Walking from Glasgow - Inverness

[Green Lane]

In light of this discussion, I decided to do some time keeping on the walk I did today, just to illustrate my real walking speeds.

I walked 26 miles in total earlier today (I contrived the route to get near enough a round figure by adding some extra detours)

Part 1: Home to Upton Station, distance=2.50 miles, time=37 minutes, average speed=4.05mph

Part 2: From Buckley Station to Summit of Moel Famau taking circular route through nearby villages and some winding paths roughly including (Station -> Buckley -> Mold -> Gwernymynydd -> Cadole -> Loggerheads -> Moel Famau -> Cilcain -> Devil's Gorge -> Loggerheads -> Cadole -> Gwernymynydd -> Mold -> Buckley -> Station)
Distance=21 miles, time = 6h22 minutes, average speed=3.30mph

Part 3: Upton Station to Home, distance=2.50 miles, time=39 minutes, average speed=3.85mph

For all parts of the journey, time was lost waiting to cross roads also sometimes getting past slow-walking people on narrow pavements etc...

For part 2, the main walk, there were a couple of toilet breaks and I ate my lunch on top of the mountain, taking about 15 minutes. Also I had to pause for rest a couple times up the mountain. There was an escaped sheep there today that thought I was chasing it up the mountain! There's no getting away from the fact that steep slopes will really slow you down, both going up and down again, and when raining it's even worse. I'm not a geologist, but there's a sort of loose "slate" or something and protruding stones all over the place on the really steep upper slopes, and if you're not careful - it's very easy to lose your footing, so again you are forced into walking much slower than normal.

Moel Famau is apparently only 542m high, Buckley railway station is 126m, so my net ascendency (and also desendency) on that part of the walk was 416m (or 1,365 feet).

Train journey between each part was around 32 minutes, so that would be counted as "rest periods".

So that's a set of realistic figures for someone like me who is reasonably healthy, but still has some way to improve. I probably could walk a few miles further today, but I've got other things to do. Of course, I would be slower if I had to do the same walk again tomorrow, after doing the walk today, I'd certainly be more tired tomorrow. Instead, I'm just doing a much shorter walk tomorrow!

 

[paul1609]

Has anyone walked Corrour - Fort William? How hard is it and what is the route like in terms of flatness?

ive walked it a couple of times to and from the youth hostel at Loch Ossian.
Its through true wilderness country and although shown on the os map as a path its far from well defined on the ground. You have to be prepared to ford rivers on the route which can be expected to be 12 to 18 inches deep in Normal weather.
Dont get me wrong its a great route and its not all that hilly, but you really need to be experienced in walking in the wilderness and carry the appropriate emergency gear.
There are a couple of bothies for shelter along the route but thats about it. Theres also no mobile phone signal for nearly all the route if you do get in to trouble. On the last occasion I walked it was in August 2008 in the pouring rain and I met nobody at all from Loch Treig until the road at Glen Nevis.
The last couple of miles to the road at Glen Nevis are spectacular and I can recognise some of the scenes in the lastest Harry Potter films.
Glen Nevis path to the road from Steall Waterfall is said tobe the finest mile in scotland.

 

[jimrbrobinson]

I'm considering doing this sometime in 2011, and am going to be spending time trying to gather the necessary info so I know what I'm doing beforehand.

The plan is simple. Start the walk from Glasgow Queen Street station, and end it at Inverness station. I understand that getting overnight accommodation along the route would be a good idea as this could take a day or two.

I've read that National Cycle Route no. 7 from Carlisle to Inverness via Glasgow would be the best option. Can anyone show me to a map of this, please? I've did some quick looking, but all I've found is a map from Glasgow - Balloch.

I'm hoping to pass through Callander and walk on the trackbed of the Callander and Oban Railway, as it's my understanding that it forms of a route from Glasgow - Inverness. Is this NCR 7?

If it is (and even if it's not), what other old railways does NCR 7 follow? As a rail enthusiast, I would really love to walk some of these. And does it pass by any active railways?

IF it goes near the likes of Aviemore, Grantown etc. I would love to get the chance to walk the trackbed of the old Strathspey Railway from Grantown, even if just for a little while.

Hi Bittern. If you've not already come across it, a copy of the book 'Lochs and Glens: The Official Guide to National Cycle Network Route 7 from Carlisle to Inverness" by Fergal MacErlean is very good. I have a copy which I picked up a couple of years ago. It was published in 2007 by Sustrans. It describes the route in stages, and follows through Callander, Pitlochry, Aviemore, etc. I've used the content of it for shorter day-trip sections either on foot or push-bike. I would imagine it's still around, but if you struggle to find it, let me know, I could be persuaded to lend it to you!
(Bribery and corruption are always welcome visitors in my humble abode!)