Back Packing
Although we have often been to the lakes hiking up and down the fells we had
never been to Scotland until 2001 when we took a last minute trip with our
touring caravan at the end of August we toured around Scotland and although
the weather was wet (is it ever anything else) we loved it , we did manage to
take the kids up Ben Nevis on the tourist path and decided we would have to
go back soon on the way home we noticed lots of people walking what
appeared to be a well worn path upon investigation this appeared to be the
west highland way
I found a nice little guide book that came complete with a Harvey's map of the
entire walk , over the xmas holidays 2001 I read the guide and muted the
idea of doing the walk to Shirley , she loved the idea but doubted she
could manage it I wanted to do it using tents and all the camping gear etc
We were out climbing one day and it popped up in conversation a Dennis my climbing partner mentioned he would love to do a long distance walk and the highland way sounded great , it meant that Dennis and I could carry the heavy gear 2 tents and share the rest of the heavy stuff leaving Shirley to carry her own clothes and much of the lighter gear
We learnt a lot on the West Highland Way the key thing being carry as little weight as possible , when we pack our gear we place it on the bed first and took around 1/3 of what we originally though to take but for a week long trip etc you really need to be brutal and don't take anything you may not need
Choose your gear carefully and when buying gear I would now always buy the lightest gear even if it was a bit more expensive ever gram counts , it can make a massive difference to your feet and reduce your blisters also make sue your back pack fits you comfortably because you will be wearing all day long , I personal use a Karrimor Jaguar
