Raising money for UNICEF

Our tent shook all night long, and not in a metaphorical sense. The wind and rain hammered the tent, which we now know to be very waterproof.

Tired, we arose to a cold, damp, cloudy day. I packed my kit inside the tent; Heley attempted to take down the tent while I was doing so.

Tent pegs usually hold a tent to the ground. A blustery morning left me sat in a tent which had decided that it was better suited to being a kite. It’s quite an experience sitting in a tent which wants to take you on a journey off the side of a hill.

I was sitting in the tent waiting for Heley to bring me the first aid kit; I already have blisters in need of nursing. I was, of course, unable to move in case of lift off. Heley had not heard the call for the first aid kit and had decided that I was taking too long and so had wandered off. Her impasse was eventually solved and off we grumpily trudged.

The weather was cold and windy but otherwise fine. The scenery was every bit as beautiful as we expected, but today was turning into grind.

Two days pushing ahead of schedule at pace was punishing us. The third at a dawdle felt slow. We still managed to overtake fourteen other walkers, including our new friends, the two old men, but some of our journey became heads down and grind the miles out. I can only say that Heley’s dawdling is faster than I’d like to travel when fully fit. Only mountain cyclists overtook us.

We’re still a couple of miles ahead of schedule. Sixty miles into the journey and with a sixth of the ascent already completed.

We were lucky enough to have a “wow” moment right at the end of the day, which lifted our spirits, if not our aches and pains.

A beautiful wild spot (I’ll try to get a photo this time), food and tent sorted by 6.30 pm, so off we went to warm up in a bar in Inveroran.

It may have been a long day, but I’m feeling a litle more confident about tomorrow.

According to our two old guys, the cloud and wind will make way for glorious sunshine tomorrow… Heley will love it, but I’m going to burn!

Don’t let anyone tell you walking twenty miles per day, carrying over twenty percent of your own bodyweight is easy.

It’s the little niggles that started appearing through the day which slowed us down. It had rained overnight, but the weather held throughout the day, to the extent that I needed to reach for the suntan lotion.

Loch Lomond was beautiful, we saw Rob Roy’s Cave, Rob Roy’s Tree and Rob Roy’s Car Park. They like Rob Roy here. We also saw mountain goats.

We passed twelve people over the course of the day. Two of those people were what have sort of affectionately become known as ‘the two old men’. They were among the people we passed on day one, but had started out from the same campsite as us an hour or two earlier in the morning.

The two old guys told us that the next camp site was 10 km further down the West Highland Way. That was the longest 10 km I’ve ever walked. We eventually passed that campsite 10 miles later. We found a small but sheltered spot for wild camping, only to find a long and sleepless night awaited us.

A text update from the touring twosome:

“We’re over 42 miles in. Pushed a little harder than we should have and can feel it a bit… Still, over 10% of the way there.”

42 miles became 50 miles, and they should be at 60 by tonight.

The feared knee is holding up just fine, but the shoulders appear to be feeling the weight of the 14-17kg each of them is lugging around. Spirits remain high :)

We woke up early and Heley went for a run. Final confirmation, if any were needed, that she is completely mental.

We had breakfast – a full Scottish breakfast for me, muesli and porridge for Heley – in what she described as the nices B&B she’s ever been in. I was happy with tea and bacon, so top marks for Allander B&B.

It had crept up to 9.30 by the time we departed, and off we wandered to the start of the West Highland Way.

We made good time in beautiful weather, passing a total 28 other walkers along the way. The only person who overtook us was a cyclist. Damn cyclists.

By 3.30 we had reached the end of day one. So onwards we soldiered on to day two of the walk.

The sun would have shined down on the bonnie bonnie banks o’ Loch Lomond if not for the weather ahead threatening to unleash itself upon us. Thunder and lightning surround us, but the weather was kind and we snuck dryly through a gap and into luxury in the form of a real campsite – they even have sinks and drinking water.

An old man of the sea welcomed us into a pub, noting he’d never known a storm in August like the one we missed. We’d like to think we could trust him as he looked a little like the old Captain Birdseye, but alas, he was nearing the end of his pint and possibly in search of tourists to tell tales to in turn for a top up. Off we wandered after a quick drink and up went the tent.

So, the tent is up and tea is brewing. Sorry Boris; we evaded the rain. We are rapidly approaching it though, and, unless the weather clears overnight, I’m not convinced our luck will hold.

Still, it’s warm and I’m about to finish my tea. Let’s hope the weather continues to hold out.

So, we finally made it to the start. Here we are sat watching the Edinburgh Fringe from the luxury of our B&B. Tomorrow we walk out into the hills.

The journey up here was uneventful. We didn’t have to suffer any screaming children or people listening to music by playing it through the speaker on their mobile phones. In short, we have nothing to write home about.

It rained on us in Edinburgh, but is warm and dry here in Milngavie. We’re all stocked up, we know where tomorrow’s starting point is, all we have left to do is to start. We are fully prepared and we even know where our towels are.

Hopefully the weather will be kind and we’ll be able to report back on a regular basis.

Over and out,

Phill & Heley