I had time off work in January 2018 so I decided that I wanted to visit Scotland and walk the West Highland Way and the Great Glen Way. The WHW finishes in Fort William which is where the GGW starts so it's nice to do both walks and walk from near Glasgow to Inverness. I knew that doing the walk in January might mean that the weather would play a part in it and possibly force me to miss out sections of the WHW due to some areas which can be dangerous to be in if the weather turns bad with no shelter.
The WHW is a challenging walk even in Summer so I knew that it would not be easy, the days would be long and I would probably finish in darkness some days as it would be dark by 5pm in the Highlands. An early start to the day is out the question as well as it is still quite dark at 8am. The GGW on the other hand is mainly a low level walk, along canals and Lochs and forest tracks with the option of a couple of higher route sections if you want better views. I knew the GGW wouldn't be as hard, strenous or worrying as the WHW could be and the weather wouldn't really affect it.
In the end, I only missed out one section on the WHW as it was blizzard conditions and would have been stupid to have walked over Rannoch Moor on that day, the rest of the WHW would be completed and only a couple of hours of darkness would be walked in. The weather however was typically Scottish, it rained for the first 3 days of the walk and snowed the next day and a half. However, I then walked 4 days on the GGW without a drop of rain, perfect conditions. If I had those conditions on the WHW it would have made the walk more pleasant but you can't predict the great British weather. I walked the WHW in February 2016 in great weather and great scenery (Click here to read about my West Highland Way 2016 walk) and on other occasions so I knew the walk, where to get accommodation and food etc. so the planning was easy. The hotels are quiet at this time of the year and usually cheaper than the summertime, but most of the campsites and sites with Camping Huts are closed until March.
After April, the WHW is a very busy and popular route attracting visitors from all over the world but in Wintertime you won't see many people on the trail, which suited me fine. In the 5 days on the trail I only met 5 other people that were walking the WHW in the same direction as me, and one person going the opposite direction.
I didn't enjoy the WHW as much as I had on other occasions, due to the weather but if I had started it a few days later I would have had 5 dry days and enjoyed it more but it was still great to be out walking on a trail in January and spending hours walking in solitude thinking about what walks I would like to do the rest of the year. Usually I camp or stay in camping cabins on the Way so it was nice to finish each day in a nice Hotel or Pub, a nice meal and a cooked breakfast before heading off.
I will no doubt walk the WHW again (and again) but will most likely do it from late February onwards to give myself an hours extra daylight at the start and finish of the day plus a better chance of better weather conditions but even in lousy conditions, I still love the West Highland Way.
