Walking from Glasgow - Inverness

[Bittern]

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.

 

[CarterUSM]

This cycle route does indeed follow the track bed of the oban and Callander railway for quite a distance. It also goes over the Tay at an old railway bridge at Logierait. From Pitlochry to Inverness you follow the Highland mainline most of the way to Inverness. I'm sure i had a map somewhere, i'll try and look it out.

 

[rail-britain]

How many miles can you walk each day and how long do you plan to walk each day?

Let's say 12 hours each day (9:00 to 21:00), I would be able to do 72 miles each day, and that would be at least 3 days (2 overnights)
However, to allow for the route (as it is not all flat and straight) I would allow 60 miles per day

Two sections look VERY exposed, so correct weather clothing would be required (especially between October and April)

NCR 7 :
http://www.sustrans.org.uk/what-we-...cotland/lochs-and-glens-north#268255,706481,2
You are correct, this passes through Callander
It is 214 miles
Sadly very little of it passes an active railway, until you get to Birnam

 

[matt]

How many miles can you walk each day and how long do you plan to walk each day?

Let's say 12 hours each day (9:00 to 21:00), I would be able to do 72 miles each day, and that would be at least 3 days (2 overnights)
However, to allow for the route (as it is not all flat and straight) I would allow 60 miles per day

Two sections look VERY exposed, so correct weather clothing would be required (especially between October and April)

NCR 7 :
http://www.sustrans.org.uk/what-we-...cotland/lochs-and-glens-north#268255,706481,2
You are correct, this passes through Callander
It is 214 miles
Sadly very little of it passes an active railway, until you get to Birnam

I very much doubt you could walk over 60 miles a day especially taking into account breaks and a bag etc. 20 miles a day is more realistic depending on the terrain.

 

[Bittern]

214 miles? Damn. I didn't think it'd be anywhere near that long!


But thanks folks.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

Some of us cycled, last year, along the Caledonian Canal (Inverness - Fort William) over 2 days. It can be done in one day. That's only about 70 - 75 miles, and being a canal, its as flat as, er, water. (apart from the locks and the irresistable urge to climb 200 metres or more to see the views from above. That was cycling!

The treck from Glasgow through Dumbartonshire might actually be painfully dull after a while (sure, there are lovely stretches, but they do stretch!).

Please don't go doing something like that which is more that you're used to. People can get into difficulty for all sorts of unexpected reasons!

Why not do it in sections, using Highland mainline stations to break up the sections? eg Blair Athol to Dalwhinnie one day, then the train home. Dalwhinnie to Kingussie the next time?

 

[Bittern]

Why not do it in sections, using Highland mainline stations to break up the sections? eg Blair Athol to Dalwhinnie one day, then the train home. Dalwhinnie to Kingussie the next time?

Because I can only afford to do one, and I'd like to make that a big one. I've done Glasgow - Inverness by train before, and I've always wanted to walk.

 

[rail-britain]

I very much doubt you could walk over 60 miles a day especially taking into account breaks and a bag etc. 20 miles a day is more realistic depending on the terrain

A person in good physical condition should be capable of walking up to 12 hours, at a rate of 6 miles per hour

 

[Greenback]

There's a difference being between being capable of doing it and it being enjoyable! 12 hours walking at 6 miles an hour for 3 days sounds more like a route march! Have you factored in breaks to eat and drink or just to stop and look at the views/take photos?

 

[jamesontheroad]

A more achievable and arguably more scenic route would be along (the very well signed and developed) West Highland Way, from Milngavie to Fort William. Takes about a week if you want to enjoy it, although once a year (starting at 1am on Saturday nearest the summer solstice) there's an ultra-marathon that has seen it completed in under 16 hours.

 

[The_Pilot]

I have walked the WHW...you can do it in a week or in 5 days

Day 1: Milngavie to Drymen 12 Miles
Day 2: Drymen to Rowardennan 14 Miles
Day 3: Rowardennan to Inverarnan 13 Miles
Day 4: Inverarnan to Tyndrum 12 Miles
Day 5: Tyndrum to Kingshouse 18 Miles
Day 6: Kingshouse to Kinlochleven 9 Miles
Day 7: Kinlochleven to Fort William 14 Miles

or in 5 days

Day 1: Milngavie to Balmaha 19 Miles
Day 2: Balmaha to Inverarnan 19 Miles
Day 3: Inverarnan to Bridge of Orchy 19 Miles
Day 4: Bridge of Orchy to Kinlochleven 20 Miles
Day 5: Kinlochleven to Fort William 14 Miles

 

[A60K]

A person in good physical condition should be capable of walking up to 12 hours, at a rate of 6 miles per hour

It depends whether you're an SAS soldier, a masochist or someone out to enjoy a walk at a reasonable pace. I would say that 25 miles per day would be the limit of most people's idea of reasonable. 6 miles per hour is jogging to running pace - the average club runner would do a marathon at between 7-9 miles per hour, walking pace is generally accepted as around 3 miles per hour.

 

[Greenback]

I know I would not consider 72 miles over 12 hours in any way pleasant! Personally, i much prefer around 12-15 miles per day, with a relaxing lunch and plenty of stops!

 

[rail-britain]

6 miles per hour is jogging to running pace - the average club runner would do a marathon at between 7-9 miles per hour, walking pace is generally accepted as around 3 miles per hour

I do both walking and "marathon running", the pace I use for walking is 6 miles per hour, as my running pace is about 10 miles per hour (6 miles in 35 minutes)

I do agree though, for sight seeing purposes you would want to aim for nearer 4 miles per hour, and probably no more than 8 hours per day
At that rate the route would take near on a full week

How about walking Perth to Inverness?

 

[Green Lane]

Being full time employed and also otherwise busy, I have to fit my hiking around my other demands of life.

I'm 37 (not 21 anymore) so I would class myself currently at a middling level of fitness.

I've walked 4,100 miles in the last two years (mainly during weekends).

I can walk a little over 4mph under good conditions, but if the terrain is mountainous, or awkward to walk on, or if there is a strong headwind or continous rain, then it will slow me down to around 3.5mph, or even slower if going up some really steep hill or mountain.

I can do a 27 mile walk no problem and with no rest, although I start to feel it after about 20 miles! Or even after less distance, if I've happened to walk far the previous day.

However, when I do get a whole week off, I can get "in the zone" and my walking performance improves a bit more during the week.

The most I've walked in a single day is 32 miles, but I'm hoping to beat that sometime in the coming months.

I also supplement my walking with light weightlifting.

I'm not realistically going achieve the levels mentioned in posts above whilst my walking is mainly confined to weekends, but I really enjoy my hobby and I do mix it with photography too.

The only preperation for walking is walking itself I feel.

Initially you have to get past the stages of getting blisters, pulled muscles, aching bones etc.. eventually your feet seem to toughen up and your hips and legs get stronger (and your heart!).

It's better to incrementally increase your endurace I think.

On a dedicated long-distance daily hike, I would aim to start off around 18 miles a day, later going up towards the 30 miles a day mark as you improve, but I'd also benefit from planned rest days too. Also of course it's OK to do a bit less if the weather is horrendous or the terrain is particularly challenging, or if you become injured as your body takes the strain.

But of course, you may well be much younger/fitter than me!

 

[Tomnick]

72 miles a day is a rather tall order, especially with the weight of three days' luggage. 6mph certainly isn't walking pace, and I don't think many folk would walk 12hrs non-stop, especially at that speed. I consider myself in 'good physical condition', and I wouldn't be able to do it...

 

[blackfive460]

Me neither.
And even if I was fit enough for 3 days of 6 mph for 12 hours a day I wouldn't.
I enjoy walking.
No way would I enjoy that...

 

[At_traction]

It depends whether you're an SAS soldier, a masochist

Is there a difference?

The most I've walked in a single day is 32 miles, but I'm hoping to beat that sometime in the coming months.

Big up for that achievement. I think that the 70 miles+ quoted here are IMO rather high estimates, especially if the original poster is not really used to humping it out (even though trackside walking should be relatively flat).

In addition to clothing and food carried, one liter of water weighs 1 kg (sorry for non-imp units) and depending on weather, consuption is high if it's sunny - although in Scotland it might as well rain (not that much nicer either)...

As a perspective, the forced marches of WW2 Wehrmacht in the Soviet Union could be 30 to 40 miles in 24 hrs. You figure out how much sleep there was involved. Not such sporty equipment and perhaps a bit more weight to carry, but these "youngsters" were nevertheless used to that after two years of excercise...

I myself would perhaps bicycle , but have to give respect anyway.

 

[Green Lane]

Big up for that achievement. I think that the 70 miles+ quoted here are IMO rather high estimates, especially if the original poster is not really used to humping it out (even though trackside walking should be relatively flat).

Thanks, I did that particular walk in 2008 when I was less fit than now. Took me about 8 hours 50 minutes IIRC. I really started to flag and slow down towards the end. I think I was in a bit of a mental trance near the end and my ankle was totally swollen up. With hindsight, I'd moved up too quickly from regular 18 mile walks to a much longer walk without adequate training or preperation.

The following day, I could only manage three miles due to the state of my feet and legs, clearly I needed a rest.

I feel much stronger now than then though.

I've followed blogs of other walkers on the Internet like one guy who walked 6,000 miles around the coast of Great Britain, he did about 17 miles a day which I thought was reasonable.

Then we have Eddie Izzard in his 40s (but jogging rather than hiking). Think he got up to about 30 miles a day near the end.

The long distance walking society in the UK class any walk greater than 20 miles as "long distance".

So for me 70+ miles in a day seems completely amazing, as I say I have not yet achieved half of that (I never jog or "speed walk" though). 70+ miles in a day, I would class as the levels of "super fitness". For me to even approach that, I'd have to pack in my day job and take up walking professionaly I think!

However, there is a club I read about based in New Zealand IIRC called the "Centurion club" or something.

These are retired guys in their 50s and 60s who have walked 100 miles in a single day, during the Summer when the days are long, it has taken them around 24 hours to do this.

They have done this only under ideal conditions on a sports ground race track, wearing shorts and trainers and speed walking and carrying nothing. I bet they needed a rest after it though!

That is one amazing acheivement, very inspiring, but not practical for me walking in North Wales say!

But it does illustrate what is possible, of course I don't think you could do it day after day though.

 

[Railjet]

I do both walking and "marathon running", the pace I use for walking is 6 miles per hour

Good for you. Complete bunkum. A normal, brisk walking pace is around 4mph. When you factor in the time, distance, and the fact that you will be walking up and down inclines (both challenging) on uneven ground, you would be superhuman to achieve even that pace over a day.

6mph in the Highlands over more than 200 miles? I suggest you contact Guinness World Records forthwith so they can ratify your attempt

 

[route101]

Interesting . Ive always wanted to walk from Glasgow to Edinburgh .

 

[Techniquest]

The chap who suggested a walking speed of 6mph, tish tosh! It's extremely well recognised the average person's walking speed is 3.5mph. If you can walk faster than that, then good for you. Not all of us are superhumanly fit!

The OP's idea of walking from Glasgow to Inverness sounds incredibly challenging, personally, but if they're able to do it and can do it without virtually killing their body off in the process, why not? The train back to Glasgow would seem a real treat after!

Walking long distances, well my current longest walk (and I am by no means someone who does so at all regularly) stands at an approximated 11.1 miles, from Bath Spa to Trowbridge. Said figure comes from Google Maps, how accurate it is I don't know but I've set the route as well as I can in it. Now, going by the average speed, said walk could be done in 3.25 hours.

That's all fine and well in theory, however you have to take in the terrain. The above walk was all following roads (for that matter, the 264 bus route), so no rough terrain to deal with. Sounds easy doesn't it?

Factor in next the fact such a route also takes in a number of steep inclines and declines. There's a rather nasty hill a bit after Sydney Gardens which took its toll on me straight away. The second really challenging hill came in the form of Winsley Hill. I stopped about 4 times going up that! The final major hill was going downhill this time. Which sounds relaxing compared to going uphill, right?

Wrong. This one is in Bradford-on-Avon, diving down at quite a steep angle, so much so you have to put in a ton of effort to stop yourself running away!

Something else to think about is your general fitness level. Those on here who know me will know I'm not a very fit chap, certainly not for my age group. So this walk was always going to be hard work, with regular breaks of at least 5 minutes being factored in. I don't recall my system for working out the breaks, but I originally planned to stop just 3 times. This got raised to 4 breaks, with at least 5 more of very short breath-catchers.

Why did I stop for 4 'proper' breaks and not 3? Simple, the fact that I had some nasty blisters developed by now. This was partly due to walking a handful of miles around Penzance some hours before. There was also the fact I was doing this walk in the small hours of a Sunday morning, the night after an all-nighter and all day bash too. So you can imagine I was ready to curl up and die by the time I got home!

Oh, and the final approximate journey time? 4 hours 45 minutes.

So, what am I getting at? Be very thorough with your plan, especially if you haven't done much walking for a while. Definitely don't bowl yourself out like I did and get some serious rest before the walking starts too, and take plenty of water with you (something else I didn't have on my walk)!

Glasgow to Inverness is a long way, I wouldn't expect such a walk to be done in less than a week (including overnight stays about the place). Much more so when factoring in the terrain. If I was to suggest anything else, I would recommend doing a number of much shorter 'practice' walks, in order to prepare for what you'll ultimately end up facing.

Obviously I don't know how fit and able the OP is, but they cannot surely be as unfit as me! The above anecdote is there mainly to advise of potential pitfalls really. Sorry to have gone on a bit!

 

[At_traction]

I had some nasty blisters developed by now.

This may be a "downfall" risk, in addition to swelling etc. mentioned earlier. Once the soles start to hurt and tingle, not even necessarily go to blisters, that raises the feeling of exhaustion. Good, well walked-in shoes are a necessity, needless to say.

Back in the early 1990s, I walked for closer to ten miles on my way from a rock festival - or rather after having hitch-hiked a part of the journey I'd tried to sleep in a woods (luckily I was well-equipped against mosquitoes ) and continued by walking in the early morning. The "target" was a town about 20 miles away where I hoped to catch a coach. I would have never made it without a car (finally) stopping after about three hours of walking; sleep deprivation, no water (even though the sun hadn't yet risen high) and soles on fire took care of that. The feet hurt for the whole day afterwards despite immersing them in a tub of water.

On the other hand, a series of very heavily-laden trekking of 12 miles (5 of which in woods and on trails) a decade later took about 5 hours. Despite the longer route and more arduous terrain and load, better equipment and preparation (such as a lunch break and water!) led to only about equal suffering in the end...

 

[Green Lane]

Wearing two pairs of socks greatly reduces the problem of blisters as the socks tend to rub against each other rather than against your feet as one pair does.

 

[Pumbaa]

Please don't go doing something like that which is more that you're used to. People can get into difficulty for all sorts of unexpected reasons!

This is the best piece of advice on the thread.

From someone who is paid (as part of his job and for fun) to train groups, to lead expeditions and walk over mountainous terrain in Scotland, S America, Africa (and hopefully next April Antarctica) please head that one sentence.

Out of curiosity anyone on here ML trained? Or higher?!

 

[Tomnick]

Just as an afterthought to my earlier post, and following on from the comments of others, I've always been taught to allow 15mins per km, plus an additional minute for each 10m ascended (for each ascent; not just the different between level at start and level at finish!). It's been a while since I planned anything properly, but that seemed to work quite sensibly for a full day with bags. 4km/h is 2.5mph, so slow compared to the average quoted earlier - I'm sure a full day will slow anyone down though, and it doesn't hurt to allow some contingency...

Having considered it further, I'm convinced that rail-britain is either superhuman or talking gibber!

 

[Pumbaa]

Nainsmiths rule is 60secs/10m additional; accomplished mountaineers are able to calculate their own variations. You can use gradational changes; for the first 200m allow 60secs/30m additional, then next 200 for 20m, then above 10; then decrease by 50m for each additional ascent of over 100m within either 60mins time of the first ascent or 4km, whichever comes first.

For an average walker with baggage of up to 18kg, then 4km/h is perfectly acceptable target on cycle paths, old trackbeds etc. Once you move off onto rough country, you've had it if thats all you're used to, especially up that way.

 

[yorkie]

72 miles per day is possible cycling. I could do that, but I wouldn't want to rush it that much and would feel a bit sore. I could not do anything resembling 72 miles per day walking, and like previous posters, I consider myself reasonably fit.

Exploring disused lines is a great activity to do, but the Callander route would only be a relatively small proportion of this proposed route. My suggestion would be to start at Balloch and cycle to Pitlochry, with an overnight stay somewhere like Killin. (Or go to Crianlarich if the A85 is acceptable, that'd need to be checked).

Walking disused lines can be painfully slow, an average walking speed is much nearer 2.5mph than 4 or 6, especially bearing in mind you'll be walking for miles.

I usually plan our cycle rides for around 7mph on the flat, with additional time if there looks to be road crossings, or uphill gradients. Despite this, we sometimes end up delayed for a variety of reasons.

9 of us participated in cycle rides along disused lines in the past week on this forum. I would highly recommend it to anyone considering joining us.

 

[142094]

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

 

[yorkie]

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

Depending on the exact route taken, it looks to be about 21 miles, and there will be a lot more descent than ascent. You're possibly looking at climbing around 450m, but descending around 860m. Corrour station is approx 410m above sea level. There will be a sharp descent to Loch Treig, and then an ascent to Tom an Eite then you will be mostly descending. This is based on observing an OS map.