Day 62: Into the Highlands

Distance: 15.2 miles

Thanks to Michael and Jan for guest blogging yesterday! And happy fortieth birthday, Bruce! Hey look, it's another castle!



I have one important yesterday story I need to share, before getting on to today's post. It starts at lunch. We got into a conversation with our waitress about where we come from, and what we're doing, and all of that, and she recognized our accents as Canadian. That happens now and then, and always makes us happy. She told us that she knows the accent, because she once had a Canadian boyfriend, and stayed there for a while. And then she got called off to the bar for some kind of bar emergency. Later that afternoon, I stopped by to ask a very important question: how we catch a bus to Glengoyne, where the whisky is? And I asked a follow up question: where in Canada did she stay? "Oh", she said, "'twas a terrible wee place called Brantford!". In the terrible wee town of Brantford, I heard, people don't even go out on Saturday night. They have to stay in so they can watch the ice hockey! And then on Sunday, it's American football. She broke up with the boyfriend, and found another place in Canada to stay, spending two seasons in Whistler. She liked that better. (for our readers who don't know: I was born in Brantford, and grew up nearby. Larry lived there too!)


Today, according to the borders drawn up by the Scotch Whisky Association, we officially walked into the Scottish Highlands! We've been looking forward to this part of the walk since early in planning, for two reasons. The first is that by some accounts the West Highland Way, which we joined today, is the most scenic part of the whole journey. The second is that the Highlands are our home stretch; from here it feels like John O'Groats is finally within reach.


The weather today was perfect for walking. It started out cool, but not cold, with a thin layer of clouds, so it was bright, but without direct sun. After a few hours, the clouds broke up, and we finished in beautiful sunshine, under a sky of pure blue. It was a welcome change after April. We learned from the BBC that last month was the wettest April in England since they started keeping records. We saw pictures of a few towns that we visited which are flooded; we even recognized our Tewkesbury B&B with water partway up the front door. Our path there was through a flood plain, on the banks of the Severn. It must be completely submerged. We hope that things improve for the people there, and we're thankful for our nice weather now.


For the past few days, ever since Edinburgh, the surfaces of the footpaths we've taken have been very nicely surfaced - often with packed dirt, sometimes even paved. Until this morning We hadn't worn our boots since the Pentland Hills; we just walk in our trainers. So it was kind of nice today to finally have some mud, even if it only lasted a mile or two.


Dawn has become a mud connoisseur. I realized this about two weeks ago, I can't remember on what day, but we had some mud to cross, a lot like in the picture above. "This is nice mud", she told me. "Not too sticky or slippery, and you can feel the bottom. Lovely." Just three months ago, she knew nothing about mud! Or animal poo! Now, she's a pro.


Once the joined the West Highland Way, the mud ended, and we went back to very nicely groomed paths. So no more mud, but we did find these calves. As you can see, Jan communicates with them telepathically.


We also found a Columbia Sportwear vest, out here on the other side of the world from its home in Portland.


We enjoyed a leisurely coffee and lunch in the sunshine at Drymen, and then took the short route along the road for the last few miles to Balmaha, on Loch Lomond. On a sunny evening, the banks of Loch Lomond are bonny; this is a really beautiful place.


Tomorrow we walk north along the shore of the loch to the Inversnaid Hotel. Some weather forecasts are calling for rain. Others for sun. You know which ones I'm pulling for!

Location:Balmaha,United Kingdom