Wset Highland Way - day 3

6 June - day 3: Balmaha to Rowardennan

We awoke to another wet day. Like yesterday it was only light however today it persisted throughout the day.

View from our window at the Hillview B&B in Drymen

After breakfast our bags were collected and then we were for the trip back to Balmaha where we were starting from today.

Yesterday on the drive between Balmaha and Drymen I was struck by the roller coaster nature of the road. It had not changes overnight.

After being dropped off in the main carpark at Balmaha we headed over to the Oak Tree for a cup of coffee before heading off. We were hoping that the rain might stop but no such luck.

Yesterday I had started the day in full wet weather gear. Part day through the walk I had removed the pants. Today I figured that I would start without the pants and it turned out to be a good decision as the rain was never heavy enough to throughly wet the bottoms.

The route today hugged the shore of Loch Lomond. That meant a number of steepish climbs as there is no "beach" in some areas.

On leaving Balmaha we initially followed a minor road which was barely wide enough for the transit van that passed us. We were pleased to leave the road, until we encountered the climb up Craigie Fort, the name given to that crest. There were good views down and across Loch Lomond however the rain meant that any photos would be gray.

The recent rain meant that one of the creek crossing points which was probably OK most summers was running with water so we had to step across on the rocks. Shades of crossing the Tuggeranong Creek with Astrid. At least we both got over without falling in!

The track then descended, yes, you can only go up for so long before you go down only to go up again, and we entered an oak woodland which followed the shore around Arrochymore Point before rejoining the road at a car park and picnic spot.

The picnic spot was not very popular today. I wonder why?

While walking through the woods we came across more trees that had fallen. One close to the track clearly showed the very shallow roots and then the rock that had been exposed when the tree had fallen. As suspected the soil is extremely shallow in this area.

The track continued to hug the shoreline with some steep sections. The shore ranged from pebbles, the odd bit of red sand and rocks. There were times when there was no beach at all.

This is actually a sandy section of beach (complete with a rock)

We stopped for a coffee at a camping ground we passed which had a shop and a very welcome toilet block.

A pleasant section of track

Some sections of the track had steps (and steps and even more steps)

Jen powering up one of the slopes

Like yesterday, some of the burns (creeks) were in full flow.

There are a number of camping areas around the loch and we utilised one of the spots to eat our lunch. As everything was wet it was lunch on our feet.

The low cloud persisted, as did the light rain, so the top of Ben Lomond was not visable as we approached Rowardennan. Perhps the weather will clear overnight so that we will get views of it before we depart tomorrow.

Stats for the day: 10.98km and 373m of elevation gain.

Waet Highland Way - Day 2

Monday 5 June - Drymen to Balmaha

We awoke to a bleak, gray, wet day. There had been overnight rain and light rain was still falling as we went down to breakfast at 8 o'clock.

We were in no rush today and, as we were returning to the Hillview B & B for a their second night, we kitted up in our wet weather gear and left packed only the bare minimum of items for the days walk.

By the time we got going the rain had almost stopped and we could have discarded our wet weather gear quite early.

The first part of the day, once we cleared Drymen, was initially next to and then through the woodland of Garadhban Forest. Parts of the forest had been harvested while tall trees remained in places. The soil depth appeared to be very shallow as we saw a number of large trees that had fallen and the root system was virtually flat.

From time to time we had views over Loch Lomond.

There were also views over the surrounding countryside which was particularly pretty when the sun was out.

There are two ways to reach Balmaha. One is around (sort of over) Conic Hill and the other is a low route. This seemed perfectly reasonable as the song about Loch Lomond refers to the "high road" and the "low road". Jen and split up as we decided that she should not push herself by going via Conic Hill. I think that this was a wise choice. So while found her way to Balmaha on the low route I tackled the high route which included climbing to the top of Conic Hill.

Conic Hill

 

The track skirting Conic Hill

The views from Conic Hill down onto Loch Lomond were excellent. The track to the top of the hill was challenging particularly on the way down.

Ah, Loch Lomond!

Conic Hill had a number of interesting features. Entering the area was through a very high gate in a fence that stretched up to 6 feet high, too.

These measures are to protect the Conic Hill sheep (which don't look all that different to those we saw when doing the Coast to Coast).

There were plenty of wee burns gushing forth water from the overnight rain as well as the odd larger waterway roaring down the side of Conic Hill.

The roar from this waterway was almost deafening

 Here I am standing atop Conic Hill with Loch Lomond behind me.

As well as the loch there was plenty of other pretty vistas.

Todays flowering plant is an Ajuga

All up today, I walked 12.17km with an elevation gain of 386m. Steps came in at a tad over 21K

West Highland Way - Day 1

Sunday 4 June was to be the first day for Jen and I of walking the West Highland Way (WHW). After 3 days in and around Glasgow we were familiar with the various forms of transport and knew our way around Central Station.

After packing the final items into out suitcases and ourbackpacks we heded for the station. The forecast indicated that there could be rain and there was certainly enough gray cloud around to support that forecast.

Our train to Milngavie (pronounced Mul-guy by the locals) left at 9:04am so it was a fairly leisurely start to the day. While waiting for the train we chatted to a pair of Canadian sisters who were also about to walk the WHW.

Right on time we arrived in Milngavie and were please to see the Go Haggis van (Go Haggis were doing out baggage transfers) and we handed over our cases and headed off into the centre of town (or is it actually a village?) and the start of the WHW.

Not knowing when our next pit stop would be we availed ourselves of a cup of coffee before commencing the walk.

The start of the WHW is well signed.

Now it was on our way.

We were sharing the track with quite a few cyclists and an 8 mile Milngarvie  running event. There were also plenty of dog walkers and other out enjoying the day.

When I was doing my walk on Saturday I had seen shopping trollies is some odd places. Here is one we saw quite a distance from any easy access points:

So it would appear that Scottish shopping trollies are as wayward as ours!

We came across a heap of gates that we need to pass through.

There were some stunning views

There was evidence of stone walls from a bygone era. These are being replaced by more modern ones.

There were lots of plants in bloom including a heap of wild dutch irises

Originally we were to stop at Carbeth, a walk of a mere 8kms, however we had decided if we were going OK we would walk on to Drymen, where we were staying for our first two nights. The further 11 kms to Drymen would allow us to break our day 3 which was going to be a tough day with 24kms and quite a bit of climb as well as some difficult track.

So, on to Drymen it was.

We did have a break at the Glengoyne Distillery although we decided that we would not do their tour, which would have taken an hour.

To get to the distillery we had to cross the A81 which took a bit of time with cars whizzing past in both directions at speed.

The distances here are in miles. There are times that each half mile seemed to take forever. Somehow kilometres pass much more quickly than a half mile!

By the time we got into trudge mode we were pleasantly surprised by our first sighting of Loch Lomond.

We were pleased to see the welcome sign at the entry to Drymen.

The weather had varied from overcast, with the odd spot to warn us that it might rain, to glorious sunshine.

All up we clocked up just on 20km.

Overall, it was a pleasant days walking through pretty countryside.