I'm just trying to walk myself home.
Glencoe Mountain Resort to Kinlochleven 10 miles 1624 ft Did I say yesterday that we’d perhaps begun to get a little overconfident about finishing our last couple of days on the West Highland Way? Maybe it was that I thought we’d mostly faced the variety of challenges that might arise on our hike that I …
Bridge of Orchy to Glencoe Mountain Resort 12 miles 1700 feet of elevation Any day that starts with coffee in a comfy bed staring out the window at the mountains is a dream day in my book. Then later in the dining room at the Bridge of Orchy Hotel, the host gave us a table …
Tyndrum to Bridge of Orchy 7 miles 383 ft of elevation I was determined to stay in these little Hobbit huts on this trip as they are adorable and cozy. And I would 100% stay in them again. (We are staying in something similar again in a couple of nights.) But it is noteworthy that …
Inverarnan to Tyndrum 12 miles 2313 feet Today was one of those days that could convert even the most confirmed city girl into a lover of hiking. The sun came out and stayed out. The paths were smooth. The views of the surrounding hills were gorgeous. It was an absolutely perfect day! Of course I …
Rowardennan to Inverarnan 14.5 miles 1430 feet of elevation Day 3 started with a line for toast and coffee, a trip to the shed outside to put our bags for the transfer service and the most unreal blue sky over our heads. Really. I haven’t seen a sky that clear in the UK in a …
Drymen to Rowardennan 15 miles 2204 ft of elevation Breakfast started at 8am in The Drymen Inn, which we did good to make, even though we’d been drinking coffee in our room since 6:30am. It was just that we found it difficult to move from our beds. But it wasn’t raining when we woke up …
Milngavie to Drymen 12 miles Elevation: 1358 ft I fell asleep to the sound of rain coming down hard on the pavement. When I woke up it was still steadily coming down. I swirled a little instant coffee into some hot water and crawled back into bed with my mug. I studied the maps and …
I didn’t originally plan to hike the 95 mile long West Highland Way this year. It’s one of those trips that evolved out of email exchanges and fellow hikers’ hopes and dreams. When a friend told me last Christmas that they wanted to do a through-hike in Scotland this year, I remembered that when I …
Searching for Snowdrops… the little flower that heralds the beginning of the end of winter. Every year I wait anxiously for my first glimpse of the first perennials that remind me that the days are getting longer now. After two years of living in Bristol, I know where to look for them to start blooming. …
Easter Holidays in Snowdonia National Park Probably one of the best memories of the year was the four nights Taido, Simon and I spent over the Easter Holidays last spring in Snowdonia. Snowdonia is in Northern Wales. I’ve mentioned that we can hop over the Bristol Channel and go hiking in Wales in just over …
Day 5 on the Rota Vicentina The Fisherman’s Trail Vila do Bispo to Cabo de San Vincente 14.5 km/9 miles You can find all of the Rota Vicentina posts here. We all woke up well-rested and happy for our final day on the trail. The breakfast at our guest house, Pure Fonte Velha in Vila …
Day 4 on the Rota Vicentina The Fisherman’s Trail Carrapateira to Vila do Bispo 16 km/9.6 miles You can find all of the Rota Vicentina posts here. On Day 4, we had a decision to make. The Rota Vicentina is a network of trails. Sometimes all the trails converge and there is only one trail, …
Day 3 on the Rota Vicentina The Fisherman’s Trail Arrifana to Carrapateira 20 km/12.4 miles You can find all of the Rota Vicentina posts here. Day 3 started with some happy faces because we had a beautiful breakfast at the Utopia Guest House and another day of sunshine! We walked a while to get …
Day 2 on the Rota Vicentina The Fisherman’s Trail Praia de Monte Clerigo to Arrifana 13 km/7 miles You can find all of the Rota Vicentina posts here. I woke up before everyone else on our second walking day. (It’s always an advantage not to have jet lag.) We didn’t need to get an …
Part Two of the Rota Vicentina The Fisherman’s Trail Odeceixe de Praia to Aljezur 20 km/12.5 miles You can find all of the Rota Vicentina posts here. As soon as I got home from walking about half the Rota Vicentina with my sister in January, I wrote to three of my friends who were …
Day 4 of the Rota Vicentina The Fisherman’s Trail Zambujeira do Mar to Odeceixe 18.5 km/11.4 miles You can find all of the Rota Vicentina posts here. Rain was predicted on our last day of walking the Rota Vicentina, but the host at Hostel Nature told us that it would not rain. He was …
Day 3 of the Rota Vicentina The Fisherman’s Trail Almogarve to Zambujeira do Mar 22 km/13.6 miles You can find all of the Rota Vicentina posts here. I woke up on our third day of walking the Rota Vicentina thinking we couldn’t possibly have ANOTHER day as gorgeous as the previous two. It was just …
Day 2 of the Rota Vicentina The Fisherman’s Trail Vila de Nova Milfontes to Almograve 15.5 km/9.6 miles You can find all of the Rota Vicentina posts here. After a substantial breakfast at our hostel in Vila de Nova Milfontes, we headed back out onto the coastal trail. We had a shorter day …
Day 1 of the Rota Vicentina The Fisherman’s Trail Porto Covo to Vila de Nova Milfontes 20 km/12.5 miles Anna and I arrived in Porto Covo in the dark on a bus from Lisbon to begin our journey on the Rota Vicentina. It was a chilly January evening and we wandered the streets to find …
Friends, this is the end of my Mini Walking Stories Series. Thanks so much for coming along with me! It’s been fun to revisit so many wonderful walking memories while it’s been so cold and rainy outside! I’ll leave you with a long string of photos of many of the folks I got to walk …