Pre-Trip Service
Chantal was extremely helpful in answering my questions prior to the trip, and the U.S. 800 number made contacting you straightforward.
Trip Comments
The walk was filled with varied types of scenery, each of which was enjoyable in its own way. We were incredibly lucky with the weather, with only one day of serious rain during our walk on the high road to Invermoriston, but the views were spectacular and made up for any discomfort. I would like to share a discovery I made on that leg of the hike, however, which is that apparently "waterproof" jackets need to be re-treated with a DWR spray after several years of wear, or else they lose their ability to repel water: I got soaked. The views on the second high road hike to Drumnadrochit were also amazing, probably my favorite day of the trip. The countryside was lovely throughout, with an amazing assortment of heather, ferns, trees, bushes, etc. Lots of sheep, but didn't get to see any highland cattle (or Nessie) unfortunately. I used a pair of support insoles (Superfeet, Trailblazers) inside my hiking shoes, which helped greatly during some of the hikes across astonishingly hard path surfaces (e.g., the towpath leading into S. Laggan ... what was that made of?). A small detail one might wish to know is that the 3 miles from Gairlochy to Spean Bridge (after the 10.5 miles from Fort William) has an ascent of maybe 100 meters on a less-than-pleasant road, so in retrospect the option of being picked up and transported by car for that section might have been preferable. Overall, this was a beautiful and exhilarating hike which became more interesting day by day as we approached Inverness.
Accommodation & Food
We stayed at seven establishments during our hike, and three of them were exceptional. Our favorite was the Kilmore Farmhouse in Drumnadrochit, where Angie was our amazing, thoughtful hostess and the facilities were excellent. Similarly superb hospitality and services were provided at the Forest Lodge Guest House (S. Laggan) and the Bracarina House (Invermoriston), both of which we enjoyed immensely. The start and finish of our journey we stayed at perfectly acceptable establishments (Nevis Bank Inn and Eskdale Guest House), where the facilities were good but not exceptional. I would have liked to credit Coire Glas in Spean Bridge more highly, and certainly the potential is there, but our experience was marred by some problem with their electrical system that caused us to lose power (and lighting) in the bathroom. Shaving and showering by flashlight (which we fortunately had brought along) was frustrating to say the least. WiFi did not extend to our room, the bathroom door jammed against the floor when you tried to open it, resulting in some seriously stubbed toes, and the toilet did not flush properly. If these problems could be straightened out, their establishment would have been more toward the top of our list. Finally, in Ft. Augustus we stayed at Sonas, which is in serious need of an update. The hosts mean well I believe, but a significant investment in improving their accommodations needs to take place.
WILDERNESS RESPONSE
We really value your detailed feedback and we've followed up on this to benefit future travellers.
Your Guide
We did not have a guide, so can't comment on that. The route notes were adequate, but we supplemented them with a number of selections from the recommended reading list, and these proved to be more useful.
The Bottom Line
Everything proceeded smoothly through all aspects of our trip, no surprises, which is exactly what one would desire. The luggage transfers were handled perfectly, and the car transfer by Caroline from/to Blackfold occurred exactly as expected. I would not hesitate to use Wilderness Scotland again to plan another hike.
WILDERNESS RESPONSE
Thanks for your enthusiastic feedback - we're really delighted you guys had such a good time and we hope you'll come and visit Scotland with us again some day!
