The morning after and other mistakes

In the morning we woke up to the sound of the pouring rain. When I left the tent, I glanced over at the annoying neighbors and saw that they had left their shoes outside the tent overnight. They could probably use it as a footbath today. Actually we wanted to have breakfast in the pub, but we had overslept a little and had to buy a few things in the shop at the campsite. We didn't really feel like packing up the tent in the rain, but there was no end in sight ... Well then ... packed weatherproof we went on our way. Mesut and the bearded man probably left early and therefore we did not see them at first. After about 1-2 km the rain stopped and we decided to take off our rain pants because it was way too warm for us. That was a mistake. Soon it started again and still we skipped our pants. Finally, the zip pants are also impregnated. Logical! But don't stop for pouring rain. But more on that in a moment.

At the waterfalls, which were almost as spectacular as advertised in the travel guide, we came to a bridge that had been torn away by the flood. A detour over the muddy field was announced. There was an (still) intact alternative bridge there. The 200 meters detour felt like at least 600, because the way was really difficult. The alternative bridge also showed signs of the sometimes heavy weather. And as if that wasn't a memorial enough, it started raining harder and harder. And we still had no rain pants ... what were we thinking? We simply missed the limit where a change would still have been possible and useful. in any case, the pants got wetter and wetter. The path led us a little up the mountain and suddenly Mesut and the bearded man came towards us. My first thought: "Ha! It wasn't much use to you to get up early either!" But far from it ...

Different than planned...

The two told us that the bridge above had also been destroyed and that there was no alternative route. My pants were really wet by now. it didn't matter now either. Fuck off. The bearded man pointed to a bridge below and explained that one could probably get on over it. Then my attention was drawn to a sheep that was twitching on the hillside next to the path in the rain. It was still alive, but an apparent gunshot wound to the stomach indicated that all hope was in vain. Fortunately, the ranger was already informed. In the Highlands it happens time and again that someone makes fun of shooting sheep. I really don't understand anything like that. I tried not to worry too much about it. I quickly averted my gaze before my brain could fully realize what was going on and I concentrated on following the others. Fortunately the shoes were at least waterproof ... We kept fighting our way forward. We walked a long way along the expressway until the bearded man guided us back to the WHW with the help of GPS maps. From then on we let them go again, we didn't necessarily feel like joining others or running faster. During a two-minute break, the boy scouts overtook us from the campsite. Some of them even wore shorts and were even worse equipped than we were ...

Take a breather - and then what?

In a tunnel, which fortunately was still completely dry, we took the opportunity and put on dry clothes and rain pants. Two Brits walked past us and the woman said: "Oh, two smart young ladies here." Yeah ... pretty smart actually. We could have put on the smart clothes right from the start ... But we also had a bite to eat there and forged a clever plan for the rest of the day. So far we were used to the rain stopping at some point and the sun showing up again. Today, however, was no end in sight. Therefore, we decided to take the path to Crianlarich, which was touted as a place with numerous overnight accommodations (at least in our memory), in order to look for a shelter for the coming night and at the same time for a way to dry our clothes and our battered bodies to warm up. Anne's clothes were completely soaked, the tent was completely wet inside and our sleeping bags were also badly damaged.

Off to Crianlarich

On the descent to Crianlarich, a man and his son came towards us. Both belonged to the category of the backpackless and we had noticed earlier in the day. But not because of her brisk pace or her gentle way of squirming through the rain ... no! But because the father seemed to walk the whole way in sandals. We wished him frostbite so badly that his toes would have to be black and amputated so that he would have to walk on stumps for the rest. But we had to give him something: he had no wet socks. So maybe not so stupid after all. The Youth Hostel was also right at the entrance to the village. Unfortunately, it quickly turned out that there was no more space for us there. Totally booked out. However, the operator was empathetic and - like almost all Scots - helpful and extremely friendly. He offered us a seat and that we should put our backpacks down. He also looked up 5 phone numbers for hostels / hotels in Crianlarich and Tyndrum (the next town, on the WHW about 10 km away) on the internet so that we could call them and ask for a place. However, we didn't reach anyone and then used the in-house WiFi to maybe find something on the internet. While we searched and the operator helped us, the other guests who were in the lounge discussed wild camping and complained about the lack of shower facilities. Anne and I grinned at each other. We both thought the same thing. If they had smelled us before our shower yesterday, they would probably have popped out of their Jack Wolfskin jackets in shock. Well, on West-Highland-Way you can't reserve a pool chair with a towel. But then come back home and Gabi and Günther tell what an adventurous time they spent in Scotland. In the wilderness.

Rescue in sight?

After a long and intensive search we found a single hotel that had exactly one room available in Crianlarich. 120 euros ... actually we didn't want to spend that much on it, but that was really our only option. The tent was soaking wet and from Crianlarich we could at least take the bus to Tyndrum tomorrow to maintain our daily running requirement of approx. 20 km. So we bit the bullet and booked. Fortunately, the hotel wasn't far away and we could go straight to our room. We then misused this as a drying chamber and saw the true extent of the downpour for the first time. Anne hadn't put her things in plastic bags again. Therefore, ALL items of clothing were really completely soaked. We stretched a cord across the room. So everything should be dry by tomorrow morning. Then we first made a cup of tea with the kettle that was in the room. Incidentally, this was a bit old and really not worth the money. Modern equipment works differently and the toilet was practically in the closet ... But the main thing is dry and no cold. After all, we wanted to run the rest of the WHW as well.

When the rain subsided a bit, we went to the nearby supermarket and bought food, water, postcards and stamps. The saleswoman was delighted that Anne paid in cash: "Oh, that's lovely, thank you my dear."

Now we were well equipped, could take another shower and enjoy a quiet evening. In the hotel we wanted to plan tomorrow and how far we still had to go.

Calculate like in elementary school

We noticed that we were a lot further than expected and that we had apparently calculated a day less than we actually had available ... the error by one ... darned. From August 5th to 15th it was 11 and not 10 days. We idiots. We did the math 100 more times, but it was true. We were incredibly happy, because that meant that we no longer had to struggle with 20 km every day. We did it, but it had been really exhausting and caused quite a bit of foot pain. A loud "Juchhe" slipped out of our mouths and a choir of angels sang Hallelujah.

The tent that we had set up between a lamp and the closet door to the bathroom left a large water stain on the 40-year-old carpet while we were cheering and praising. We didn't care. We were just happy. And what got dirty, we cleaned with the hotel's white towels. That had to be possible for 120 euros. Also the food in bed and that we crumbled everything. No matter. And then it was bedtime!