Munros and Other Walks

Fort William to Fort Augustus Like any long distance hike, there are places to stay whatever your budget and the Great Glen Way is no exception. There are a range of options to choose from, some free providing you have your own tent or bivvy bag. Other places may push the financial budget a little more.  Fort William Has a range of options for everyone there is a campsite just outside the townext  and there is a range of hotels and Bed and Breakfast's. As you can imagine the list below isn't exhaustive. Camping A couple of good options here is the Glen Nevis campsite which sits at the foot of Ben Nevis and Lochy Campsite, situated just outside of Fort William.  Glen Nevis Camping   has the benefit of being just off the West Highland Way and is a good stopover for people who are looking to do either or both long distance walks. The campsite is just over 2 miles south of Fort William. Lochy Campsite is 2.5 miles north of Fort William and is a use

Hiking With Kids The Dukes Monument Trail is one of the walks that can be done in the Chatelherault Country Park. The walk itself can  be completed in a couple of hours, and provides a nice visit to the monument, which is situated at the edge of the park, near a housing estate. Map Getting There Chatelherault country park is situated just on the outskirts of Hamilton. It can be reached by train, the station is opposite the park entrance. If driving, head on the M74 south from Glasgow taking the Hamiltion turnoff. Once off the motorway take a left at the next two roundabouts and continue on the A72 towards Ferniegair. The park is a couple of miles outside of Hamilton.  Facilities  The park has a information centre, toilets, cafe and small shop. This is an ideal time to come with the family. There is a play park at the car park which will. happily keeps the children busy.  The Walk There are a range of walks that can be done, of varying length. We were inte

Food on the Trail Just Some Apples I had recently noticed that the apple tree in our back garden was still hanging with fruit, obviously the good weather during the summer had worked wonders on the tree. As I brought in the three large bowls of apples I considered what I could make of them. the main candidates were either apple pie or crumble.  Adding Some Cinnamon A few weeks previous, I had sliced up some over ripe bananas and put them in the oven for a couple of hours to make banana chips. This had worked well and were popular with the kids. I thought that this could work again with a few of the apples. I tried this a couple of times, the first I carefully sliced up the apples thinly, taking my time to cut out the little part of the core in the middle of the slice. This took a little bit of time, but the slices turned out great. I had added some cinnamon before the cooking process which added some more flavour. The second time I made them, I didn't bother

Product: Newport H2 Sandal Supplier: Amazon Cost: £60 A Brief Footwear History I bought the Keen Newport sandal explicitly for my long distance walk on the West Highland Way. I previously had the Teva sandal, which cost me over £70 at the time. This was back in 2007, and even though the Keen sandals can cost up to £80 in some outdoor stores, I would quite happily pay that cost again once my current Newport sandals end up in the bin. My Teva sandals were, at best, okay and I really wanted to like them. Unfortunately, even after a few years of wearing them they still hurt my feet. The pain was centred around the inside of my feet and at the heal where the sandal rubbed. After that experience I was reticent about buying another pair of sandals. A New Challenge At the start of this year I was asked by a relative to walk with him on the West Highland Way. I had walked this route before and on my first trip, I wore a pair of leather walking boots. It felt like tha