The next morning I thought I had woken up in The Sound of Music looking at this view. So it followed that I had to endure memories of being subjected to that film as a child and the songs soon began repeating in my head. Why is it always the most heinous songs which stick in the mind? I remembered the great documentary Touching the Void, in which a climber who had shattered his leg in a descent from an Andean mountain took days to crawl back to base camp with the song 'Brown Girl In the Ring' by Boney M in his head, all the while fearing he might die to that song. I gained a new appreciation of his pain. Sample it here if you think you have the mettle-       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaWsIzWZFr0

By the beginning of the fifth day I was near Fort William where I could get some much needed insoles and socks. As I approached, Ben Nevis slowly appeared to the South out of the morning haze. I took this picture and then stood and watched it for a while as if it was waking up, spiritual stuff.

As the Great Glen Way ended at Fort William  the West Highland way began just a mile or so down the road. It started with an ascent as the Way moves South around Ben Nevis. By this stage Cash was starting to make better use of any breaks I decided to have- there he is curled up beside my bag. I was gradually getting worn down by just walking so all of his extra exploring was really taking a toll. Luckily his owner, Michael, was due to join me the next day to walk a section over the weekend, so Cash could get home for a hibernation after that. Also realised I hadn't taken any pictures of myself, so here are a few to prove I was there! You can just see a bit of Fort William in the Background of the second one, and my wet socks hung out to dry on top of my bag. 

As the evening wore on the scenery became more and more fantastic. The West Highland Way was already beating the Great Glen Way in that respect. Here's a view as we turned into the Lairig Ghru, or Big Pass.

A bit further along the glen seemed like the ideal place to camp as we stumbled drunkenly along on our last legs at the end of another long day. Cash curled up in his bed as soon as I had dried him and put the tent up as you can see below. Too cute.