Today was tough! The terrain was similar to yesterday, with more rocks to scramble over alongside Loch Lomond, so we made slow progress. But the sun shone and it was very warm and humid: perfect weather for the midges, but the midge repellent recommended to us seemed to be working! By lunchtime we had left the Loch behind, and were climbing up into the hills. After all the rain the paths were muddy with numerous streams to navigate. We stopped at a camp site with a bar for a drink, and shortly after it began to rain quite heavily. We were relieved to finally reach our hotel and attempt to dry all our gear before supper and relaxation.

A Backward Glance

At breakfast this morning we were discussing our proposed walk for the day and the Landlord warned us it’s another six miles of difficult scrambling, like we’d had yesterday, followed by a long hilly climb to Loch Arklet. Do you think we’ll make it I wryly asked him, he pressed his lips hard together to stop himself saying what he was thinking. We walked back down the steep road to the hotel at Inversnaid and continued our route along the edge of Loch Lomond where the path quickly returned to the scramble over rocks and roots reminiscent of yesterday, but now most water hazards had light timber bridges across them. It was slow progress and we saw nobody else until we stopped for a break on the Loch shore where we watched and heard a couple of jet skiers breaking up the stillness in and over the water. At the end of the Loch we crossed a bridge and followed a long ascending path up through moorland taking us into typical Scottish Highlands and weather.