West Highland Way, Day 4 - Inverrannen to Bridge of Orchy

Distance: 30km

Leaving Inverrannen

This was a lengthy, but very easy 30km. Most of the trail was dirt paths - soft on the feet and easy on the knees.

On the trail

We passed through Tyndrum on the way, which seemed like nice town with great amenities. Our guidebook suggested stopping but as we knew we had a long walk ahead, we decided to keep going. In hindsight, I think it would have been a good idea to stop, as it would have broken up a very long day.

After Tyndrum the trail ran parallel to the train tracks, through a grassy plain. At this point we were getting super tired - and though the hiking was very easy it seemed to drag on. It was also getting late in the day and we had our first experience being surrounded by midges. Luckily the Avon Skin so Soft we were wearing seemed to do the trick as neither of us got any bites.

Arriving at the Bridge of Orchy

We were wiped out when we arrived at Bridge of Orchy so we decided to splash out on a lux cottage and big meal at the Bridge of Orchy Hotel - our other options would have been to stay at the very rustic West Highland Way Sleeper (bunks in a converted train station) .

West Highland Way, Day 3 - Rowardennan to Inverannen

 Distance: 22.5km

Leaving Rowardennan

The third day of the West Highland Way has a reputation for being the toughest day on the trail, and I'd have to agree. Those long stretches of navigating slippery boulders on steep terrain really did my legs in. The route also traces the shore of Loch Lommond for the entire day, which had the discouraging effect of making me feel like we weren't making much progress.

To be fair, the day did start out on a gentle note. We had two options heading out of Rowardennan - a low path that keeps close to the shore of the lake, and a high route, which follows a logging road. You might think the low route would be the easier choice. After all, the description suggests less elevation gain. Our guidebook made it pretty clear though that the route was a tough slog - it described the trail as  narrow, rocky and also slippery in wet weather. With a description like that, it seemed surprising that anyone would choose the low route - but when we left the hostel I noticed most of the hikers ahead of us where going that way. Hmmmm.

On the trail

As we knew the trail would definitely be wet, we decided to take the high route and I'm glad we did. Though I expect there were less views of the lake than we would have seen on the lower route, the glimpses we did catch were very nice. Also, as I mentioned in the first paragraph of this post, there are plenty of opportunities to enjoy views of the lake over the course of the day.  

There are no towns or stores on the trail, but a hotel conveniently appeared right around lunch hour. As we'd purchased yummy packed lunches

Another hiker we met took the lower route and said it was very difficult
Stopped at a hotel for lunch, ate our packed lunch that we purchased from the hostel, filled up our water bottles
 

After the hotel the trail was very difficult - lots of up and down, very slippery and rocky - reminded me of costal hiking in the Pacific north west
 

Glad I had hiking poles
 

Rough trail continued until we got the end of Loch Lommond at the end of the day
 

Climbed up and over a hill

Arriving in Inverannen

Had a delicious dinner at the West Highland Way Campsite in Inverannen
Stopped for the night Rose Cottage B&B, super comfy room and a yummy breakfast

 

 

 

 

See more photos of our third day on the West Highland Way in our album on Flickr

West Highland Way, Scotland - Day 2: Drymen to Rowadennan

Distance: Book says 22km but our fitness monitor says 26km

Leaving Drymen

The entire summer the weather across Europe had been sunny and dry...except in Scotland. Everytime we checked the Doppler radar, there was wet and rainy weather over Scotland. On the plus side, this meant that, while the rest of Europe was scorched and yellow, the Scottish landscape was green and lush. 

On the not so great side, we woke up to a torrential downpour on our second day on the West Highland Way. Sheets of rain slanted just slightly less than sideways rain (we'd get that kind of rain later on down the trail).  In hopes that the weather would let up a little, we decided to hunker down in cozy restaurant and have a big breakfast.

We headed to Skoosh because our guidebook mentioned they made great sandwiches which we planed to take with us to eat for lunch. When we're hiking, we normally hit grocery stores and make our own lunches, but with the weather being what it was, we thought it would be best to keep things as simple.

After inspecting the menu, I decided to go with a Coronation chicken sandwich. I'd never heard of a Coronation chicken sandwich before, so I Googled it and learned that it's a sandwich filled with pieces of chicken, mixed with mayonnaise and curry powder. The description didn't appeal to Baasje, so he ordered the other option on the menu:

Baasje: “I'll have the dry chicken sandwich, please."
Scottish server: “Just dry chicken?”
Baasje: “You don’t recommend it?”
Scottish server: “Well it’s just dry chicken, so it’ll be dry.”

And so we both ended up with Coronation chicken sandwiches.

For breakfast we could pick from either 5 or 7 choices. I went for 7 choices - fried eggs (2x) bacon, tomato, mushroom, sausage, potato scone, toast - and Baasje got 5 - scrambled egg, sausage (2x) potato scone, tomato. Delish!

On the trail

We got every kind of weather on the trail that day - pouring rain, bright sun, cold, hot. I was grateful I'd bit the bullet and splashed out a new Gore-tex raincoat before we left. 

We briefly hiked through the farmland surrounding Drymen  before entering a forest of beautiful big trees (and lots of signs of logging). After the forest, the trail split and we took the high route up Conic Hill to check out the vista of Loch Lommond (beautiful even though the views were partially obscured by fog and rain). It was definitely worth the climb!

Ate lunch in Balahama at the foot of Conic Hill - popular spot with tourists (lots of hiking groups).

After lunch the trail traced the shores of Loch Lommond. Beautiful

Arriving in Rowadennan

We had reservations that night at Rowardennan Lodge Youth Hostel (a converted fishing and hunting lodge). When we arrived at sunset we were famished and we were grateful that the hostel served a delish three course dinner. We both had the tomato basil soup (amazing!), Baasje had the chile con carne for his main and I had the chicken tikka. After dinner I soaked my feet in Loch Lommond before turning in early in anticipation of the next day’s hike (we’d been warned day 3 would be the the hardest stretch of the trail).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See more photos of our second day on the West Highland Way in our album on Flickr

West Highland Way, Scotland - Day 1: Milngavie to Drymen

Arrival at the trailhead in Milngavie 

Distance: 19 km
Start: 10am
Arrival in Drymen: 3pm

Should we walk or take the train from Glasgow to the trailhead at Milngavie?

One of the (many) questions we asked ourselves when we were planning our West Highland Way trip was whether we should take the train from Glasgow to Milngavie - that's pronouned Mull-guy, by the way - or walk the ~12k instead. The main benefit of taking the train would of course be to save energy for the 154km hike ahead. On the other hand, after flying on a redeye from Montreal, a nice leisurely hike might be just the thing to keep us up throughout the day. This could lead to a good night's sleep starting at an appropriate hour - a strategy we usually follow to avoid jet lag.

And of course, we do love hiking.

We eventually decided to take advantage of the opportunity to spend a few hours exploring Glasgow before taking the short train ride to Milngavie. This made it possible for us to also have a leisurely evening in Milngavie. Plenty of time to pick up our WHW passport* (cost 10 pounts) and enjoy a yummy Sunday roast at the West Highland Way Beefeater, situated conveniently beside the inn we were staying in.

On the trail

As our guidebook suggested we had a easy day ahead of us, we figured 10am would be an adequate start time. We had a nice, big breakfast at the Beefeater, picked up snacks at the Tesco and subs at Subway just across from the trailhead (gluten-free buns!) and hit the trail.

The hike from Milngavie to Drymen was for, for the most part, a laid-back hike through pretty parks and rolling farmland - almost a stroll really. We passed lots of farms with sheep, goats, cows and ponies. As an added bonus we stopped at the Glencoyne Distillery, where we filled our water bottles distilled water from their outside tap and washed our lunch down with a few drams of their scotch. We both preferred the 12 year over the 18 year.

Arrival in Dryman

We arrived in Dryman around 3pm and went straight to the pub at the Clachann Inn (the oldest licensed pub in Scotland) where we were staying the night. We initially intended to check-in - and get my first stamp in my passport - before heading to our room to freshen up, but the bartender was so friendly we decided to pull up a chair at the bar and enjoy a few pints instead.

We had dinner in the restaurant at the Clachann that evening. I tried Cullen Skink for the first time (the first of many bowls I would enjoy on our journey). YUM!

 Our guidebook noted that the noise from the restaurant next door can make it difficult to sleep in the rooms located next door. We didn't find this to be a problem at all.

* Purchasing a WHW passport to collect stamps along the way is not necessary. I just like doing these kinds of things. It also provides an opportunity to contribute funds that go towards the maintenance of the trail.

 

See more photos of our first day on the West Highland Way in our album on Flickr

Hiking the Cinque Terre

 

Before arriving in Cinque Terre, we knew from blog posts we had read that we should expect some of the hiking trails on the Blue Path - the route that makes up Cinque Terre’s best-known hikes - would be closed. We learned these hikes, which are near sea level, are prone to landslides and are frequently shut down for maintenance and repair.

But we didn't expect that, due to an exceptionally wet spring, only one of the Blue Path trails (Vernazza to Monterosso) would be open during our stay.

But no biggie! We were more excited about the high-elevation Red Path trails anyway. On the Red Path we were able to take in pretty much the entire length of the Cinque Terre, with the exception of the distance from Riomaggiore to Manarola (which we passed on in favour of adding the hikes at the far ends, Riomaggiore to Porto Venere and Monterosso to Levanto).

The routes we took are outlined in the following blog posts. If you read the posts in the order they were published, you’ll notice we didn’t hike the trail in a linear order. This was because we chose the routes we would take each day based on the weather - longer, more strenuous hikes on nice days, and easier, more popular hikes on rainy days. I’ve rearranged the posts in the list below from north to south so that it makes more sense linearly.

Lavanto to Monterosso, Day 5
Trail: SVA
Time: 2.5 hours
Distance: 7km
Maximum elevation: 360m at College di Bagari

Vernazza to Monterosso, Day 4
Trail: SVA
Time: 2 hours
Distance: 3km

Corniglia to Vernazza via Cigolette, Day 1
Trail: 587 > AV5T > 507
Time: 3 hours
Distance:  ~6km
Maximum elevation: 607m at Cigolette

Corniglia to Manarola via Volastra, Day 2
Trail: 587 > 586 > 506
Time: 3 hours
Maximum elevation: 453m

Riomaggiore to Porto Venere via Telegrafo, Day 3
Trail: 593 > AV5T
Time: 4.5 hours
Maximum elevation: 570m

Hiking the Cinque Terre: Lavanto to Monterosso

Trail: SVA
Time: 2.5 hours
Distance: 7km
Maximum elevation: 360m at College di Bagari

Hiking the Cinque Terre: Vernazza to Monterosso

Trail: SVA
Time: 2 hours
Distance: 3km

We woke up on our fourth day in Cinque Terre to cloudy skies. Knowing the rain was coming, we figured it would be a good day to hike from Vernazza to Monterosso - the only Blue Path trail that was open during our visit to Cinque Terre.

This was the one day - in five days of hiking the Cinque Terre - where it was worthwhile for us to purchase the Cinque Terre day pass as we rode the train twice and had to pay a fee to hike the Blue Path.

We took the train from Corniglia to Vernazza in the morning where we had brunch before hitting the trail.  As we expected, even though the weather wasn't great, this ended up being the busiest trail we hiked. Upon leaving Vernazza we found ourselves in a line of hikers which was pretty much the case for most of the hike. We were also repeatedly in situations where the trail was only wide enough for one person to pass and the traffic was bottlenecked in both directions. Because the trail was so busy, the hike ended up taking a full 2 hours, even though it was fairly short. In contrast, on other days we encountered very few hikers unless we were close to the villages.

Though I'm glad we got the chance to do a section of the Blue Path - which I understand is the most popular trail in the Cinque Terre - I can't say it was my fave hike. At that elevation, I couldn't see much of the coast and I wasn't a fan of all the waiting.

That said, the day did end on a very high note with what I think was my favourite meal of our trip at L'Osteria. Delicious!!

Hiking the Cinque Terre: Riomaggiore to Porto Venere via Telegrafo

Trails to follow: 593 > AV5T
Time: 4.5 hours
Maximum elevation:  570m

This hike ended up being our favourite of the five hikes we did along the Cinque Terre. That said, I'm not sure it technically qualifies as a Cinque Terre hike as only it starts at the southern end of the Cinque Terre (the rest of the hike is outside the park), but if you love hiking and find yourself in this region, I would encourage you not to miss it.

The route was a bit difficult to follow as the area is crisscrossed by a web of trails that lead to various small villages. Rather than than relying on the numbered trailer markers, we found it was easiest to follow the signs to the specific destinations we knew we would visit along the way - Telegrafo, Palestra nel Verde, and finally, Porto Venere.

There's a lot of variety on this trail, both in terms of views and elevation. The climb out of Riomaggiore is a bit steep in spots, but the trail levels out at Telegrafo then traverses a ridge for a bit. For most of this section of the trail, you're surrounded by trees, but don't worry, the money views are coming! After Campiglia we started to see glimpses of the long, though at times steep, descent into Porto Venere. From this point on, the sights got more and more breathtaking - beautiful sweeping views of the cliffs and glimpses of Porto Venere's lovely medieval architecture.

We took our time on this stretch to explore a number of side trails along the way and arrived in Porto Venere just in time to hop on the last boat to La Spezia where we caught the train back to our home base, Corniglia. An unforgettable day!

Hiking the Cinque Terre: Corniglia to Manarola via Volastra

Trails to follow: 587 > 586 > 506
Time: 3 hours
Maximum elevation: 453m

Our two favourite hikes on the Cinque Terre were both south of Corniglia - the hike from Corniglia to Manarola, and the hike from Riomaggore to Porto Venere. What made these hikes so great, was the long stretches of unobstructed views where you can take in pretty much the full stretch of the Cinque Terre coast. 

The hike starts with a not-too-strenuous climb out of Corniglia that levels out about half-way to Volastra. A fair bit of the trail is through vineyards, and we saw signs to numerous wineries along the way. Volastra is a popular spot to stop to enjoy a glass of wine and the views. Leaving Volastra, there was another short climb and then some pretty level hiking until just before Manarola where there's a very steep decent into town.

Manorola ended up being Baasje's favourite Cinque Terre village, so instead of continuing on with another hike (as we'd originally planned), we spent the rest of the day exploring it's alleyways and shops and sampling Liguria wine.

Hiking the Cinque Terre: Corniglia to Vernazza via Cigolette

Trails to follow: 587 > AV5T > 507
Time: 2.5 hours
Distance:  ~6km
Maximum elevation: 607m at Cigolette

We woke up on our first morning in Cinque Terre to pretty steady rain. Not exactly how we wanted to start our vacation, but we were also still a little worn out from the long flight the day before and admittedly, it was probably a pretty good day to take it easy. Over a late brunch, we decided to tackle what we figured to be the less-scenic of the 2 trails we were wanting to do starting in Corniglia - Corniglia to Vernazza via Cigolette.

Our assumptions turned out to be correct for the first half of the trail, leaving Corniglia we took the 587 up to the AV5T (the Red Path) which was a pretty lengthy climb through forest. There weren't many views. In a few spots, if we turned around we were able to get a peek at the coast, but for the most part, we were completely surrounded by trees - which, on the flip side, had the benefit of providing protection from the rain.

After reaching Cigolette we began a steep decent into Vernazza via San Bernardino. We were rewarded with some impressive views on this part of the route, but the trade-off was that the rocky, slippery trail was a bit treacherous. We had read somewhere that tackling the trail in the direction from Corniglia to Vernazza is the better choice, but when it's raining, I'd suggest going in the other direction which I believe is safer.

We spent about an hour or so, exploring the streets and sites of Vernazza before getting into line for dinner at Il Pirata delle Cinque Terre. This ended up being one of our favourite meals of the trip. We had to wait for about 45 minutes as it's one of the more popular spots in town, but it was well worth it. The staff was very friendly and the food was exceptionally delicious (especially the desserts!)
 

Cannoli at Il Pirata della 5 Terre

My favourite hikes close to Montreal: Mount Lafayette to Mount Lincoln, Franconia Ridge

Trailhead location: Lafayette Place Campground just off Interstate-93 in Franconia Notch State Park

There is also a day use parking lot near the trailhead.

Hike length: 13km

Hike duration: 7 hours

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Our first outdoor trip after moving to Montreal from Victoria, British Columbia was a winter snowshoeing trek on Sentier des Caps in Charlevoix. While on the trail, I took the opportunity to canvass other hikers for trail recommendations. I asked people to name their favourite hike in the region. The almost universal answer was Franconia Ridge in New Hampshire.

This year we hiked the Franconia Ridge Loop for the 2nd year in a row. I’m guessing we’ll probably do it again next year, too. In between our 2 visits to Franconia Ridge we also hiked the Presidential Traverse (also in New Hampshire) and a handful of hikes closer to home in Quebec, Mount Tremblant, Mont-Megantic and Mont Saint-Hillaire. Of all these hikes the one I expect we’ll continue to go back to most frequently is Franconia Ridge. Why? Well, I'd have to say it’s the winning combo of easy accessibility coupled with a decent workout and a plethora of stunning views.

Both times we’ve hiked the trail, we left Montreal on Friday afternoon to arrive at the Lafayette Place Campground in the evening. Google Maps says the drive takes 3-4 hours, but we usually find, with added time to cross the boarder and stop for groceries, the drive usually takes us 5-5.5 hours. We’ve found it best to try to get off work a bit early in order to arrive at the campground early enough to enjoy a few hours of campfire time before hitting the hay.

On our most recent Franconia Ridge hike, we started the day off with a semi-relaxing breakfast with the gang before making our way from the campground to the nearby trailhead around 10am. The climb up to the Ridge along the Falling Waters trail is a bit of a long grind - both times it has taken us 2-3 hours to reach the ridge - but the views you’ll enjoy as you eat lunch above the tree line more than make up for the effort.

In between Mount Lafayette (1600m) and Mount Lincoln (1550m), the loop also takes in Little Haystack Mountain (1450m) enjoying wonderful 360 degree views the entire way. At Mount Lincoln  we began our decent via the Old Bridle Path Trail which includes a stop at the Greenleaf Hut where we took a break to fill up our water bottles. You can also usually buy a cold drink and baked goods at the hut.

We arrived back at the campground tired, happy and looking forward to a hot shower, a wienie roast dinner and a night around the campfire with friends . I should mention one of the things that makes this hike so great is that the campground is very well serviced with decent showers, a well-stocked camp store for purchasing any forgotten items, and friendly staff. The campsites are also a good size and offer a fair amount of privacy.

One final note, when going on group hikes, we like to enjoy a big brunch in town with the gang before hitting the road to head home. Our favourite brunch spot (so far) near the campground is the Littleton Diner. YUM!

Related links:

• Section Hiker: Great Hikes: Franconia Ridge Traverse 
• AllTrails: Mount Lafayette and Franconia Ridge Trail Loop
• SummitPost.org: Mount Lafayette 

Tour de Mont Blanc, Day 9 - Hotel Col de la Forclaz to Gîte le Moulin

Distance: 13km
Time: 7 hours
Cost: 39 CHF (room and board at Gîte Moulin)

On the morning of our ninth day on the Tour de Mont Blanc, we climbed 700m after leaving Hotel de la Forclaz to arrive at Col de la Balme just before noon. The bad weather the forecast had predicted never arrived, at least not until we had safely reached the gîte. That said, we were glad to enjoy lovely 360 degree views of the surrounding mountains from Col de Balme and Col des Possettes.

Le Gîte Moulin, where we stayed the night, was pretty simple, but a good deal for the price, very comfy and the owner is a fabulous cook. This was the only place we stayed on the hike that cooked a specific vegan meal for Amy - salad and mushroom lasagna and I has lucky enough to enjoy it as well. YUM!
 

Tour de Mont Blanc, Day 8 - Relais d'Arpette to Hotel Col de la Forclaz

Distance: 12km, with a 1000m climb
Time: 9 hours
Cost: 63 CHF (room and board at Gîte d'alpage de La Peule)

We were told this is the hardest stretch on the Tour de Mont Blanc, and it did turn out to be pretty difficult. The gentle climb that started just after we left Relais d'Arpette became steeper and steeper until we were scrambling over loose boulders and up what felt like 45 degree banks to reach the Fenêtre d'Arpette.

Our climb was complicated by inconsistent weather conditions that in turn delivered rain, fog, wind and rare glimpses of blue sky to urge us onward. When we finally arrived at the fenêtre we were greeted by cold winds and rain. Though the view was surprisingly lovely, given the weather, we decided not to linger there long.

The 1000m descent took us 5 hours, most of it under unexpectedly sunny skies. We took our time to descend safely and stopped often to enjoy views of the impressive Trient Glacier.

We arrived at the Hotel Col de la Forclaz just before the thunderstorms started. The hotel is a sprawling maze of dorms and stairwells and seems to not have been renovated since the 70s. Though it's busier than I would prefer - it's located just up the hill from the bustling village of Trient - it seems quiet and cozy enough. And of course it feels good to be inside and out of the rain.

Tour de Mont Blanc, Day 7: Gîte d'alpage de La Peule to Relais d'Arpette

Distance: 24km
Time: 8 hours
Cost: 67 CHF (room and board at Relais d'Arpette)

After stopping short of a full leg the day before, we made up for the difference the next day. We completed the full leg for day 7 in our Tour de Mont Blanc guidebook and hiked an additional couple of kilometers to Relais d'Arpette.

Having enjoyed 6 straight days of glorious sunshine, we finally encountered our first bout of rain this day (which, happily enough, turned out to the the only rain we endured on the trail for the entire hike). It began just after we left La Peule and continued in a steady downpour until we reached la Fouly an hour and a half later. Thankfully the rain dried up just as we were hiking out of La Fouly and the sun came out. It remained fairly sunny for the rest of our extra-long hike - though it did begin raining again just after we checked into Relais d'Arpette.

As things go, it wasn't a bad day to deal with rain, most of the day we descended into the valley on wide paths, and there weren't any vistas to take in. We did pass many pretty, clear bubbling streams, shady forested stretches and picturesque Swiss Villages. We had a very nice stay at Relais d'Arpette where we were served a dinner of vegetable soup, beef stew, and dessert.

 

Tour de Mont Blanc, Day 6 - Rifugio Bonatti to Gîte d'alpage de La Peule

Distance: 13km
Time: 5.5 hours
Cost: 62 CHF (room and board at Gîte d'alpage de La Peule)

Our sixth day on the Tour de Mont Blanc was a pretty short day, though the 13km we covered included a bit of a grind of a climb from Val Ferret to Grand Col Ferret (1784m to 2537m) where we crossed into Switzerland.

 

We stayed the night at the Gîte d'alpage de La Peule. While it at first seemed comparatively small and rustic compared to the other refuges we'd encountered, it quickly found a place in my heart and became my second favourite refuge of the hike. It had the requisite lovely view, was quiet and comfortable and the dorms were roomy and airy (most of the dorms we stayed in were a bit on the stuffy side). As the gîte is located on a working dairy farm, the food, which featured their own milk and cheeses, was extra fresh and delicious. For dinner we had salad, croque madame and fruit salad and the breakfast they served in the morning was hands-down the best breakfast of the hike.