Day 15 Kinlochleven to Glencoe Mountain Resort Friday 27 May

Distance 12.76 miles, cumulative 246.37 miles,  4 hrs 55 mins, walking time 4 hours 10 mins, pace 3.1 mph. Camped  at Glencoe mountain resort.

We had camped at Kinlochleven. On our arrival the previous afternoon we were one of three tents on the camping area which was about 50 meters x 4 metres by the time we turned in it had 38 tents crammed in. Despite the number of people it was very quiet – everyone zonked out. We awoke in the morning to find another tent pitched next to us, we hadn’t heard it arrive. We were not the first to rise but we were first to leave and get on the trail. 

At the start of week three we are now in uncharted territory for us, having only been able to do two week backpacking holidays when we were both working. Our bodies and kit is holding up. We are keeping well fuelled by eating a little and often (see picture). Our kit is a tried and tested mixture of lightweight high tech stuff and cheap and cheerful which can be binned and replaced if needs be en-route. The larger heavier items such as the tent, sleeping bags and rucksacks are high tech and lightweight. Most of our clothing is all dri-fit technical clothing. Lynn uses a Garmin Fenix 3 GPS watch to record our distances etc and Steve uses an iPhone 6s for photos and doing the blog.  

We try and stay clean and smart and we continue to get mistaken for George and Amal Clooney especially by American tourists. We both play along and pose for photos and scribble passable autographs – we hope George does not mind. 

Today our route climbed steadily for two hours and then dropped steeply into Glencoe down the Devil’s Staircase. Most other walkers were walking south to north and today reminded us of the sense in that, as the route for those walkers gradually gets harder. The scenery continues to be spectacular. The photos do not really capture it.

Lynn was shocked when Steve had said they were booked into a mountain resort for the night but had come round and was looking forward to using the spa and having a luxurious evening. She was little disappointed to find out that at £6 per head for camping the facilities were less 5 star and more half a dim lightbulb. We spent a lazy afternoon watching lunatic downhill mountain bikers career down the mountain side as they practised before a competition on Saturday. The whole area is getting full of mountain bikers with a round of the mountain bike World Cup being hosted in Fort William next weekend.