West Highland Way Walks: West Highland Way

Day Two: 13th May 2008.
Weather: Sunshine all afternoon ..Hooray again
Drymen to Rowardennan: 13 miles (14.6 on Pedometer)
Map:
Total Steps: 30757
Acc Steps: 74141

After such a wonderful morning up high on Ben Lomond, the walk from Drymen would be a little bit of an anticlimax. I had a good rest and breakfast to stoke up on the carbs, and set off a couple of hours after finishing the Ben Lomond walk. I took the Magnus Magnusson attitude to where I should restart the walk – “I’ve started so I’ll finish..” – and rejoined the forest track at Garadh Ban woods. It was an easy trail to follow through the old plantation woods, on good forest track.

The wide forest ride

Conic Hill and the islands lined up along the faultline

The first call of the day was a Cuckoo, the same as everyday although I didn’t see one until Day 5. A nice cool breeze was blowing so conditions were perfect, with the sun shining brightly. There has been a lot of forest clearance here which opened up the views to Loch Lomond and beyond. After a couple of miles Conic Hill appears, a nice rounded hill & the only real ascent of day 2. The path approaching Conic Hill is closed off to dogs from Mid April to Mid May for the lambing season, but I think you can still walk over this way with care not to disturb the little dears – mint sauce anyone? There were surprisingly few people around today, and I didn’t pass many until later in the afternoon.

There were plenty of small streams to cross

The easy ascent up the flank of Conic Hill

The string of Islands across Loch Lomond marks the line of the highland fault, north of this fault the rocks become metamorphic and volcanic, and hence the scenery changes dramatically. The path moves gently around to the side of Conic Hill, and makes an easy ascent, and exposes the Old Red Sandstone Conglomerates that make up Conic Hill. Some big boulders mixed in with some smaller pebbles, a kind of pre-historic concrete.

Tougher than a glacier – The conglomerate of Conic Hill

The view from the west summit of Conic Hill

Looking back to Drumgoyne in the distance

The rocky path down to Balmaha

I didn’t go up to the top of Conic Hill, but made for the western summit for the best views that look directly over the Loch Lomond islands – all lined up in a row along the Highland fault. After a munch on a pink lady – an apple not a sunburned damsel – I carefully dropped down the front of the hill, although it would have been easier going back to the regular path. The way drops down steeply into Balmaha over an uneven stony path that reached a big car park at the visitor centre. This is the usual place where people venture about 100m from the car, then get back in and go home. It was a good place for refreshments and I had an ice cream tub served very reluctantly by the proprietor, and it was a good job I didn’t ask for anything she didn’t have!

Looking north towards Ben Lomond in the distance

One of many idyllic coves along the loch shore

From this point on the days walk changed to stretches of road and some woodland paths alongside the loch. For some strange reason this was the only place on the walk that I saw any amount of midges. Up through the woods by the loch there were a few swarms, but I had my spray on Skin-So-Soft which proved effective enough. The loch shore is obviously a very popular spot for picnics and campfires and there are some lovely spots along the way.

Looking over the loch towards Beinn Dubh

A lovely landscaped garden, ties in perfectly with the loch

The path runs alongside the road for some distance

There is a beautifully designed garden along the roadside, in front of a garage covered in slate. It does sit well and must be a delight to relax in during the warmer months. Enough to make me sit down and ponder the days ahead, it was such a joy not having to keep to any sort of timetable – it frees the mind to wander where it wants to go. There were lots of boats moored close to shore, no doubt used frequently during the summertime. The remainder of the walk to Rowardennan was spent mainly through woodland, a pleasant deciduous mix of Oaks (various species) and Silver Birch. The Birch trees must love the climate here as they are growing like weeds and will have to be thinned out eventually. In some places the woods were dominated by the Oak trees and this gave a delightful dappled shade, with the look of David Hockney’s ‘Bigger Trees Near Warter’ woodland painting that he donated to the Tate.

My ‘Bigger Trees Near Water’ – compare it to Hockneys

The view to the south from just past Sallochy

A quick taster for the paths of day three

As I moved towards Rowardennan the path became much more undulating with the views to the north opening up, revealing Ben Lomond that I had walked up this morning. I was relieved to reach the hotel in good time and feeling in pretty good shape considering the mileage that I had done today. A lesson learned for me is that if you have a lot of miles to cover in one day, try to fit in a stop along the way and take time to recuperate before slogging on to the finish. An evening stroll around the loch led us to the memorial to those that gave their lives for their country, and the land from the shore up to Ben Lomond is dedicated as the Ben Lomond National Memorial Park – a fitting tribute in a beautiful place.