I walked the West Highland Way with my 2 sisters and best friend in 25th March 2005. It was one of the most enjoyable experiences of my life. We did the walk in four days:

• Day 1: 14 miles, Balmaha to Inversnaid. We stayed at the Inversnaid Bunkhouse. They had a hot tub their, it was only five pounds per person for 1 hour. You should use the hot tub no matter how tired. We dreamed of that hot tub for the rest of the trip. When we stayed at the bunkhouse, I found the bunks a bit too short, I complained about it but don’t know if they have changed them.
• Day 2: 19 miles, Inversnaid to Tyndrum. The campsite we stayed at had a shower room with showers that only had very slow running cold water. Thank god we were staying in a warm cabin not a tent after that shower.
• Day 3: 27 miles, Tyndrum to Kinlochleven. The first ~19 miles of this long day was very across easy terrain so we could walk quite quickly, but I had to send my bag on this day and I just carried a day pack. By the time we got to Kingshouse I was sure I was starting to get blisters. We had a long lunch then tackled the Devils Staircase. By the time we got to Kinlochleven we had gone slightly mad and we in extreme pain. We went for a dinner and a quick drink in the first pub we came across, not sure what it was called. Then up to the B & B. The B & B was a really nice, and had small foot spas; this eased the pain in my feet a bit.
• Day 4: 14 miles, Kinlochleven to Fort William. Compared to the previous days, this last 14 miles felt easy even though I had a massive blister on my left foot.

Its interesting walking these distances in this terrain, your body seams to adapt in ways that you wouldn’t expect: We found that walking up hill becomes much easier than walking down hill. And that your legs seam to adapt to what ever slope you are on, when the angle of the slope changes you experience pain while other muscles wake up and start working and the ones that were being used go to sleep.

The most beautiful part of the walk is the walk along Loch Lomond, but it is also one of the most difficult parts. It would make an excellent weekend walk on its own.

If I was going to do it again, I would split it into 5 days if I still wanted a challenge. Or 7 or 8 if I wanted to take it really easy.