A 77-year-old army nurse has completed the West Highland Way in just nine days - despite being registered blind.
Noreen Smith, from Paisley, lost most of her sight in her right eye in 2014 and three years later, despite injections for macular degeneration, her left eye also became severely limited.
Despite that she took on the West Highland Way this year, using walking poles to gauge the paths, a magnifying glass for directions and a trusty set of binoculars to read signs.
The first leg of her journey started in picturesque Drymen before a trek up the shores of Loch Lomond through Balmaha, Rowardennan and Inversnaid, then on to Inverarnan. From there she took in Crianlarich, Tyndrum, Bridge of Orchy, Glencoe and Kinlochleven before finally arriving at Fort William.
Ms Smith explains: “It was really difficult from Inversnaid to Inverarnan. That part of the West Highland Way has a lot of big rocks and scrambling. It was the biggest challenge because of the rocks and my eyesight.
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"Trying to stick to the paths was difficult because people make their own wee routes. At that point I was walking about one mile an hour.”
Noreen didn’t reach The Drovers Inn at Inverarnan until 8.30pm after starting out at 8am that morning. She adds that she was “so tired I didn’t feel like eating”. But it was here that she came across those surprise fellow explorers.
Ms Smith said: “There were wild goats. Normally you don’t see them but they were out on the trek grazing. We were told that in Rob Roy McGregor’s day, goats lay in front of a cave he was hiding in nearby and the soldiers had walked on by, so now they’re protected. There was a Swiss couple who were a bit worried. They asked if they would attack them but I said, ‘Not at all, feel free to walk right past them’.”
Other highlights of the walk include the climb up the Devil’s Staircase as they made their way from The Kingshouse Hotel in Glencoe to Kinlochleven.
Ms Smith said: “It was lovely up there. The views were terrific out over Glencoe and we got some very good pictures of the Buachaille Etive Mor with the rising sun on it.
Not one to rest on her laurels, Ms Smith has more treks in the pipeline. She says: “I try and go out every weekend. If things work out next year, I may try and do the Rob Roy Way from Drymen to Pitlochry. I’ve a friend who has given me the information on it. It’s about 80 miles. I’ve also got some information on The Hebridean Way.”
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Over recent years Ms Smith, who was an army nurse in the 70s, has been supported by Sight Scotland Veterans. The charity has provided equipment to aid Noreen on her walks as well as assistance with planning.
She says: “Sight Scotland have been very good. They gave me binoculars which I used along the way. They were excellent and helped me to pick out some of the paths. They were also good for looking at the signs along the way.
“They help with planning and give me some good trails to do with the directions set out in block capitals.
"I got a very good route from them for a trek up Doon Hill at Aberfoyle. They also gave me two magnifiers for reading. There’s a small one that’s good for looking at maps.”
Find out more about Sight Scotland here.
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