Saturday 16 June 2007

From the biggest city to the biggest mountain

Wow. Yesterday I finished the West Highland Way, a 95 mile trek from Scotland's biggest city, Glasgow, to its biggest mountain, Ben Nevis. Because I'm a glutton for punishment, today I'm going to climb Ben Nevis as well! As the highest point in Britain, 1344m might not seem impressive to those of you from hillier parts of the world, but given that you have to climb it from sea level (yes, actual sea level - 0m), it presents quite a challenge to tired legs.

I can highly recommend the West Highland Way as a fascinating, but not too strenuous, introduction to the Scottish landscape. If you ever fancy exploring Scotland on foot and you have a pair of sturdy boots to walk in and a week to spare, this is where I would recommend you come. There is every type of scenery to see and lots of other Wayfarers to meet, with the occasional scary feeling of remoteness thrown in. Yesterday this was spoiled slightly by the presence of about 500 people walking (or running) the so-called Caledonian Challenge - a 56 mile trek in 24 hours (!) from the top of the West Highland Way to tip of Loch Lomond. And I thought 20 miles a day was tough!

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