West Highland Way - April 2012: Day 4 - Inveroran to Kinlochleven

Breakfast was a tense affair. It soon became clear that news had trickled through to the rest of the team regarding my self proclamation of top performer on yesterday's walk. The guys were not amused! A full enquiry was soon under way with the Jubbster playing the role of Lord Leveson whilst brandishing a knife dripping with butter and jam in my general direction, while I adopted the Rupert Murdoch persona, trying vainly to defend my outrageous actions.

A tidal wave of questions washed towards me over the poached eggs and grilled herring. 'Who is on the judging panel....?', 'What exactly did you do to merit the award....?' The interrogation was ceaseless.

As I listened to myself meekly explain that the award was merely the premise for a rather weak joke concerning the relative merits of fruit tea versus coffee, I knew I was fighting a losing battle. My three walking partners looked on incredulously as my voice trailed off....

Breakfast continued in silence, with the only sounds puncturing the tense atmosphere being the furious scraping of toast and the clatter of tea cups being slammed onto saucers just a little bit too hard.

Thankfully, the time to start walking finally came round, allowing me to escape the tension.

The mood lightened considerably as we discovered on embarking on Day 4 that the weather had improved yet again, providing us with cloudless blue skies and the merest of cool breezes.

Our route meandered up to Rannoch Moor where we were soon making good progress in glorious conditions. The cobbles on the old military road gave our feet a pounding, but this barely registered as we tried to take in all the stunning scenery in front and behind us. On the horizon we could see a dozen or more para-gliders as we traversed the moor, and made our way over the ridge into Glen Coe. From then on in, the scenery was truly breathtaking with Buachaille Etive Mor taking centre stage, sun glistening on it's snow covered peak as the para-gliders circled and swooped above our heads.

A close encounter with some friendly deer at the back of The Kinghouse Hotel kept spirits high as we made our way towards the Devil's Staircase with some trepidation. It proved to be a worthy opponent but we finally conquered it, having lunch at the top, before making our way at a leisurely pace down the long descent to Kinlochleven.

I have to say the accomodation booked for us on this trip has been superb. The B&B we're currently in is luxurious to the extreme. A bit too many porcelain dolls and bowls of pot pourri for my personal taste, but I can't remember staying in a cleaner of more welcoming establsihment. The breakfast - if it lives up to the expectation raised by our host - will be a joy to behold!

Last day tomorrow - a mere 14 miles to Fort William, and while the weather forecast isn't matching our last three glorious days, it is - all thing considered - not too bad at all!

Lastly, the top performer of the day. In a change from tradition, today's award will be split between two winners. Colin gets his reward as he was a MACHINE today and led from the front throughout, manfully striding forth with purpose. The Jubberoo merits a share as he remained at the back, like a mother hen ensuring that all her charges got home safely - a very re-assuring presence for me and Paul, who were merely passengers in the slipstream of their magnificence.

PS: The decision process for todays award was in no way influenced by events at breakfast this morning.