Backpacking Scotland's West Highland Way

Let me just start by saying that this is probably the raddest hike I have ever done. Although the ideal way is to start from Glasgow and hike all the way up to Ft. William, the scenery just gets better and better as you get closer to the Ft William area, so if you just have a few days, you can do it backward and go until you run out of time.

This is a very popular hike during the dry season. During the rainy season, you will only see maybe 1 or 2 people on the trail the entire time, especially the weekend. It is an amazing solo hike and is very easy to follow the clearly marked and well maintained path even without a map or compass. The views you get here are EPIC.

Although the trail is easy to follow, be careful when wandering off the path to climb hills. Many have gotten lost and died of hypothermia. Scotland's temperatures don't get too low, but it is so windy and wet all the time that it will feel colder than you expect. You can decide to hike as much as you want and break it up in however many days as you'd like, which makes this hike good for any level of experience or skill.

Make sure to bring a water filter because there are long stretches between towns and there are lots of streams and rivers you can get water from. I ran out of food and lived a couple days off of just water from my filter.