Banks: Bonnie!
Today's birthday girl is Carolyn - Happy Birthday Caro!
Today was a day we've been looking forward to since we started planning this trek. All day along the banks of bonnie Loch Lomond. It turned out that it rained overnight and the day dawned bright and clear.
Our first stop was the Balmaha village store to pick up lunch supplies, in case we didn't reach the pub in Rowardennan in time. While we were there we ran into a gentleman who we met on the road yesterday. His great grandfather came to the area as a miller in 1910, and the family has been working a farm on the banks of the loch, ever since. His property is one of the most beautiful in Scotland, his home looks to the loch on one side, and the mountains on the other. Last week, he had a second hip replacement, and he's already walking the mile or so from his farm into town to pick up the paper. A really interesting, friendly guy.
Tonight we're staying at the rather interesting Inversnaid Hotel which is owned and run by a bus, I mean coach, tour company. The place is filled with octogenarians on some kind of land cruise of the lochs and glens of the Highlands. We were lucky that they take "independents" when they can. That's us. They even had a special entrance for us around back.
Unfortunately, the wi-fi situation is not great and only available in the bar. Plus it's getting late, I'm tired and tomorrow is a longer day,so here are a bunch of pictures from the day. The loch is absolutely beautiful and the trail is amazing!
We stopped for lunch at the pub in Rowardennan. There were several other people hiking the WHW.
Here are Jan and I with the end in sight.
Tomorrow we finish the walk along the Loch then head north east along Glen Falloch.
Location:Inversnaid, United Kingdom
so happy to see a picture of the bonnie Loch Lomond! is there a high road and a low road? ;-]
ReplyDeletedawn is a fun person to travel with - not many people enjoy the mud!
ok, that was me,julie. keep forgetting that name thing. ahhahahaha
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic day you've had!
ReplyDeleteWe have slightly different memories of Loch Lomond on our End to End - coming down to the Loch (we were heading south, of course) the boys (on their bikes) got so cold and wet (it was pouring) that they were showing early signs of hypothermia and had to dive into a cafe for hot chocolate and food.
Later that afternoon Guy (eldest son) hit a dead fox on the road (Dad and Tom swerved to avoid it and Guy hit Tom's wheel and the fox) and came off his bike and was knocked unconscious. He ended up in hospital thanks to 2 lovely ladies driving by. He was shaken but fine and, after a checkup the next morning, he insisted we go back to the fox and re-start from there!
I've heard the English love their fox hunts, but hunting them with bicycle wheels is another level of commitment!
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