LUNCH ON A LOG AT THE BEACH
STATS-Today we hiked 15.8 miles from Drymen to Rowardennan which is on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond. We climbed 1995 feet and descended 2103’. We are now only 66 feet above sea level but well inland. A truly gorgeous day that was perfect for walking. Sunny almost the entire time and not a drop of rain!
We are off to a slow start today as breakfast is not served until 8am. We are walking by 9 am and spend the first few hundred yards on pavement. Virtually all of the rest one day is on trails and gravel paths. The first half of our day will be a lot of up and down as we work our way over the hills and then down to the shores of Loch Lomond. Loch Lomond is the largest lake in Scotland at 27 square miles and 623 feet deep. It stretches for 24 miles as the crow flys and we will walk even further as we spend half of today and all of tomorrow following its jagged shoreline.
Soon we get our first views of Loch Lomond in the far distance. We also spot a “mountain” nestled against the eastern shore. Our map app confirms that it is Conic Hill soaring about 1100’ above the lake. It certainly looks like a small mountain to us, especially since our trail will go to the summit.
After much climbing and some very, very rocky trails, we reach the top of Conic Hill. Hikers on our path to the Hill are few in number, but once reach the top and on the way down the other side, the trail is very crowded with hikers who started in the small village on the shore of the Loch. We stop for coffee in that small village, a place called Balmaha. We have now reached the lake! The remainder of our afternoon will be spent hiking 9 more miles to Rowardennan where we will spend the night.
Finished with our coffee and tea drinks, we return to the WHW trail and walk mostly along the lake. Most of the area around the Loch is now a National Park, Scotland’s first national park, established in about 2005. Overuse and destructive usage behavior lead to the NP status in hopes of restoring and preserving the area. A project to re-create a native woodland forest was established with the planting of over 3000 acres of forest. The area is called Cashel Farm and has a visitor center and numerous woodland trails.
We hike a another couple of miles and stop at a lakeside gravel beach and enjoy our Ziplock baggie lunches while sitting on a driftwood log. The weather is beyond gorgeous with a nice breeze to discourage any bugs. We then continue along the lake with many short but somewhat steep ups and downs at times. We eventually reach our hotel precisely at 4 pm and skip the check-in and head directly to the attached pub where we each enjoy a pint while sitting at a picnic table on the deck looking out over the lake….perfect!
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