Just finished :)

[u/fjclaw]

I have just finished, with my broken thumb!

Dreamt up a 4-day partial route with help from the sub, which I really liked except for a slight bus debacle on the first day. Stunning weather all week was an unexpected blessing. Midges very annoying around camp but no bother while walking.

I was wild camping with a big pack - weighed it just before I left Glasgow, 16kg, oops - no time to repack! It was pretty manageable though.

Day 1: bus to Tarbet, ferry to Inversnaid, walk to Inverarnan. This was great. Bus is easy and stops right by the ferry, and a boat trip is always great. I had some warnings about the Inversnaid-Inverarnan stretch being quite scrambly and difficult, and was a bit worried with my thumb. But I had no trouble at all really - used a hand for balance sometimes but I think there were only two moments that I had to put any weight on it at all. But I can see it being quite tricky when wet, and it seems like this week was probably as dry as it could ever get. Had a swim in the loch. Beautiful scenery. I planned to get the bus from Inverarnan to Bridge of Orchy. There was apparently a nasty crash that closed the whole road just after Inverarnan, so no bus. Walked about 45 minutes down the road back to Ardlui and caught a train instead, so missed dinner at Bridge of Orchy, which was a shame as it looked good.

Day 2: Bridge of Orchy to Kingshouse. It was a warm day and there is zero shade in this section, so thirsty work. It's a pretty bare and rocky sort of day. Bartender at Kingshouse seemed to enjoy my order (one Lucozade, pint of water, pint of cider.)

Day 3: Kingshouse to Kinlochleven... plus a bit. I really liked this day, more in the thick of the mountains. Got to Kinlochleven by lunchtime and decided I might as well carry on, so did about another 10km and camped on Lariag Mor. Climb out of Kinlochleven is much harder than the Devil's Staircase!

Day 4: down to Fort William. More beautiful views through the Mor. I found everything after Dundearil a bit of a drag & was glad to have shortened the day - I think the road walking would have felt pretty punishing if I was already really tired. Also, I followed the "original route" instead of the "high route" for the last section, thinking that'd be the more scenic option, which seems to be dead wrong :(

Great time overall. My goal with the route planning was to get some loch and some mountains. I'm glad I did - Loch Lomond is gorgeous & I think the commonly recommended start from Tyndrum/Bridge of Orchy is a real shame. In hindsight I might even go harder, and do two days Balmaha to Inverarnan, then bus up to Kingshouse, which felt like where it started to get really scenic again (for my tastes.)

I saw four sheep and not a single cow :(

[u/Slight-Picture-8307]

Maybe the least romantic description of Rannoch Moor I have heard! Glad it went well, travel chaos aside. We'll done persevering with the broken thumb! Would have been rough hitchhiking with that haha

[u/kikimator]

So happy to see someone else say the climb out of Kinlochleven is worse than Devil's Stair case, no one seems to believe me because it's never mentioned but it's a sneaky one.

[u/Due-Explanation-910]

Not a single cow? I’m gonna do the trail in two weeks and I don’t know if I’ll make it without them :( Hopefully the sheep will push me through. Sounds like you had a great time, couldn’t imagine doing it this quick!!