Scotland: Fort William and the Devil's Staircase

Our second base in the Highlands was Fort William. The weather forecast was not looking good. A Scotsman we chatted with on the trail said to us: "if it is not raining now, it is going to rain". We must be getting used to rain, as we kept pretty busy by doing three day walks. This post covers the first two walks. There will be another post for the third walk.

• We took the bus to the Lower Falls and walked to Steall Waterfall, turned around at the 3-Wire Bridge, so precarious, I couldn't even watch other people crossing. THere was a lot of rain that day, but the walk was very scenic.
• We bused from Fort William through Glencoe to Kingshouse. Buses only stop at designated stops. We hitched a ride (took a while) to where the West Highland Way (long distance trail) intersected the main road. We caught West Highland Way up to the ridge via the Devil's Staircase, then down to the next valley to the village of Kinlochleven. The trail was in really good condition, even through a steady rain. We probably didn't need the ride in order to catch the return bus.
• We started on the Great Glen Way from Fort William to the Banavie locks on the Caledonia Canal. We then took the bus to Glenfinnan, barely making it before the steam train puffed across the viaduct, made famous by Harry Porter films. It wasn't until after it was over, we realized there must have been as many as 1000 spectators. Wow! We spent the next couple of hours walking around the area, before catching another bus to Mallaig and returning by train back to Fort William, going over the Glenfinnan Viaducto in the process.

Near Spean Bridge on the bus to Fort William, the peaks still have a bit of snow at the tops.


City Center Fort William.


It's raining as we take Shiel Bus 42 to Nevis Gorge Lower Steall Falls. The very kind driver stopped so we passengers could get a look at an in-the-clouds Ben Nevis.




And soon we were walking on the trail to Paddy's Bridge over the roaring River Nevis (video 3rd below). The going was slow on the wet rocky trail so we headed over to the paved road for a bit.










From this point, the rain never stopped.


The road ended and we trudged along the trail to the Lower Steall Falls and got as far as the 3-wire Bridge, then turned around.






We were still in good spirits albeit drenched as we snapped a selfie. And then beelined back to the bus stop - no scenic lunch spot stop today. Sun-Ling did a Happy Dance when we got back to the bus stop.








Bus 42 dropped us off in town, and we headed straight to the Lidl and stocked up on groceries. Sun-Ling cooked a fantastic dinner that evening.




The next morning, SL made the best sandwiches of the trip so far. Thanks Lidl! Then we rode the bus, and hitchhiked, to the Devil's Staircase to walk a segment of the West Highland Trail.






Most of the 10 or 20 other folks we encountered walking the Devil's Staircase had full backpacks with sleeping bags, tents, etc. There was a brief shower, but the rain stopped when we reached the top of the Devil's Staircase and we ate our tasty sandwiches.






Just after we finished lunch, there was a lengthy downpour. The train was flooded in spots. However, the sun came out as we approached the "Hydroelectric Scheme" and backpacker hostel at Kinlochleven.














Thanks for reading! And please leave a comment, we'd love to hear from you! - john and sun-ling