Day 45 - The Bonnie, Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond

 

I had always planned yesterday and today to be the longest walks of my route based on the terrain and availabilty of camp sites. However, both turned out longer than expected: just over 26 miles yesterday and a whopping 31.7 today, with 1030m of ascent, most of it in the last 5 miles. That means I am writing this on the banks of Loch Lomond, and on a particularly beautiful evening, as well.

The day started with Suzanne and I strolling the three or four miles downhill from the campsite to Kirkintilloch, where I joined the Strathkelvin Railway Path and Suzanne went in the Co-op. The path runs alongside the Campsie Fells for about 14 miles to Strathblain and is tarmacked and flat all the way, which made the walking pretty easy but a bit on the boring side. The weather was good as well, enabling me to make swift progress - I joined the West Highland Way near Carbeth by 12.30pm.

I was a little underwhelmed initially by the WHW; it was certainly a busy path and I passed more walkers in the first couple of miles than I probably saw on the entire Pennine Way - at least 30 people! Of these, I would say at least 20 were American (or possibly Canadian, we only exchanged hellos). I also doubt many of them would manage to walk the whole path, given they were at least as elderly as me, carrying rucksacks twice as big as themselves and, seemingly, wearing all their wet and warm weather gear as nothing else would fit in their bag. Call a cab company and ask for a baggage transfer...

The path also followed an old railway line, with even less to see than the Strathkelvin one. I even struggled to find somewhere half decent to perch myself for lunch. When the railway path ended, I was on a road for another couple of miles, mostly uphill, and decided to divert slightly from the WHW path to go through Drymen and partake of a coffee and flapjack. 21 miles gone and I needed an energy boost.

It worked a treat. Immediately on leaving Drymen, on a quiet road heading back to the WHW, a farmer indicated I should stop as he attempted to round up a couple of bullocks that had escaped from a field into the rough ground and bushes opposite. A car pulled up alongside and I was chatting amicably with the driver when one of the animals evaded the farmer's promptings and made a beeline towards us. The driver swore, put his car in reverse and was back 100yds down the road before I knew it. With no time to think, I spread my arms out wide and shouted 'Yow, Yow, Yow,' words I have never used before and am unlikely to do so ever again. I can only presume I had unconsciously retained some memory of Jack Sugden doing similar on Emmerdale Farm 40 years ago or, even further back, some rustlers being thwarted in similar fashion during The Virginian. 

To my amazement, the bullock not only stopped dead, it meekly turned round and walked back into the field. Crisis averted, and the inhabitants of Drymen saved from a one-bullock stampede, I advanced forward, winked knowingly at the farmer as he thanked me for my skilled endeavours and continued on my way. Energetic Diabetic 1, Bovines 0. Back of the net.

The rest of the walk was superb: I climbed high on a forest track and, at exactly 26 miles, reached a sign offering me a choice of routes to the next village, Balmaha: the low route (2.5 miles) or the official, high route (3.5 miles) to take in Conic Hill. Keith Robins had called me this morning and spoke in awed tones of the high route and I wasn't going to let Keith down, or myself. What a choice it was.

The climb was hard work but I felt strong and more or less skipped up. The sun was shining and the views of Loch Lomond were amazing, probably the best scenery of the walk to date (and there has been some great stuff). I took many pictures and it was difficult to work out which to put in this blog.

The way down did cause me some difficulty. The path had a brief diversion across a steep, wet, grassy path to avoid erosion on the official route. It was basically a mud heap. I was wearing my old boots again, to protect my toe, and as I have mentioned the tread is very worn and the grip not much better than a post-it note. Not surprisingly, I was down within seconds, taking most of the path with me on my knees and backside. This fall strained my left knee quite a bit, so my bouncebackability wasn't quite as impressive as after my earlier tumbles. Suzanne was making her way up the hill to meet me as I fell and is very disappointed to have missed the dramatic event itself. On the positive side, it has left her with a lot more washing to do.

I just had a couple of miles left to reach the van at Milarrochy Bay, all along the banks of the Loch. It was a beautiful evening and there are many little coves hidden away, where people were taking a paddle or even a wetsuited swim. By then, it had just turned 7.00pm and I needed a shower and food or else I may well have joined them.

It's a slightly shorter walk tomorrow, all along the banks to Inverarnan, right at the northern tip. Looking forward to it already, although I am not sure my knee is.