Spean Bridge or Fort William to Oban

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I get a lift with a walker also staying at the hostel and am in Kinlochleven by about 8am. From here it is down the West Highland Way to the Devils Staircase, along a wee path next to the main road to the Lairig Gartain carpark and off up the nice path between the two steep slopes of the Buachaille Etives to the Bealach and an amazing view down Glen Etive. The weather is sunny. I meet a lovely walker there and we share lunch and the view, unforgettable. I haven’t walked in Glen Etive before but I knew it was uniquely beautiful and imagined I could find a path on the south of the river keeping me from the road for as long as possible. I had not reckoned with it also being the most unfriendly glen in Scotland. 

At regular intervals there are signs expressing this; ‘No Camping’, ‘Private Property’, ‘Do not feed the animals’, ‘No overnight parking’ and all in this most amazing landscape. Of course the problem must be its proximity to Glen Coe but coupled with the cold signage are no tourist facilities except some overflowing bins at the head of the loch. It could be a world famous destination but instead it has nothing. You can’t say it is unspoilt because it is covered in forestry plantations which always leave ugly scars on the land. Well thats my little moan. The views above the signs where wonderful, the road long but eventually I reached the shore of the great Loch Etive. 

I have been worried all the way down the road wether there would be a path along the northern loch side. It is marked on the map but that does not mean it still functions as a path, particularly when it goes through small new forests where trees can grow quickly. If I couldn’t get down the side of the loch, I would have to double back and camp at the small space at the end of the loch. I had seen two tents there as I passed by. But I wanted to get to the bothy. I had already walked 26 km with some elevation and it was late afternoon. I did not want to arrive at the bothy after dark. If the path wasn’t good that was a distinct possibility. Well it is the second last unknown to be navigated, I rolled the dice and I set off. 

The path was very boggy at first, then disappeared in the first wooded section. Plan B was to walk along the shore. It is a sea loch, but curses, the tide is coming in and there was no beach. So back up into the undergrowth and here is the path again. I followed it through some ridiculously dense undergrowth but it never gave up on me. I repacked my backpack so it had a smaller profile to stop it snagging on branches and was expecting to meet elves or pixies on the path, but it kept going and was navigable.  It became bigger as the woods grew into a forest and then into a rough road, the natural woods became a managed commercial forest. 

I had made it and I was exhausted. My rule is never go into the red zone where you are bound to make mistakes. The first mistake I was conscious of was not stopping for fear of loosing the light. Always refuel and keep hydrated. I was too tired to bother. I just wanted to reach my destination so kept putting one foot in front of the other. 12 km from the head of the loch and just before darkness, I arrive at the beautiful Cadderlie Bothy. An Italian couple have also arrived. They have come from the south, up the loch from their camper van, for the evening. They were going to cook a meal over the open fire and brought fire wood and food. It was lovely to have some company and they shared pasta with me, Unforgettable.

The final climb and it is a fittingly fun one. The Bealach is 500 meters of elevation and 10 km from the bothy across a bolder strewn slope which climbs and undulates. The weather is lovely and the views south fantastic and when I reach the rough road that zig zags down towards Druimavuic I can see the last of my route laid out in front of me, wow. There is the bay, the bridge, the peninsular with Port Appin, then the long thin island of Lismore. 

At the Creagan Inn I pause for chips and a beer before a short road walk takes me to a public foot path that runs along what used to be the old railway. You continue on this until the shore where a foot path and footbridge takes you down towards the Port Appin road. From here there is a great view of Castle Stalker. I thought I would be able to avoid half of this road walk but the path I was looking for seemed to be behind locked gates. If I walked fast I would get the next ferry, with time to stock up at a local shop. I figured there would not be a good water source on the island of Lismore as it is very flat, so I filled up my water bottles to. 

I was the only passenger on the ten minute crossing, and I was considering trying to walk to a hostel half way down the Island for the night but a quick chat to a local reassured me the Islanders were very friendly to all visitors. Although it is an agricultural island there were plenty of places around the shore to camp. I notice a sheep limping, which is an unusual thing, and remember its’ markings. I stop at the next farm to report it and also to see if they are OK with me pitching my tent down the coast a wee bit. All is fine and they suggest near Tirefore Castle and Broch on a hill a kilometre away. It is a lovely spot for my last night. Panoramic views of land sea and sky, next to an ancient archeological site, on a friendly Island.

I am still having difficulty sleeping but the pull of home is strong so I get up early and aim to get the first ferry to Oban, which will connect me to a train to Glasgow and home for lunch. The path along the shore to Achnacroish is picturesque and I am soon at the quay side waiting for the ferry. This ferry fights tidal currents on some days of the month and may be rescheduled so it is worth double checking if it is running. After an hour or so sailing Oban is ahead of me and the end of my journey. How does it feel? There is no ceremony. I get on the train to Glasgow which is waiting on the platform. 

The Devil's Trail is complete, 

666 miles (estimate). Over 1000 kilometres,  and 32,800m of elevation (which is 3.7 Everests) and a total of 49 Days. Seven weeks broken down into 46 days on the trail, 2 half days travelling from Glasgow to Oban and back and 2 days off trail.  I slept; 36 nights of wild camping, 3 nights in campsites, 6 nights in Bothies, 2 nights in Hostels and 2 nights off trail in B&B. That is an average of 22 km and 695 meters of elevation per day. 13 miles and 2300 ft. 

That includes the time spent on ferries and rest days. If I minus those from the total days the averages come to; 40 days of full walking time at 25 km per day and 820m elevation or 15.5 miles and 2700ft per day. These are very rough estimations.

I did not feel particularly tired after this trip, but had lost a little weight and gained a little muscle. My joints ached for about a week after the trail and my feet which felt bruised, took a couple of weeks to feel normal again. I suffered no muscle strains or health problems on the trail except for an ingrowing nail at the beginning, a bashed toe near the end, and my shoulders needed regular massages to stop my shoulder muscles aching and that feeling traveling down my arms. But once I kneaded the muscles like bread dough the ache went away. I got run down with a cold for a few days around Kinlochewe and got tent yips near the end of the trip which stopped me sleeping properly. I put this down to bad luck with the weather and the time of year which meant I spent a lot of my evenings confined to my tent inner and also the wrong choice of tent. I would take a weight hit for a bigger tent if I am spending more than a month in it. To avoid this and the navigation problems of overgrown paths I would recommend going on this trip late spring or at the beginning of the summer.

I put my good health down to carrying a lightish backpack, and eating properly. I regularly took vitamin tablets, supplements for joint care, salt tablets, Protein Works ‘Super Greens’, USN weight gain protein powder. This provided my body with all it needed in addition to the regular camping food bought from local shops, oat bars, couscous etc. and with minimum weight. I was very comfortable, warm and dry in my tent, (until the end of the trip) and that helped enormously. That comes from knowledge gained from other backpackers, a particular mention to my oldest friend Tony Glasgow for starting me off, then many Youtubers. I then tested that knowledge on short trips. I made adjustments to the techniques and equipment to take into account what I learnt in the Scottish environment and repeated this to improve. This allowed me to go with confidence, with a lighter pack than many I met on the trail. I even sent back another 3/4 of a kilo after three weeks, as the trail taught me what I did and did not need. That seemed reasonable to over equip slightly at the beginning, easier to fix than under equipping. It is not the weight only that is a drawback of taking additional equipment, it is that it gets in the way, get damp, needs to be unpacked and then packed again and wears you down not only on but also off the trail. 

As far as training to get fit for my trip, I tried to do as similar activity as possible to the walk. There is a hill near where I live in a park. It is 30 metres or 100ft in height and has a rough stony path that runs straight up as well as some grassy slopes. I would walk up and down that ten times a day, giving me 300m or 1000ft of elevation, as many times a week as I could manage, more nearer my departure date. I used my trekking poles to mimic my walk and I think the walking on the rough ground helped strengthen my ankles and knees a little. The only adjustment I would make to this was using a weighted backpack, building up the weight to maybe one and a half times as heavy as I proposed to carry. Apart from that adjustment I was happy with my training as I did not find any of the walking particularly tiresome nor did I get any muscle or ligament strain. 

The Iona to Cape Wrath Trail stand as one of the most exciting and challenging trails in the country. If you have done the Cape Wrath Trail and want to go to the next level this is the one. The Sutherland Trail starting and ending in Ullapool is two solid weeks of strenuous, beautiful backpacking and great for a serious shorter break. The Mull Trail from Iona to Tobermory, is a short weeks walk. The Devils Trail is the big one. Both physical and mentally challenging but so, so worth it.