Our BnB owner concurred with us today when he said that if the weather was any good here, it would be paradise. Well, today got close. Despite the forecast promising rain we left Fort William with a hint of sunshine peeping out from behind the clouds. Unfortunately, because whatever is in this shower gel dispenser does not look like it should go on your skin, we also left Fort William with neither of us inclined to have a shower before we left.

This is a shame, not only because it would have been great to have a shower, but also because in a parallel universe I would have loved to have a blog just dedicated to the various Mira showers we have experienced, there’s been a different one in every BnB we have visited. I’d score them out of 10 and we have definitely experienced the whole range.

One was so powerful that when inevitably the bit of the shower rail that holds the shower head lost its grip, the force of the water sprayed down the full length of the bathroom over the top of the shower cubicle. Inverness on the other hand had an “eco” setting. This is never a good sign. It usually means someone installed a Mira shower without enough water pressure for it to work. So they installed a model with an eco setting that sounds laudable but actually means that this is the only way to get the desired temperature, however, it will take a solid 5 minutes to get wet from head to feet. Most models have also fallen foul of having a temperature dial that encompasses at least 270 of the potential full 360 degrees possible on a fully circlular dial. However, only 3.5 degrees of the 270 are related to temperatures the human body can withstand. This means that a movement of the dial approximately 0.1mm around the circumference can take the water temperature from freezing to scalding. Today we have a Mira Vigour: the 12th different model we will have experienced. It sounds energetic doesn’t it? Like showering in a warm Scottish waterfall. We’ll find out how close it comes to this later.

Anyway, back to temperatures more broadly and the weather in Fort William, or perhaps more specifically the unique cloud weather system that seems to sit above Ben Nevis.

Tantalisingly close to seeing Ben Nevis at last, the local sheep seemed unimpressed by the beautiful rolling cloud and looked every way but up at the mountain.

We carried on walking out on the Old Military Road and remarked that this is about as Scotland as you can get. Surrounded by purple foxgloves, heather, bracken, pine trees, sheep and massive hills that we need to walk up and down, with borderline hopeful weather, it was pure Scotland.

The sun then even burnt off 99% of the cloud on Ben Nevis and the scene was just breathtaking. The photos do not do justice to the scale of the West Highlands.

Unfortunately as we stepped off the Old Military Road, Scotland carried on being pure breathtaking Scotland with several kms of pure bog.

The beautiful Lake Lundavra should have given it away that the path wasn’t going to be completely dry. You’ve guessed it though, tonight is another night of drying trainers on a radiator.

Eventually though the path opened out into Loch Linnhe, which reaches out into the North Sea and we were within sight of our destination tonight: Ballachulish.

The view as you walk into Ballachulish is gorgeous.

Everything after that has impressed us less. There the usual one COOP supermarket and one restaurant/bar that does overpriced food for some of the ~300 mad tourists who walk along the West Highlands Way each day. Our BnB owner cannot provide breakfast in a bag or indeed any food before 8am and there is nothing other than the COOP open on a Sunday before 6pm.

The food in the overpriced restaurant/bar is OK, they’re trying hard with presentation, but the flavour, or the temperature for that matter don’t live up to this. It’s nice to have something not battered and deep fried though.

To while away the time we have here until we get up before 6am for our marathon length walk tomorrow, let’s address the quality of our packing (or lack of).

You know already from yesterday’s feet planted firmly in a bog that we have regretted sending the trainer deodoriser back home, what else did we pack well or badly?

JOGLE has in part been a dry run for a trip we are starting later this year travelling around Africa for 11 months. So this has also been a lesson in how to pack for months at a time without carrying your house on your back. Well, here goes my list of what I’m currently carrying, what I sent back home from Inverness and what I wished I had brought with me.

What I have now:

• Bottoms – 1 pair running leggings; 1 pair lightweight lululemon trousers that can be dressed up or down; 1 skirt
• Underwear – 10 pairs of knickers and three bras; 5 pairs of really good running socks; two pairs normal socks
• Shoes – waterproof trainers, which are only waterproof if light rain or splashes from puddles hit the top front of the shoe. Any water that creeps in on the side of the tongue or pours in via the opening of the shoe by submerging my entire foot in a bog, stays inside.
• Tops – 2 sports T-shirts; 1 black smart short sleeved top; 1 long sleeved top that can be dressed up or down and goes with both trousers and the skirt; two white cotton vest tops, a white thin long sleeved blouse to keep out the midges and a black cardigan
• Outerwear – 1 supposedly waterproof running jacket with hood and a bright orange rain poncho, shaped to cover the supposedly waterproof backpack
• Electrical equipment – phone, obviously, with charger cable and one power bank; Aeropex headphones I love, but haven’t used once; Oura ring charger so that I always know how much I have not recovered enough from the previous day’s walk.
• Wash kit – 100ml bottle sun tan lotion (I’m laughing hysterically at this now ); 100ml bottle insect repellent (I’m also laughing hysterical at the volume of this for completely the opposite reason regarding the sun tan lotion) toothpaste; toothbrush; razor; deodorant. We have deliberately not taken shampoo, conditioner and shower gel with us because they are heavy and every BnB has something that will be fine surely? (See above) Nail file; tweezers (previously thought of as a vanity item, now a tick removal essential). Hairbrush that is a tiny foldable hairbrush/comb combo; dental floss; lip balm and hairbands.

What I sent back from Inverness:

• Electrical – work phone (yey!)
• Clothes – 3 pairs normal socks; long sleeved merino wool base layer; 1 long sleeved top; 2 black vest tops; 1 long sleeved lightweight blouse; 1 pair shorts
• Other – Trainer deodoriser; glasses cleaning spray; ~ 5 nail files (my nails always fall apart at the merest hint of a boarding pass, but I’ve accepted I could buy these en route as needed); one bottle sun tan lotion (never going to need that); one bottle of Smidge insect repellent (already checked we can buy this back in local Boots); 100ml bottle perfume; smart but comfortable shoes for days not walking

Where did we go wrong?

Over packing clothes. We’ll likely be nearly naked when we hit Glasgow sat in the next available laundrette, but no one ever needs the number of clothing items they first pack. 

Should have brought – ear buds to sleep in BnBs; more sports T-shirts: they’re designed to wick sweat away from your skin; they pack light and small and most importantly remind you when you need it most that you have actually run at least one marathon in the past, probably downhill for 30km in the Andalusian mountains or at -7 degrees C in Greenland on the ice cap (these are true), so a Scottish bog can’t faze you. A pair of shoes that weigh nothing but look fabulous for all occasions when you can’t put wet trainers back on. These shoes don’t exist, but I want them anyway.

So, now it is definitely time to sleep for tomorrow is our first marathon length walk to a pod with a hot tub. More tomorrow…….

Distance – 29.99km and yes, I refused to walk another 10m