In may 2024, Helle and Peter did a 4-day hike on West Highland Way via Ben Nevis and Ring of Steall. We started the hike in Fort William and ended in Tyndrum. Both towns are on the West Highland way, but the first two days we did not follow the main route. We first hiked Ben Nevis and from there walked south on a section of the Ring of Steall to Kinlochleven. From there we followed West Highland Way to Tyndrum.
We flew to Glasgow and picked up a rental car which we drew to Tyndrum on the night of arrival. We checked in at Tyndrum Inn at midnight. The following morning we bought a gas canister at the Green Welly filling station in Tyndrum (opens at 07:00), and took the 08:26 Citylink bus north to Fort William. at 10:00 we walked out of Fort William towards Ben Nevis.
The first two days on Ben Nevis and Ring of Steal were wonderfully remote with great tent sites and very few people. The trails were not marked, and we relied on PocketEarth and AllTrails for navigation.
We crossed a bit of snow on Ben Nevis, but everywhere else the snow had melted. We arrived before the season of the infamous highland midges. We had mostly good weather and packed a dry tent every morning – incredible!
The last days we followed the very well-marked West Highland Way which followed the A82 highway at long sections and had much more people hiking.
Day 1
From Fort William we walked up the non-technical trail to Ben Nevis, UK’s highest highest peak. We think we found the summit, but with only 20 meters of visibility, who knows.
We took a rarely used route down, scrambling across a ridge to Carn Mor Dearg. The trail was not marked and almost invisible, but we found the right way down to the valley where we could camp.
The ridge between Ben Nevis and Càrn Mòr Dearg
Day 2
The sun came out, and we headed south towards Kinlochleven. In the remote areas we could also take a bath in the small rivers, very refreshing.
The paper maps for hikers did not show trails in this area, but the app PocketEarth showed a trail, which we followed. It took us across the ridgeline of two more mountains (An Gearanach and Stob Choire a Chàirn). The trail was harder than we had expected. We met a few other hikers who explained that it was two of four mountains that make the “Ring of steall” hike. The weather was wonderful, and remained like that the next days.
In Kinlochleven we reached the West Highland Way (WHW). The terrain was a lot easier, we were clearly out of the wilderness.
Day 3
From the tent site at Feit nam Lab lake, we walked 30 km south on West Highland Way. Some sections are wilderness, others are on dirt roads or very close to highway A82. We met many people walking north, it was like walking a hiker highway.
We found a fantastic place to camp near the top of Mam Carraigh with amazing views across Loch Tulla.
Day 4
On the last day we followed West Highland way 15 km back to Tyndum. The trail is close to roads and railroad in long sections and the landscapes become flatter. We had parked the rented car in Tyndrum, and drove back towards Glasgow with a short stop at the popular Loch Lomond town of Luss.
More about other hikes here.