Walking Holidays & Adventure in the West Scottish Highlands
If want to know a little more about our Distant Hills Walking Holidays and what’s involved, this blog article will give you a useful overview. It tells the story of our moderate level walking holiday which took place in October 2021. We hope it inspires you to join us!
Day One – Arrival
Upon arriving at Distant Hills Guest House on the Sunday afternoon, our stylish yet cosy accommodation based in Spean Bridge, our 8 guests each chose their en-suite bedrooms and unpacked. Once settled, everyone gathered in the lounge to meet each other and chat over a few pre-dinner drinks. Cameron and I cooked and hosted the first evening meal ourselves at Distant Hills so everyone could completely relax and get used to their new ‘home’. A rustic homemade soup, lasagne and cheesecake were the culinary delights for the first night. As the meal progressed, the chatter got louder and the laughter grew. Fabulous, the group was beginning to bond. It was time for us to brief the first walk.
It’s usual at this stage for at least one member of the group to be feeling a little apprehensive about the walking speed of the group and being last. We always try to allay those fears as early as possible. Distant Hills Walking Holidays are not bootcamps with the aim of racing each other to the top! The scenery here in the Highlands is just far too breathtaking to rush past. Why go on a walking holiday where one of the pleasures is to meet new like-minded people if you can’t breathe, let alone hold a conversation?! Our walking holidays are about enjoyment of the whole experience and supporting each other to complete the walks.
Day Two – Creag Meagaidh
After fuelling up on one of Cameron’s delicious breakfasts, there was an air of excitement as the group grabbed their rucksacks and donned their boots ready to meet their guide for the week, trainee member of the Lochaber Mountain Rescue team and very good friend, Dave Lamond, founder of Lamond Mountain Guides.
For the first walk of the week, we always try to choose something that is reasonably close and is not too strenuous or challenging. Think of it as a warm-up, an opportunity for people to get to know each other and for the guide to quietly assess both individual and group ability for the other 3 walks.
The aim of the first walk was to reach the impressive Creag Meagaidh cliffs towering above the dark Lochan Coire Ardair. The walk is an out an out-and-back route totalling 7.5 miles along an excellent path. While our group didn’t see them on this occasion, the area is a well-known spot for sighting golden eagles. After a dry and bright start to the walk, we did experience a shower or two but we didn’t allow this to dampen our spirits. One of the blessings of rain, are the numerous waterfalls that suddenly appear highlighting the crevasses in the hillsides. The group took this walk quite literally in their stride and reached the Lochan where it was time to sample the first Distant Hills packed lunch. With morale and energy levels high, Dave offered the additional challenge of walking the short distance to the top of what is known as ‘the window’. The somewhat steeper and looser terrain certainly added an extra achievement to the day but the low-level cloud shrouded the views from this vantage point and it was agreed a perfect point to turn back and retrace the steps to the car park before heading back to Distant Hills Guest House in Spean Bridge for afternoon tea, Dani’s homemade lemon drizzle cake.
After a lovely warm shower and a rest, we walked 5 minutes down the road to Russell’s Restaurant where we were treated to a very warm welcome by Robert, one of the owners, and an exquisite 3 course meal cooked by his AA* chef husband Glen, rounding off what had been an excellent first walking day.
Day Three – Meall Cumhann
With brighter skies, and everyone easing into the flow of things, spirits were high in the group as we gathered in the car park for our morning brief. Tuesday’s walk was taking us to Glen Nevis with the aim of climbing the lesser-known peak of Meall Cumhann at 698m. Chatting away merrily, we meandered our way through the wooded gorge section, occasionally catching breathtaking glimpses back down Glen Nevis and the mountains beyond. It wasn’t too long before the impressive Steall Waterfall came into view and a chain reaction of ‘wows’ filtered through the group. We couldn’t pass this spot without at least one person having a go on the wire bridge traverse! Our luck was in as we got to watch three of the group balancing, wobbling and laughing as they made it to the other side and back.
Soon afterwards, the terrain became steeper and the footpath less obvious but the feeling of the mountains wrapping themselves around you as you ascended further was incredible. This part of the trail was much, much quieter and true to form, there was no other human soul in sight until we returned to the car park. We did, however, hear a few stags roaring in the distance. We tried hard to spot them but they were too well camouflaged to see with the naked eye on this occasion.
On the summit of Meall Cumhann, one of the group spotted some animal droppings, which Dave our guide explained were most likely to be eagle pellet regurgitations. Maybe not too pleasant to think about but awesome to know that eagles had been on that very spot. The descent to the car park followed a faint track down a grassy hillside making this an excellent 4.5 mile circular route with ever-changing views of the Glen Nevis arena.
The end of the second walk was marked with a few celebratory beers back at Distant Hills before feasting like kings on another mouth-watering meal at Russell’s Restaurant.
Day Four – Rest Day
The aim of the middle day is to give our guests a ‘free’ day to explore more the local area or to simply relax in the comfort of Distant Hills Guest House and its beautiful grounds. The day started with a more leisurely breakfast after which our guests went off to do their own separate activities ranging from hiring our two e-bikes and riding along the Great Glen Way, to visiting some of the nearby white sandy beaches, the Glenfinnan Monument and Neptune’s Staircase. The free day also provided our guests with an opportunity to try some of the other local eateries.
Day Five – The North Face and CIC Hut
Feeling somewhat refreshed, the group gathered for breakfast and waited to be briefed on the third guided walk of the holiday. Unfortunately, the weather forecast was not favourable, so we decided to avoid a peak summit and chose a walk with as much atmospheric drama as possible. We had the perfect choice up our sleeves – which was to follow the river path up to the CIC Hut nestled underneath the dark, imposing cliffs of the North Face of Ben Nevis. We knew that in wet conditions, the river would be wild, noisy and fast-flowing and the clouds swirling around the black rocks would be moody and impressive.
Luckily, the group had adhered to our suggested kit list and everyone had full waterproof gear including jacket, trousers, boots and waterproof rucksack covers. Wearing the correct clothing certainly helped to keep morale within the group high, in fact, we shared just as much laughter on this wet and soggy adventure as we did on the other walks. We had to negotiate a few stream crossings, straddling steppingstones to reach the other side.
Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get right to the CIC hut itself, as the Allt a’ Mhuilinn river was in too much spate to guarantee us a safe crossing to the other side, but we did get very, very close to it. Just in case you’re wondering, the CIC Hut is an alpine style mountain hut providing shelter to mountaineers from harsh weather conditions.
Having felt a great achievement facing some pretty grim weather conditions, the group decided to call it a day and retrace their steps back to Torlundy car park. Then it was back to the warm and welcoming Distant Hills Guest House accommodation for a warm shower, more tea, cakes and a tasty local beer or two before another fantastic three-course meal at the nearby Russell’s restaurant.
Day Six – Binnein Shuas
With the exception of our boots, our kit had fully dried out in the Distant Hills Guest House brand new, purpose-built drying room! What a saviour that had been! For our last walk of the holiday, our guide, Dave, selected a rugged looking peak summit called Binnein Shuas on the Ardverikie Estate just a 15 minute drive from Distant Hills Guest House.
The route starts with a very gentle 2 mile walk following a wide vehicle access track. That might sound a bit boring, and we worried that the group might think so too, but the everchanging raw Highland scenery and the feeling of remoteness was mesmerising and the group rather enjoyed a more leisurely terrain where chatting away to each other was more achievable.
The real ‘wow’ factor on this walk was reaching the magnificent Lochan na’ Earba. This is one of our ‘hidden gems’. After taking a few photos, we began to traverse the hillside above the Loch until we reached a gully. That sounds a little daunting but with our expert guide to lead the way, we all carefully picked our way up this steeper section, helping and supporting each other when needed, until we reached the bealach (saddle) where the effort rewarded us with more mind-blowing views. With the greatest challenge of the day already behind us, we simply had to walk for another half an hour or so steadily ascending to the summit. We managed to capture more 360˚ breathtaking views looking out over Loch Laggan, the Ardverike Estate, the Creag Meagaidh Nature Reserve and back down Glen Spean towards Fort William.
Rather than descend the gully, Dave led us down the grassy hillside which offered a different kind of terrain as well as views making this another mostly circular route.
With everyone having successfully and safely completed all four walks the group was feeling jubilant and looking forward to a final celebratory evening full of fun and merriment back at Distant Hills Guest House and later at Russell’s Restaurant, which now also felt very familiar and more like dining round a friend’s house than in an A’ la carte restaurant.
Fond Farewells
It’s so easy to forge new friendships when you join a walking holiday. The mountains and Mother Nature have no place for human status and egos and so people often find themselves feeling much more relaxed with their true personalities and characters coming to the fore. This wonderful group of 8 guests had created memories, laughed together, shared stories and even sang together. They had supported and encouraged each other and developed a bond through a shared experience and common interest.
Saying goodbye was therefore difficult but with more Distant Hills Walking Holidays dates released, there’s plenty of opportunity for a reunion!
If you love walking and wish to explore some of Scotland’s finest landscapes, learn more about our Distant Hills Walking Holidays here.
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