Departing Rowardennan to some rather moody looking cloud we think the skies may have a downpour in store, and so it proves. After about half an hour the rain gets going and it barely stops all day. By the youth hostel we pass the route for Ben Lomond which looms dramatically above the loch. Good luck to anyone doing this today we think as I stop to get a cake from an honesty box. These are in general a good feature of the walk appearing every now and then to offer various treats and in some cases just a welcome bottle of water. This one however has gone a bit over the top in my opinion and has installed CCTV. This says something about the world we live in and sort of undermines the whole 'honesty' concept but I am not going to dwell on it any more right now. I keep dwelling on it as I walk along so I decide the only thing to do is to eat the cake and then I can stop thinking about it, instead of saving the cake for later. It's a millionaire shortbread and is burning a hole in my pocket anyway so I just eat it and it's done. As the rain comes down someone passes us with a hand held radio pumping out Taylor Swift. This is bettered later on by a boat in the middle of Loch Lomond blaring out; "Country roads, take me home to the place I belong West Virginia, mountain mamma, take me home, country roads" Inevitably we have to join in and then its in our heads for the rest of the day! Apart from that it is a quite peaceful and remote part of Loch Lomond. Ironically, there are no roads now, can you believe that, just densely wooded hillside sloping down to the loch. If you looked from the air or from the loch you'd wonder that there was a path here at all. This may also explain why the route is so undulating as it weaves its way over the density of tree roots and boulders, interspersed with streams. There is the choice of a higher or a lower path. Lower is better for occasional views of the loch and we choose that but it is hard again on the old quad muscles going up and down, up and down. The higher route is a surfaced path so there would have been less slipping and sliding in the mud. Ah well, you choose the path you take. Actually although it is bucketing down it hasn't rained enough to make the ground waterlogged. Also there's good drainage because it's a major route. Ok too much information about drainage. Jennie is becoming knowledgeable about wild flowers and clocks a couple. We are very wet but we still get the odd break from the rain and some decent views of the loch. As usual multiple faster walkers are passing us but we trundle on towards our destination. Notable bird sightings include a nuthatch, several times and not the same one. The first time I remember seeing a nuthatch was in Edinburgh and then again in Balgay Park in Dundee. I was surprised when I looked it up as it said they are not normally found in Scotland. I suspect the reasons are climate related, but they are a beautiful bird. I also see another Blackcap, third one of this walk, and a spotted flycatcher. You do not have to try hard to find wildlife in the few places we leave unspoiled. We keep on trundling and trundling on. Surely there will be a campsite or bench or somewhere to sit down? Er, no, there's nothing, except about halfway to Inversnaid there is a bothy, which we are very grateful to eventually reach, shelter inside from, you guessed it another downpour, and have our lunch. We've never slept in a bothy, and we can't see ourselves about to start now. A couple of guys arrive who apparently are going to be doing exactly thar. They go out to get some firewood. I watch a mouse run across the floor. Don't fancy him crawling all over me at night. There's a sign saying to keep your food stored in the box as there is a pine martin who will snaffle it. It would be wonderful to see a pine martin, but I'm not prepared to sleep in a bothy to do so. We can't believe we are only halfway as we edge towards the hallowed Falls of Inversnaid, which acquires mythic Lord of the Rings proportions as we never seem to reach it. We have visited there once before when we walked the Mary Queen of Scots Way, a lesser known walk which goes coast to coast from Loch Long to St Andrews. Therefore we do know there is a hotel there so we focus on reaching it. Finally we make it, sodden like many other walkers who have convened in the "Walkers section" of the hotel. You get the impression we are not 100% welcome with the multiple signs to take off your boots and bags and coats etc. But at least we get to use the toilet and regenerate with a can of coke. We're not staying in this hotel, we are staying at the Inversnaid Bunkhouse, which is a wee bit further. We decide to go along the road as it's a bit quicker, although incredibly steep. Eventually we make it. The owner asks if we are staying for "two Knights". "No, one night." I am too tired to understand his intended pun. I cheer up once we've had showers and changed into not wet/partially damp clothes, which have been kept inside a plastic bag inside our water resistant bags with additional waterproof covers. The Inversnaid Bunkhouse is in a beautiful old church and they have kept the stained glass which I love. The food is very good and the beer goes down well. Jennie has a play of the guitar and flicks through walking guide books and some William Blake. An appropriate place to finish our West Highland Way Adventure - Part 1! The final part of our journey involves the ferry over to Arrochar-Tarbet where we can take the West Highland train line back to Arbroath via Glasgow. This was my solution for splitting the WHW over two trips. The plan has been executed well, but I am a little bit sad to say goodbye to Ben Lomond as we make the ferry crossing. Never mind, we can look forward to coming back to this exact point in September and tackling the rest of the way to Fort William. Onwards we march, perhaps not in haste, but at least hopefully in the right direction.
Words Matthew Images Matthew and Jennie
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We are looking forward to a pleasant lochside stroll for today's walk from Balmaha to Rowardennan. It doesn't quite work out like that as the stretch is actually quite undulating and strenuous, which makes us glad we didn't try and walk all the way from Drymen yesterday. Before we set off we consider if it would be possible to get a boat over to Inchcailloch Island which looks a great place to explore. Unfortunately the boat is not running as the water level is apparently too low so instead we decide to check out Balmaha Visitor Information Centre where we can see on a map just how little of the route we've done so far! Meanwhile Jennie gets to have fun pretending to be Scot-born conservationist John Muir (and key advocate for the establishment of a government-sponsored National Parks system in the United States). Passing the marina I have my photo taken with climber and television personality Tom Weir, who I'd not heard of, but was a mountaineer whose life took him from industrial Springburn to higher things, literally the Himalayas. Ok, right, we really need to get walking now! We start out with some nice sunshine continuing the previous day's good weather, although things soon becomes more mixed. No sooner does the rain hit than the sun finds its way through the clouds again and there are some stunning views across the loch. We are continuing to enjoy the flora and fauna. There are tortoiseshells and red admiral butterflies, and interestingly we spy a swallow feeding another. Much of Loch Lomond side is oak woodland, which is really beautiful to see as well. After a rest and a sandwich at a campsite we do start to feel it in our legs as we inch towards Rowardennan along another undulating path and the hotel seems to never arrive. We are also continually passed by faster walkers, but we do get there eventually. Thankfully I have booked a Penthouse Suite so we get a long soak in the bath and a view of the loch. We have a pint outside to celebrate and walk to the edge of the loch to see what lies before us in the days ahead. It almost seems like this is the beginning of Loch Lomond but it only appears that way because the loch has narrowed considerably, although there is certainly a lot more of it to walk along! The midges start to annoy me so we go in. We have decided not to have dinner in the restaurant as we have heard the food is not the best and instead indulge in Pot Noodles picked up from the shop in Balmaha. Jennie orders a glass of milk from the bar to accompany her pot noodle. Luxury.
So today's walk basically consists of walking over a hill. Should be easy peasy. Pity the poor fools walking all the way to Rowardennan. We are going over Conic Hill (1184ft/361m) and then we will be staying in Balmaha. This is all part of our plan to make the West Highland Way as easy as possible, for several reasons: 1. Recovering from injuries and we really don't want to get injured again 2. Connected to that, quite low fitness levels. 3. Enjoying the walk more by not rushing. 4. Stopping a lot to enjoy the wildlife. 5. Not getting caught in the stride of any "hiking" types who might encourage us to walk as fast as them! On the way out of Drymen we soon criss-cross with the Rob Roy Way, passing the ghosts of our younger (fitter) selves. As we pass through Garadhban forest we hear and then see a Tree Pippit, appropriately enough at the top of a pine tree. Me: It could be a Meadow Pippit? I mean they look exactly the same, or at least it's really hard to tell the difference. My ornithological skills are not ... Jennie: It's in a tree. It's a Tree Pippit. Debate over. I also spot a Siskin in these woods. I haven't seen one for a while since we had them visit our garden in Dundee. Birdwatching is becoming quite a good excuse for not walking up this hill! There's some mist around but it's lifting and I think the sun's actually about to come out for us. As we climb we notice many ringlet butterflies, upon identification actually Mountain Ringlets. When we are at the top we are rewarded with stunning views over Loch Lomond, with all its many islands. I'm sure plenty of people do this walk and miss out on the view so we feel quite lucky. It might be common sense to imagine that going down will be easier than going up but in reality descents can also be quite challenging. It puts a lot of weight through your knees and quads. It also doesn't help when the surface is particularly hard. On this busy walking route erosion is also a problem so the Loch Lomond national park has constructed steep steps all the way down. Actually this is tough going. One man looks to be genuinely struggling and I am quite glad to see him hanging around Balmaha later on and not stuck up there unable to take another knee shattering step! Ok I'm exaggerating, it's not that bad really. There are some nice woods at the bottom of the hill as we arrive at our destination, the Oak Tree Inn at Balmaha. So ends a lovely walk to reach the bonnie balmy banks of Loch Lomond. Job done. I think an ice cream is in order.
The West Highland Way could well have been our first long distance route when we started doing them back in 2011 but we chose the Rob Roy Way instead. It is good to finally be doing this iconic route. It's also a bit strange to be on a sort of 'walkers highway' with people from across the world undertaking the challenge, as well as it being a sort of right of passage for Scots to do the walk at least once. This provides quite a different atmosphere to most of our walks where it feels quite often like it is just us. The first person we meet is a hiker from Switzerland, so she'll probably have completed it before we're finished in Costa Coffee! Really don't need a shortbread before I've even started. As we approach Carbeth huts we notice we have actually done a small part of this route before whilst walking the John Muir Way. Ah, all that has occurred since we were last here in 2017! Ok, forget that, let's live in the moment! The rain is fairly light and punctuated with dry spells. Some swallows put on an aerial display for us and I make an attempt to photograph them. I actually manage to capture them although they look like three spots on the lens (see photo below). The volcanic shape of Drumgoyne looms out of the mist in front of us from the edge of the Campsie fells. We get the sense of the ground steadily rising, although in fact we are headed away from the Campsies. We hit an old railway line and trudge along, considering whether we want to divert to Glengoyne distillery or whether the extra half a mile might be regretted at the end of the walk! Jennie is quite far down the path and misses the moment I notice a tiny toad/frog lurking in the grass. I am excited about this but I have no-one to share it with except the toad/frog, and to be honest it just wants to get away so I stop bothering it! We decide to skip the distillery and instead sit on our bags in the rain and eat pork pies we have brought for lunch. We both decide we have very much gone off pork pies. We are about halfway at this point and it doesn't feel like it is going to be too bad a walk towards Drymen. As we have been walking along the old railway line we have spotted a couple of interesting juvenile birds which we are able to identify as a Robin (fluffy and lacking a red breast) and a Chiffchaff (similar to the adult but also fluffy) as well as a pair of Stonechat, a familiar friend from the nature reserve by Arbroath, and another Blackcap. We stop at a cafe called Turnip the Beet, both miss the pun and wonder why the music's on quite loud, however we are glad for a sit down. A young woman has taken a quite bedraggled but cheery looking dog on the Way that reminds me of Snowy in Tintin. We haven't met as many people as we thought we would actually, probably because we set off late and we are pretty slow. As we start to approach Drymen we move onto a quiet B road which looks on paper like it will be a fairly easy walk but is actually remarkably steep and undulating so at this point we find it really hard going. There are odd benches placed as if in recognition of this which we are grateful for. The woman with the dog passes us with the dog now looking even more bedraggled, but still fairly cheerful. Jennie brings out some chocolate covered raisins at exactly the right moment. We are even slightly envious of people camping at the campsite we pass because at least they have reached their destination and do not have to walk on into Drymen! Someone has had some fun with some Lord of the Rings references which lightens the struggle somewhat. One last push and we emerge at the crossroads of Drymen and indulge in a fantastic pub meal at The Clachan Inn where we are also staying. Hallelujah we have made it! Drymen is another place we have visited before. As well as being the end of Day 1 of the West Highland Way it is also the start point of the Rob Roy Way, where all this walking madness began! Hopefully the pub has a hairdryer as Jennie's boots are leaking again ...
And we're off! Our re-appointment with Glasgow is nigh and we have cunningly linked up our walk with going to a couple of gigs, Placebo and Iron Maiden which happen to fall across the same weekend after Placebo was re-scheduled from last year. I'm not sure rambling and gig going is really a thing but we are out to prove it can be done! Given previous experience though we decide not to try and walk on the same day we are going to the gigs, they are sweaty and tiring enough without being sweaty and tired when you turn up. We start with a nice 'normal' Saturday evening going for pizza before the Placebo gig and begin our rambles the next day. Hello Partick! We are resuming where we left off when we followed the Clyde Coastal Path/Clyde Walkway into the centre of Glasgow from North Ayrshire. We now want to pick up the Kelvin Walkway and follow the river all the way to Milngavie. This is about 11 miles so we get the subway to Partick from where we are staying at St Enochs Square in order to avoid adding a couple of miles on (we reckon we are going to be tired enough as we are only just starting to get back to fitness). We kind of ruin this idea anyway by wandering around Partick for a while looking for a decent coffee. Nevertheless we finally get on with it just as the decent weather which was still lingering from the previous day gives way to some proper rainfall. This is about the point Jennie usually questions why we don't just go on a beach holiday instead... The river Kelvin is a really beautiful place and it is unbelievable to think you are in the middle of Glasgow, you can't even hear much in the way of traffic. One of those walks which I'm sure many people who live locally dip into but how many walk the whole length of it? I had previously thought the Water of Leith walkway in Edinburgh was unrivaled, and yet as in all competitions between the cities, Glasgow will never be outdone. It rains fairly continuously but being late June is also very warm. I take my waterproof jacket off, and soon have to put it back on! Walking under a near constant canopy of trees and smelling the soil is also a particularly refreshing experience. (Is that just me? Maybe not). Amidst another downpour we pass the site of an old flint mill which was surprisingly still in operation until the 1950's. As the shower abates I spot a fluttering in the trees and manage to get the binoculars out quickly enough to identify a Blackcap, a bird that was a revelation to me until fairly recently where I have been seeing them a lot on various walks. An appropriately named bird, for the male anyway. It's not too long before simply by following the path we find ourselves on the outskirts of Glasgow just past Maryhill and Summerston. The path becomes more overgrown although still obvious enough as it still follows the Kelvin as we meander into a more open section. Somewhere around this area we spot our familiar friend the Yellowhammer who always seems to appear as you get to the edge of urban areas and some good hedges and fields. You get the impression that virtually no-one but the local dog walker does this stretch, and they are staying away because it is raining steadily. I remark how different it is for us these days as experienced ramblers with our waterproof trousers, waterproof jackets, waterproof cover for our backpacks and our trusty old waterproof boots, we are fairly kitted out for any adventure. Gone are those foolish days of wearing tracksuit bottoms or flimsy trainers. As they used to say a soldiers feet are the most important ... "my left foot is very wet" says Jennie. Oh ... We are about to part with the Kelvin and follow the Allander Water towards Milngavie but before we do we reach the site of the Roman Antonine Wall at the site of Balmuildy Fort. I am particularly interested in this as it connects with our walk along The John Muir Way back in 2017 which followed a good length of the wall across the central belt, as well as memories of taking a creative writing group along the section of it by Callendar House in Falkirk. The John Muir way diverted north to Helensburgh so did not follow the Western end through Bearsden to a termination point just north of the Erskine Bridge at Old Kilpatrick. Obviously there's not much here except a battered old information board and a busy road but the raised ground on the other side of the road where the fort would have been is clear enough. It is interesting (to me anyway) to use the Ordnance Survey map on my phone to stand at the exact point where the wall would have been. The path here is ridiculously overgrown, but we've got our waterproofs so on we march. Not like there is an alternative! It does get pretty hard going, the main problem being the level of moisture going into our boots despite their being Gore Tex waterproof ... Ok, clearly no-one has ever gone this way, not even the dog walkers are bothering. Jennie later reads in the guide book that this section actually becomes "impassable" by August when the vegetation reaches Little Shop of Horrors proportions. It's barely reaching chest height at the moment! I am a bit worried about ticks as there are a lot of cattle in the fields. At least they are safely in the fields, thought Jennie. Oh .. Jennie does have something of a fear of cows, so the fact that they have broken through the fence and are now completely blocking the very narrow path is a bit of a problem. I go slowly ahead and they do move along but that's not really solving the problem because the fence is actually pretty intact and they can't easily go back into the field. At this point I turn around and realise Jennie has not moved from the spot and is paralysed with fear. This is all obviously my fault. I try to encourage her to follow but she decides to divert into the densely wooded riverbank. To begin with I wonder what the hell she is doing but then I realise this plan is actually better than mine because we can go around the cows, although it is hard work because it is beyond overgrown here. Nevertheless, with difficulty we manage it. The cows look on with indifference. Now we are regretting being the only people to ever walk from Glasgow to Milngavie! How far is it now?! Still a couple of miles. My feet are a wee bit wet even despite my excellent boots. Jennie's are soaking. Despite the quietness of the setting, the waterlogged feet and cow challenges are really making us hope the days walk will be over soon. I do spot a really interesting moth, and get what is for me quite a good photo. As soon as we get a chance to get off this god forsaken waterway we divert to the nearest dry place which happens to be Dobbies Garden Centre where we are very grateful for a sit down, drink and partial dry off, although I'm not sure Dobbies has ever seen a pair of soaking wet muddy Ramblers before. When we have composed ourselves we manage the last mile or so to Milngavie without incident on a less overgrown path, obviously receiving more regular walkers. It even brightens up a fair bit. We get the train back to Glasgow and I spend the rest of the night in the Premier Inn with a Guinness and a pizza trying to dry out Jennie's boots with a hairdryer! It actually worked quite well. And we haven't even started the official West Highland Way yet! Thankfully we are not walking the next day so I get them dry in time for a day relaxing in Glasgow, checking out the brilliant Banksy exhibition before rocking out at Iron Maiden! All reasonably to plan so far ...
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