted a shortcut. This resulted in one of them falling in the river whilst using stepping stones. Let’s just say they were both told off and have learned not to stray from the path again!
We reached Glencoe Mountain resort in fairly good time. Once again Paul and Jayne were utter stars and had not only pitched the tents, but also made a rather lovely chickpea curry for us all. Phil even found time to listen and comment on the Big Man in The Woods vlog this evening. He told us off for not vlogging enough on our journey, so we promptly did a quick interview with the kids, which resulted in Hattie’s second accident of the day (and a lot of giggles from us all!). Enjoy!
For the kids interview click here – An interview with the kids about todays adventure
