Episode #320 - Mighty Blue on the West Highland Way
Mighty Blue On The Appalachian Trail: The Ultimate Mid-Life Crisis
Steve Adams
4.8 • 599 Ratings
🗓️ 28 April 2022
⏱️ 64 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week's show is all about my recent "saunter" on the West Highland Way in Scotland. As many of you know, I'd never hiked before I moved to the US, and I certainly didn't know about this little gem in Scotland. I'd originally intended to couple a quicker hike on the WHW with a similarly fast walk on Hadrian's Wall Path. However, as you'll hear, fate intervened, and I had one of my most satisfying hikes.
I've also added a lot more pictures this week (corresponding with the day they were taken), because I didn't share many of them on Facebook or Instagram.
For those of you who are interested, my itinerary was as follows:
Day 1 - from Milngavie (Mile Zero) to Drymen Camping (Mile 11.0), an 11 mile day
Day 2 - from Drymen Camping (Mile 11.0) to Balmaha (Mile 19.2), an 8.2 mile day
Day 3 - from Balmaha (Mile 19.2) to Rowardennan (Mile 27.6), an 8.4 mile day
Day 4 - from Rowardennan (Mile 27.6) to Inverarnan (Mile 41.5), a 13.9 mile day
Day 5 - from Inverarnan (Mile 41.5) to Tyndrum (Mile 53.3), an 11.8 mile day
Day 6 - from Tyndrum (Mile 53.3) to The Bridge of Orchy (Mile 60.3), a 7 mile day
Day 7 - from The Bridge of Orchy (Mile 60.3) to Glencoe "Pods" (Mile 72.4), a 12.1 mile day
Day 8 - from Glencoe "Pods" (Mile 72.4) to Kinlochleven (Mile 81.3), an 8.9 mile day
Day 9 - from Kinlochleven (Mile 81.3) to Fort William (Mile 96.8), a 15.5 mile day.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You are listening to the Hiking Radio Network, where we talk the walk with shows by hikers, |
| 0:05.5 | about hikers, for everybody. Mighty Blue on the Appalachian Trail, the ultimate midlife crisis, joins Stephen his guests every week as he staggers from Georgia to Maine. |
| 0:33.9 | Hey guys, thanks for coming back to the show. This is Mighty Blue on the Appalachian Trail, |
| 0:38.3 | the ultimate midlife crisis. This week, we're going to temporarily rename it to Mighty |
| 0:43.5 | Blue on the West Highland Way, two old fools on tour. I'm Mighty Blue, or Steve Adams, and the other |
| 0:50.5 | old fool is my buddy of 60 years, my mate John Robertson, who gamely came along |
| 0:55.3 | with me on this little hike. You'll hear how that happened, as well as what happened on |
| 1:00.5 | our recent West Highland Way Sonta, because that's what it turned out to be. It's not the normal |
| 1:05.3 | format today, much like last week, in fact, but I hope you'll enjoy listening to what happened |
| 1:09.8 | over nine wonderful days |
| 1:11.4 | at the beginning of April this year. As with all hikes, we allowed it to unfold around us and we |
| 1:16.4 | had a hugely enjoyable time together on this magical trail. There'll be no class of 2022 catch-ups |
| 1:22.7 | this week. They're going to resume next week and I won't be starting the new book. That'll also happen |
| 1:27.6 | next week. So sit back, grab a coffee and hear our story. Day one from Mugai, which is |
| 1:37.9 | mile zero to Drumman camping, mile 11.0 and 11 mile day. |
| 1:46.7 | So the West Island Way, day one. |
| 1:52.4 | And I think I'll step back a little bit to tell you how I invited my buddy John. The original plan was to do the West Highland Way in I think six days and then do Hadrian's |
| 1:59.0 | Wall Path in five days. And I've been travelling around the UK |
| 2:05.0 | with my girlfriend, Dana, and she was returning to the US after our three-week tour of the UK. |
| 2:17.2 | And we had a blast, by the way. |
| 2:18.3 | It was absolutely amazing. |
| 2:20.3 | And we were going around my old town right at the very beginning of our trip, |
... |
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