How NOT to do the West Highland Way - Part 3

Day 3

Rowardennan to Inverarnan

Today we awoke to find the weather overcast, which was a welcome change after baking in the heat for the past two days. This was notoriously the most difficult part of the walk, and I think we would have struggled if the weather had been any warmer. Although it was cloudy it was still quite warm, but at least the clouds offered shade from the glaring sun.

Cloudy, but still warm

I usually wake up quite early with the sunlight, but because the room was dark I slept longer than usual, and was annoyed that another group member who was already up was carelessly disturbing everyone with the rustling of bags, and stepping over everyone to look for things. I was glad when I realised the time however, and luckily I didn't have to queue for a shower. I kept my flip flops on, as I didn't know how many verruccas and infected feet had stood in the shower prior to myself that morning. One of our other friends actually picked up a fungal skin infection which she believes came from the showers at the Rowardennan hostel - yuck!!  It was one of our group's birthday's today so we had arranged some balloons and streamers for her.

Another drawback to staying at the hostel was that breakfast was absolutely mobbed. A friend and I had pre-ordered a cooked breakfast which, despite the amount of people there, was really quite good. Apparently the same couldn't be said for the Continental breakfast which consisted of only cereal and fruit. I felt a bit sorry for our other group members who had to make do with porridge and coffee in the self service area (which I hear was also mobbed).

Posing for a quick snap before the midges got us!

 My feet weren't feeling too bad this morning. Much of the swelling in the blisters had gone down, and I'd purchased some padded insoles at the shop at Balmaha which I hoped would keep my feet in better shape for the day. I put compeed over the worst blisters, and stuck plasters everywhere I thought my boots might rub. We set off rather nervously this morning, worried about how difficult this stretch of the walk was going to be, and I was still worried about my feet.

Luckily the first stretch was pretty easy going, and we got into a good rhythm. So much so that we didn't even see the part where the track divides in two! Luckily we went the high road as the low road is supposed to be very scrambly along the shoreline - we had plenty of that to come later. The path followed quite a long and steep climb, and we were soon well up above the loch with fantastic views. Unfortunately because of the midges we couldn't stop for long to enjoy them, so just managed to snatch a few quick snaps and then continue on our way.






These long climbs were the only really strenuous part of this section, but as I said the views over the loch were so rewarding that the pain in my legs was soon forgotten. The path then evened itself out with a few short descents and ascents, so the only problem left to deal with was the midges - but as long as you keep on moving then they aren't really an issue. We finally arrived at the Inversnaid hotel, and were cheered on by the German girls, who had caught the ferry from Rowardennan in the morning. (I was beginning to wonder whether the reason the German girl said she never got any blisters was because she never actually did any walking!!)

 

High up over Loch Lomond, and our friend's birthday balloons further ahead

We popped into the hotel and I had a cup of tea and buttered scone. The hotel was quite busy with old people, must have been some sort of coach trip. We wondered how we would be received, as there didn't seem to be any other walkers around, but everyone seemed friendly enough. We had a drink in the bar, and made some general chit-chat with the table next to us, before moving on.

Mountain goats

The next section started off easy enough, we passed a few mountain goats and stopped to take some photos, but soon we were scrambling up boulders and tree roots and clambering down quite steep drops. We met a couple of guys earlier who were cylcling the Way, and caught up with them at this point having to carry their bikes on their back. I've absolutely no idea how they managed it, as it was difficult enough just with small rucksacks. Saying that, although this part was difficult, it was also quite enjoyable, making a change from straight walking. I used to love climbing trees as a child, so I was able to scramble over the obstacles reasonably quickly, while some of the others began to fall behind.

Beautiful colour

  
 


This rocky part is apparently only three miles long, but with all the ups and downs it seems like much further. We had a quick stop when we saw the sign for Rob Roy's cave, but couldn't actually find the entrance to the cave itself. We carried on a bit further and were relieved when we finally emerged from the boulders onto some flat ground at the edge of the loch. The ground was carpeted in bluebells, which was beautiful - plus we had the added bonus of not having any midges! We sat down to wait for the rest of the group to catch up, and also saw the two bikers passing, still carrying their bikes - wow those guys must be seriously fit!

We thought we were near the end, but still miles to go!

  

Any relief we felt was short lived however, as the next section still had quite a few challenging climbs, and with our energy zapped from the earlier section these were pretty tough going. We were dismayed to find a sign telling us we still had two and a half miles to Beinglas campsite, but we plodded on slowly. By this point my tshirt was practically soaked through in sweat, as it was still quite warm although it was approaching late afternoon / early evening.

Gorgeous views over Doune Bothy and beyond

Navigating away from the Loch - not long to go now!

The scenery at this point was absolutely stunning, and although we were weary this helped lift our spirits and spur us onwards. We passed the Doune bothy and then had one final steep climb before the gentle descent into Beinglas. From this point the views back down the loch were spectacular, and I felt a sense of achievement that we had conquered the most difficult part of the walk. We finally made it into Beinglas campsite and collapsed onto a picnic bench for a well deserved pint!
 

Final look back down Loch Lomond

Hills surrounding Beinglas

We spent the evening up at the Drovers Inn, as it was one of our group's birthday so we wanted to make it a memorable one. I know the Drovers has had a bit of a bad reputation, but to be honest I don't really understand why. The reception area is almost like some sort of museum with all of the taxidermy displays, including a giant bear. Normally I'm not really into dead animals, but this is really something worth seeing! Plus everyone we met there was very friendly. We were gutted when we were chatting to the bar staff and learned that the Hollywood star Gerard Butler had been staying the previous evening! We stayed for some food and a few drinks to celebrate our friend's birthday, then returned to the campsite just as it was getting dark.


 

What a long way we've come today