West Highland Way (in 6 days) – Day 5. Bridge of Orchy to Kinlochleven 34km/21miles

Day five was another beast. Somehow we got up again, put the shoes on, had a hearty breakfast at our lovely b&b and off we went. It was a beautiful morning and we actually saw a deer as we were climbing a hill just outside of Bridge of Orchy. The Way started with a big climb but the views were incredible. To be honest day five was epic! The views were insane the whole day. We decided to do a lot of little stops on this day as we had 34km to cover plus a few big climbs ahead of us. We stopped for a few minutes outside Inveroran hotel and made a few friends there. There was an American lady and it was her 60th while doing the walk, so Calum wasn’t alone.

The next hour took us through woodland and a steady increase, which was lovely and we slowly entered stunning boggy area called Rannoch Moor which is one of the most dangerous parts of the way because in a bad weather there is nowhere to hide and it gets bad very quickly. But we got sunshine! After a few hours winding up and down the hills we were approaching Glencoe. The plan was to stop at Glencoe ski lodge for a hot chocolate and lunch. It was great actually! Exactly what both of us were after. 

After chilling there for an hour we started on our last part of the journey. We walked through Glencoe for about an hour before reaching the dreaded Devils Staircase. It took us about 40min to climb it and to be honest it wasn’t the worst part at all. Because we could see where we were going and how much more of the climb there is left. Once at the top we took photos and powered through onto our last stretch – 2 hours till Kinlochleven. 

It was Calum’s absolutely least favourite part. The feet were broken by that point and we could actually see the town but it was still so far away. It felt relentless. The way took us down the hill and through lovely little forestry. When we reached Kinlochleven we went straight to the pub. After a few pints, Mike our American/London friend has joined us and so did Serina, lovely Italian girl who was walking the way alone. The dinner that night consisted of pots of noodles, sandwiches and donuts in bed. No regrets. 

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