Staging area

So, Scotland ... A country which has always been floating around on my "To-Do"-list and I've never gotten around to go to. But now, it's settled and booked: I am going to hike the West Highland Way, WHW in short, in October. 140 km in 7 days. From Milngavie (say: Mull-Guy) to Fort William. The longest stretch being 30 km, from Tyndrum to Kingshouse. I'll pass Loch Lommond, Glen Coe, Ben Nevis, the Glengoyne Distillery and the (supposedly) oldest pub in Scotland in Drymen.

A good project to start this new endeavour. Still demanding but not too tough, with lots of "support infrastructure", if needed. And G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S! Take a look at this:

Since there are a lot of different lodging possibilities along the way, I decided not to go with the tent. Wild camping is allowed in Scotland, but I did not want to buy the new, lightweight tent right away. I wanted to backpack the whole way but several companies offer a baggage transfer service for a decent fee. It wasn't an easy decision, since I wanted this to be a test run for the big one, but I guess, I will try the transfer and go with a day pack instead. I want to be able to stop at gorgeous places, marvel and hang out for a while, without time being an issue on the trail. And with stretches of mostly 20 to 24 km, carrying a 40-lbs-backpack will make you lose an hour a day. Furthermore, weather can be tricky in October, so I need a lot of layers and different weather gear. Travel Lite offers such a service and they are conveniantly located at the start of the trail in Milngavie, in a place called The Iron Chef, where they also sell some last minute trekking stuff. I guess, I'll decide on the spot.

As for lodging, I hired Easyways to help me out with booking. The company offers its services for a lot of long distance hiking trails in the UK, including fixed priced walks and self guided walks. I mailed them my itinerary and a few days later, they came up with the according lodging. You can choose from 3 categories: Hotels / B&B / Bunkhouses and camping pods. I chose the latter and they came up with a very good price. I fly out to Glasgow on October, 1st and head up to Milngavie on October, 2nd. I will arrive in Fort William on October 11, leaving Glasgow on October 13. That gives me one more day to either check out Fort William or rent a car and drive up to Eilean Donan Castle, 90 minutes from Fort William. Here it is:

I'll figure it out up there. But that castle looks pretty cool. It would be a 50 minute drive to Loch Ness. But as far as I heard, it's just a loch of water ... 

Can't wait ...