West Highland Way - Day 1

Usually in the past, we have done cycling trips during our European adventures.  This year Anna really wanted to go to Scotland and we decided that would probably not be the best place for us to cycle.  So, we decided to go even slower and do a hiking trip.

Frank picked the West Highland Way and we agreed to a 5 day hike since we have never done one before and we really didn't do much training before we left.  Hiking in the moorlands, over passes and next to the lochs was really beautiful.  One of the most beautiful places I have ever been.

Since we were only doing 5 days, we did not hike the entire Way, but got a majority of it.  Every day was a little different as far as scenery with the first day having the worst of the weather.  We wore our rain gear all day.

Here are Anna and Frank at the beginning of our journey, starting the trail just beyond the gate. 

We started off through fields and a logging area.

 (Frank's picture)

Then we started the climb up Conic Hill, which you can see in this picture.  If you look closely, you might be able to see the trail up the hill (which seemed a little steeper than just a "hill") at the bottom middle of it. 

 As we were climbing, it was rainy, windy and foggy.  I'm glad Anna took this picture below because it shows the trail we took up, which was basically like walking up a rocky stream.   Going down on the other side was like a mud slide.

Anna took this picture of a little critter she found in one of the puddles on the way up.

It was so foggy as we were going up, I was thinking how mad I would be if we got to the top and would not be able to see anything.  It was still foggy when we reached the top, but it eventually cleared up enough so we could see the view.

There were some steep up and down climbs throughout our 5 days, as well as some moderate ones.  It seemed like there always had to be one right near the end.