West Highland Way (I): preparation

I decided to walk the West Highland Way (WHW; running some 96 miles, or 154 km, from Milngavie, just north of Glasgow, to Fort William) after some other holiday plans fell through with a couple of months to go. I hence found myself trying to figure out what I’d need to do to walk a long-distance path at relatively short notice.

Why did I choose this challenge?

Partly, of course, because of the beautiful scenery I’d seen when I’d previously visited the area for my wedding (and actually walked a bit on the WHW near Loch Lomond and Conic Hill) and also because I’d been wondering whether wild camping (allowed generally in Scotland, and on all of the WHW apart from a couple of areas around Loch Lomond) would be a fun experience, probably encouraged by the tales of bike-packing that I’d read in Cycling UK’s magazine.

I also liked the idea of a lower impact holiday that was accessible via train and did not need a lot of elaborate equipment, as well as something that would take you completely away from a computer.

Finally, I also had a ‘curiosity’ about how bad the notorious Scottish midges could possibly be, particularly as the threat of these wee beasties has been denying us holidays in Scotland (apart from the special exception we made for the wedding)!

I somehow felt a bit less enthused about the idea of walking for 96 miles, but once suggested, kept thinking it would be a shame not to at least try.

The ‘no plan’ plan

Since I wasn’t sure how long the trek would take me, and knew I was wanting to do at least some wild camping, I didn’t want to book accommodation in advance so that I did not need to meet a rigid schedule.

However, not being an experienced hiker, I was also wanting to keep the weight of my backpack down, so made an early decision not to carry a lot of food, but more rely on shops and restaurants along the way.

While investigating the various items and equipment I might want to take with me, I found it tricky to envisage what I might really need or not need.

Some of this was down to not having done any actual multi-day hiking/camping before, but also many of the internet’s prominent blogs/review stories of the WHW were quite heavy on affiliate links or otherwise promoting particular items, so it was difficult to judge their independence.

I’ve made this post to capture some of my thoughts on how I decided what to take (highlighted in bold in the next section) and whether there were things I’d do differently in hindsight.

Things I took with me

The first couple of items I bought were things that I didn’t have at all and would definitely need if I was going to camp the WHW – a rucksack and some kind of shelter.

I was reluctant to buy a brand new rucksack as I wasn’t sure how much I would use it or even if I’d find that actually walking with all my kit wasn’t for me without more training.

By contrast, I wanted to get something pretty quickly, so that I could get started with some walks and get a feel for what lay before me.

I did little bit of searching for secondhand backpacks before thinking maybe I could get an army surplus rucksack (2.94 kg, without the detachable side pouches). At least this was easy to find (there seem to be quite a number of shops with stock of such things) and how bad could it be if it had been standard issue for the army only a few years ago?

I reasoned it at least should be heavy duty!

While perusing the bewildering array of surplus equipment, I also noticed that among the bivvy bags and tents in tasteful shades of green camo, there was the so-called ‘Dutch army bivvy bag’ (1.55 kg), which is a hooped bivvy bag that is somewhat tent like (it has one hoop and an insect net so your face isn’t open to the elements/midges) but is still quite minimalist.

On a slight impulse, I decided to buy that as well. This requires some tent pegs (120 g).

By the time my new items had arrived a few days later, I was already questioning my choices.

The rucksack has mixed reviews on the internet and it seemed questionable whether I had the right size (there are long-back and short-back versions and I had the short back) or in fact whether the short back was suitable for anyone that wasn’t also wearing the mysterious ‘webbing belt’. But I ploughed on with them… and will say neither purchase felt like a mistake in the end, although both could be characterized as robust rather than ultralight.

Sleeping bag (1.05 kg). I’d originally thought to take an old sleeping bag that I had (I think it must be 30 years old), but after some practice walks, which brought the weight of my equipment into focus, I changed my mind.

It seems that sleeping bags have progressed over the years, and I was able to replace it with a relatively cheap modern one that was about half the weight (saving over a kg) and about half the volume, yet apparently was at least as warm.

Sleeping mat (300 g). Here, I just stuck with the cheap foam mat I had, which is quite light and robust, although there are hiking-suitable air-bed options these days.

Trekking poles (0.5 kg). I’d never walked with poles before and was a bit unsure whether they would be worth having or an extra thing to worry about. I now think they’re great and are very helpful for assisting your legs uphill, keeping your balance downhill and getting down big steps.

I went for cheap ones that have the spring/pin mechanism to adjust. As per the warning in their instructions (!), the adjustment holes do whistle in any wind. I was sort of fine with that though, being accustomed to whistling noises.

Walking boots. I didn’t buy new ones, which we’ll come back to in a future post!

Flip-flops (232 g). I was really unsure whether these would be worth the weight/space, but am glad I took them. It was really good to be able to take off my boots without having bare feet. Also I discovered that I could wear socks with them (just sort of push the sock between your big toes where the toe-post goes), so it was the right decision to not buy new sandal-style flip-flops.

For clothing, I chose two longsleeve base layers (175 g each), two fleeces (one slightly warmer/heavier than the other; 450 g and 267 g), a pair of lightweight hiking trousers (320 g), some thermal running leggings (264 g), three pairs of quick drying pants (100 g), four pairs of walking socks (150 g), a synthetic t-shirt (140 g), a bobble hat (92 g), a ‘Buff-style’ head garment and a sunhat (100 g). [The socks were new, because you don’t skimp on socks on a hike.]

Also, because it’s Scotland, a waterproof jacket (1.02 kg) and waterproof trousers (387 g).

Of these, the only item I didn’t use at all was the running leggings. The head garment was helpful to keep the light out of my eyes when sleeping. The bobble hat was only really nice to have at the top of hills (particularly the top of Ben Nevis), which were still chilly.

Maps and guidebook (460 g). The guidebook had excerpts from OS maps covering the WHW route, but I also took the two Landranger (1:50,000) maps covering the second half of the route. I never used the OS maps, and think unless you plan to deliberately depart from the route, they wouldn’t be necessary.

Compass (38 g). On one or two occasions, I found the compass useful to check that I was going more-or-less where I expected. I suppose I could have used my phone (compass or just GPS), but to feel like a proper hiker you need one, and it’s not heavy!

Battery packs and cables (432 g). I took two device-charging power banks (Clare had originally bought these to keep her phone topped up during a virtual marathon). They weigh ~200 g each, and having both was overkill in the end, but I wasn’t sure where I’d be able to charge on the route.

These did prove handy to top up my GPS watch (which didn’t noticeably deplete the battery pack, but did need a charge once per day of hiking).

A head torch (81 g) and spare batteries (34 g). A head torch with a low-power red light option was very useful for seeing in the bivvy bag. I did the walk at the summer solstice, so there was a lot of daylight and I never needed it apart from that.

Guessing it might not get used frequently, I went for a torch that took AAA batteries rather than one containing a re-chargeable battery. I took some spare batteries, but don’t think you would ever need these for the WHW unless you decided to walk in the dark.

Midge repellents (100 g), headnet and lightweight gloves (84 g). To fend off the midges.

Suncream (100 g).

A location beacon (133 g). I happened to have a personal location beacon (i.e. a device that can send an emergency signal via satellite).

I was in two minds whether to take it as, on the one hand, it really should be completely unnecessary for the WHW, being a very heavily frequented route, but on the other hand there are always ‘what ifs’ about any kind of medical emergency that might happen with no phone signal and no-one else around.

I do now feel that the only points where you might be more than a few minutes from someone else are when you are wild camping and generally (but not always) the mobile signal was pretty good anyway.

There might be a place for it if you felt you were departing more from the track, but I certainly wouldn’t have bought one of these specially for walking the WHW. However, I did have a bracelet with an ICE number on, which is always a good idea.

Toiletries (400 g) and first-aid kit (200 g). As well as my glasses, contact lens, hand gel, toothpaste (decanted into a small container) and a toothbrush, I took various first-aid items, such as plasters, micropore tape, antiseptic cream, various blister plasters and moleskin, and anti-chafing gel. I eventually managed to find and include the pair of tick tweezers we had bought before our previous trip to Scotland. For soap, I took some pieces of a bar of soap rather than the expensive liquid ‘hiking’ soaps in tiny bottles (this seemed to work well). I also had a small hiking towel (189 g).

For water, I took three plastic water bottles (146 g) from 750 ml to 1.0 l. In general, plastic bottles were fine for this trip; although they are less durable than metal bottles, they are quite a lot lighter and I already had some that I could reuse. Taking several smaller bottles reduced the worry on if I managed to damage one.

There are a few options for making water found on route from streams etc. safe to drink. The best method for this is boiling, but there are also filters and tablets that can be used, so once I’d decided not to take a stove, I decided on taking water purification tablets with me (some that at least claim to kill viruses, bacteria and parasites, such as Cryptosporidium), as these were smaller, cheaper and lighter weight than a filter.

I was expecting that I might not need to use these (given the many stopping points on the WHW) but felt I should have some just in case I somehow ran short of water. I never actually used them (and never needed to fill up with more than ~1.5 l of water at any point).

For food, I carried a plastic fork and spoon (15 g) and a plastic tub (172 g) that I could use as a bowl.

Dog waste bags (10 g). (Another ICE carry).

Rubbish bags (50 g) for keeping kit dry.

A tin whistle, to keep up my hobby; I took my plastic one – only 45 g including the case – I’m not sure if a lighter instrument exists!

And finally, money/cards, phone (200 g), ear plugs (2 g), synthetic fabric bags (65 g; for rucksack organisation), and some string (15 g) and duct tape (20 g). (Yes, I used the string and duct tape, which we’ll again come back to in a future post!).

Things I didn’t take with me

I thought long and hard about whether I needed to take a stove.

In the end [but not until after I’d experimented with a DIY meths burner based on a fizzy drink can (eventually boiled some water, but didn’t work as well as I hoped so I couldn’t really recommend it!)], I decided the downsides (it’s more weight to carry, you might set things on fire, it’s something you might not use much in future) outweighed the upsides (warm food and the possibility to boil water), for this trip at least.

Not taking a stove meant that I also didn’t need any new metal cooking utensils.

Another item of camping equipment I decided against was a tarp.

Although it would have been nice to have, I didn’t take a camera other than my phone (my alternative was a bridge camera that weighs ~0.75 kg). I think this was the right approach, as apart from the weight, it would be a pain to keep dry and I didn’t find a good solution to comfortably carry it where I could easily reach it for taking pictures.

I didn’t take a trowel (necessary to bury poo when wild camping):

1. I wasn’t happy that the WHW was sufficiently enough of a wilderness that it would be OK to bury any waste away from water sources and where no-one would stumble upon it.
2. Even overpriced hiking trowels (with special compartments for toilet paper 😀) are heavy and bulky.

Instead I opted for taking a number of dog waste bags – I don’t own a dog, but have walked them before, so was confident that if the worst came to the worst I could deal with any eventuality.

I also didn’t take a rucksack cover. The rucksack itself is somewhat water resistant, and I was doubtful that any cover would attach well or fully stop water entering anyway.

I used rubbish bags to keep items inside the rucksack dry, and also a large plastic bag to put the rucksack in to keep off heavy rain when not wearing it.

Last-minute preparation

To convince myself that it wasn’t a crazy plan to buy the train ticket to Glasgow, I did a little last-minute preparation – namely, finding some time for a few long walks with my rucksack.

Over one weekend I managed 2 days in a row where I walked 20 miles per day. However, this wasn’t as confidence inspiring as it first sounds as my calves did not feel ready to continue afterwards and took a few days to recover from their soreness!

The rucksack itself wasn’t as uncomfortable as I’d been fearing from some reviews. It had just enough adjustment for me to feel I was able to distribute the load between shoulders and hips (I had to fully tighten the buckles on the ‘load lifter’ shoulder straps to effectively lengthen the rucksack, and do up the hip belt a bit tighter than I might have thought). I never had any problems with it chafing even when only wearing it over a slightly damp base layer a lot of the time.

I did feel the need to improvise a chest strap to keep the shoulder straps together though. After a practice hike of a few hours without one, my shoulders were starting to feel it even without trekking poles.

I also tested the bivvy bag and sleeping bag combination in our garden, although didn’t get a chance to try them in any actual rain.

The weigh-in

A final weigh-in of everything came to a total of ~12.5 kg (not including any food, water, hiking poles or the clothes I was wearing as I left home).

This certainly didn’t feel light but also seemed not to be crazy heavy compared to what I’d seen mentioned in my guidebook and on the internet.

We’ll pick up where the adventure starts with my train journey from Letchworth in another post soon…

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Extra shots

• Guidebooks on the WHW
  https://www.westhighlandwayshop.org/collections/guides
• The complete set of 1:25,000 OS maps you’d need for the WHW
  https://shop.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/os-explorer-west-highland-way-map-set/
• Another WHW overview website run by a baggage transfer company (lots of pictures)
  https://westhighlandway.com/
• Detailed info on various alcohol (and other) stoves
  https://zenstoves.net/Stoves.htm