In every way, this journey exceeded our expectations. Six travelers and five crew became a team of 11 friends, sharing a joyful experience, while creating lasting and lovely memories. It is difficult to identify all of the highlights, but I'll try! The food.....the BEST! It was delicious, hearty, healthy, creatively prepared, and always exceptional. The chef, Ben.... is kind, gracious, funny, and so very talented. He made it look easy! We often felt like we were the beneficiaries of the Great Scottish Baking Contest, but that might minimize how much we also enjoyed the delicious soups, the amazing stews, the phenomenal Sunday Roast, and the scrumptious breakfast platters (the pancakes were superb!) The fruit smoothies were the best I've ever had. And that's just the start of it all. The crew was expertly attentive and accommodating. Our walks were comfortably and professionally guided by Chris, while also leaving us ample time to explore on our own. Our evenings were relaxing, and filled with laughter, funny stories, and a few yummy glasses of wine. We had plenty of time to get to know one another, and ample time to just relax and read a good book (of which there were many on the barge). Our last evening was spectacular as Ru provided a bit of authentic Scottish musical entertainment, making his accordion sound like an orchestra, while also providing stories about the history of Scottish folk music. Rich, a new-ish member of the crew was extraordinarily attentive to all of us, and able to anticipate our every need - truly! While he did many things, Rich often delivered us to the shoreline by Zodiac, for the start of our hikes, and picked us up when the day was done. And he did much more than that. He was never too busy to be there for all of us, or any one of us. And he was kind, gentle, respectful, smart, and very very funny! Such a wonderful vacation, with such amazing fellow travelers - forever friends, we hope! Clearly one of our very best vacations ever. It was perfectly orchestrated, and so much fun. It was truly a trip to be remembered.
The John Muir Trail is a delightful walk across Scotland. Walkers enjoy very contrasting landscapes, towns and weather. From the views, the engineering in the lock systems on the canals, to the art, and the architecture the walk is a very pleasant experience. There is a fair amount of hard surface walking so come prepared with well cushioned shoes for those days.
A wonderful barge/walk experience, not to be missed! The service from UTracks was excellent. The crew were really lovely and food superb. The shower worth a mention - really good water pressure and a good size too. The walking took in amazing views of the canal, lochs and mountains, (I took so many photos!) and we had sunny skies all the way. Even the midges left us alone on the whole.
