West Highland Way Day 6

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 in front of a wide set of bay windows overlooking the mountains. I had porridge and eggs with spinach. 

We set out around 9am from the hotel, crossing the bridge and heading up into the hills.

For a mile and a half, we followed a steady, smooth incline. For the third day in a row, the sun was shining on us. (I said I’d ordered up the weather and the scenery for my birthday!) What a wild and wonderful gift! 

We reached the top of the first hill marked by a cairn and took in the views. We could see our path snaking through the glen. 

Lots of weekend hikers and campers were out enjoying the finest weather the Highlands have seen all summer long. We’ve been told multiple times that it’s been the wettest summer on record for 100 years. Again drawing attention to what a mercy it is to have three dry days in a row!

The path we walked today is an old drover’s road, which was cut through the moors and the hills to make a level path for caravan wagons and cattle. 

Now it’s maintained for West Highland Way hikers providing gradual ascents and descents. The level trails made the elevation gains and losses seem so much easier.

There’s an Irish walking blessing that you come across a lot on the Camino and somewhere in the middle of it is the phrase, May the road rise to meet you. 

The paths we’ve walked over the last few days truly feel like the road rising to meet us. 

We stopped for a snack on one of several stone bridges after we’d passed the five mile mark. We greeted a steady stream of hikers passing by.

Just a few miles later we stopped again for our lunch on a grassy view point. I had told the gals that we didn’t need to be in a hurry today because no luxurious rooms awaited us. So I even took off my boots and stretched out on the grass in the sun, thinking that there’s really nowhere else I’d rather be on my birthday than on a walking trail with friends. It is my favorite. 

Even taking our sweet time we managed to reach the Glencoe Mountain Resort before 3. Resort is a bit of a stretch. It’s a ski area that has one of its chairlifts open for the summer.

We sat on the ski deck with a cold drink and watched mountain bikers and paragliders making use of the lift. 

After we checked into our hut we rode the chairlift up just before it closed and watched paragliders taking off from the top. The sky just above us seemed to fill with them all at once and then they spread out far.

As we rode back down we could see so far across the valley and hills. It was a fun way to end the day. 

We ordered dinner at the little cafe at the bottom. I had a baked potato with cheese. Then we took our drinks back to our little camp spot. 

Our little hut is called a microlodge plus. It’s a six bunk camp cabin in a long row of cabins at the edge of a parking lot. (The sixth bed is a pull out from the bottom right bed.) We threw our rented sleeping bags on the beds and headed for the coin-operated showers (1 pound for 5 minutes).

After we hit the showers, we put on our semi-clean night clothes and sat outside at the picnic table in front of our cabin watching the parking lot empty out. Munro climbers and mountain bikers came down the hill, packed up their gear and drove away. A few caravans and camper vans arrived. (You can park here for the night for 5 pounds.)

The sun went down over the mountains and we started to get cold so we moved inside and put on some face masks my friend Diane had sent over for my birthday. We laughed so hard at how crazy we looked. Also our cabin bedding this time came with no pillows so we were all trying to make pillows out of whatever we had. Rhonda and Patti used their packing cubes and I used a dry bag stuffed with clothes. We got so tickled that we had to another trip to the bathroom. 

Then the sky turned dark and the stars came out. I think they are even brighter than they were the last couple of nights. And our view over this massive parking lot is wider. Just gorgeous. 

I would never have thought to ask for a 6th grade camp cabin bunkin’ party on the edge of a ski resort parking lot for my 51st birthday, but what a delight it has been.

Our giggles finally subsided and the gals are now snoring in their bunks, resting up for tomorrow when we climb something called The Devil’s Staircase. We may be getting a little cocky because we’re not too worried about whatever tomorrow is going to throw at us. We only have two days and 25 miles left. 

And we know how to shower in under  5 minutes.  

Bring it on, West Highland Way.