The Great Glen Way: My experience tackling one of Scotland's long distance routes solo in low-season

The Great Glen, a huge valley that originated towards the end of the Caledonian Orogeny around 430-390 million years ago, cuts diagonally across the Highlands from Fort William to Inverness.

In Victorian times , an impressive feat of engineering saw the Caledonian Canal, designed by Thomas Telford, built over 12 years along 60 miles of water through the glen.

And for the last two decades, the spectacular landscape, connecting Scotland’s west and east, has been accessible by bike and on foot thanks to the opening of the Great Glen Way in 2002.

Today, the 75-mile route draws tens of thousands of walkers. The popular time of year to walk it is from April to October, when services from accommodation to cafes are open.

I found myself trudging along it in February, which, with a few added challenges to the occasional steep incline, brought with it a unique way of exploring this well-trodden path.

I didn’t see a single visitor walking the route from start to finish. I met a couple of German walkers in Drumnadrochit, one of the villages you pass through, who were walking a section in the opposite direction to me. When heading through hamlets and villages, I would meet dog walkers or people out for a stroll. But while on the long-distance paths in between, I didn’t come across a single soul.

Meeting other travellers can sometimes make a journey, but there was something about being a solitary, tiny speck high up on the banks or down at the water’s edge of the vast lochs you hug along the way that made the landscape feel that bit more dramatic.

The Great Glen sees the climate change like no other place I know in Scotland. In the blink of an eye, the sky turns from sunshine to monsoon-like downpours. When the path takes you above the treeline, you can see storm clouds rolling in from one end of the glen and blue sky at the other. The lyrics from Paul McCartney’s Band on the Run: “The rain exploded with a mighty crash as we fell into the sun” rang in my head often.

But it seems this is year-round. The owners at Loch Ness Clay Works, a small cafe and pottery on the banks of Loch Ness told me about how they often have groups of walkers huddling inside, sheltering from the rain in peak season.

Walking out of Fort William, Ben Nevis can be seen for miles. I think the colder months show the mountain off more, with the snow-speckled, or sometimes covered, summit reaching 4,413ft, twinkling in the sunlight (if it shines). Seeing the mound of Arthur’s Seat from several corners of Edinburgh has nothing on what Fort William and the villages of Caol and Banavie have with “the Ben”, as it’s affectionately called.

Walking the Great Glen Way in the low-season gave me the opportunity to live it a bit more. I was offered up a cabin on a local resident’s boat on the Caledonian Canal for the night after he saw me pitching my tent one cold evening. He happened to be a fiddle and mandolin player and drove me to a weekly music session for residents at the Ben Nevis Inn.

Another night, I joined in a residents’ film and curry evening at the Invermoriston village hall to shelter from the elements for a couple of hours. I met a couple there who offered up a free bed to keep me out the wind and rain that night.

I can’t help but think these interactions with residents living among the glen are more likely to happen when there’s less of a visitor flow.

While I was fortunate with the kind strangers I met, limited services on the route is something I wasn’t prepared for. Between Gairlochy and Fort Augustus, which is about a 24-mile stretch, there was nowhere to buy food. I camped about halfway, near Laggan, where honesty boxes, which would normally be stocked with food according to reviews online, laid bare because of the time of year.

It meant heading straight to a local pub when arriving in the slightly bigger village of Fort Augustus for a cooked meal and some company. That night was pool table competition night at the British Legion. The pub was alive, with one punter telling me “this is the time of year you really see all the locals getting together for fun.”

One of the few reasonably-priced accommodation options open year-round is Morag’s Lodge, a hostel in the village. In low-season, you need to book at least a day in advance.

Before setting off on the Great Glen Way, I heard comments about it being one of Scotland’s more boring routes with it lacking in the mountainous landscapes seen on the north-west coast or the West Highland Way.

I disagree. There was something truly authentic about walking the Great Glen to the country’s more wild areas, seeing the history where humans interacted with and prospered in such challenging landscape.

Because of the time of year, I saw part of the Caledonian Canal drained while essential works were being carried out in the winter months. It allowed me to see the depths of the national monument built using the hands of labourers in the 1800s. There is also Neptune’s Staircase, a staircase lock comprising eight locks on the canal, making it the longest staircase lock in Britain.

A bit of news I picked up from the Great Glen Way:

- The Great Glen Hostel, near Laggan, is due to reopen for the season after being closed for renovation works with a new cafe and vamped up rooms.

- The section of the trail along Loch Oich that is currently blocked due to tree felling works with a diversion in place is set to reopen in the next few weeks.

- This means walkers will regain access to the Invergarry and Fort Augustus Railway Museum where a charity has been restoring an old railway line.