The "toughest" part of the Way

May 31 (continued): Dinner proved to be quite good, with great service.  Most folks had starters of either cauliflower soup or smoked salmon salad, and our main courses included chicken salads, penne pasta, chickpea “madras,” and beef stew.  Only Betsy ordered dessert, which was sort of odd but tasty – crumbled oatmeal, cream and raspberries.  The server was unflustered by our group, even though the ‘nave’ was full.

After dinner, I walked to Whitney/West’s and Schmidt’s lodgings at a farm about 1/3 of mile further up the road.  The owners have free-range chickens, two pigs in a pasture, a friendly dog, and are fostering a Canada Goose gosling, who follows the owners around and sleeps beside their bed.  I wandered back to the Inversnaid Bunkhouse and crashed.  Tomorrow is forecast to be tougher, with more undulating, rocky, and tree-rooted trails.

June 1:  Today’s hike was a bit challenging but I thought easier than the guidebook’s warnings.  We had an early start from the bunkhouse, as did everyone else who was staying there.  There was not enough space for breakfast – everyone showed up when the dining room opened at 7:30.  We picked up pack lunches and walked the ¾ miles back to down to the loch side and the Way trail.  From there, we hiked a total of 7 miles from Inversnaid to Inverarnan, mostly along the side of Loch Lomond.  We went by Rob Roy MacGregor’s cave.  Rob Roy was Scotland’s version of Robin Hood and known for cattle rustling.  After acquiring lots of land, he became something of an outlaw and consequently used the cave as a hideout.  It was a bit of scramble to get to the entrance and we decided not to explore inside the cave.  Except for a little undulations and lots of stepping carefully over rocks, the hike was quite pleasant along the water. 

We had warm, sunny weather all day and great views across Loch Lomond.  One other interesting note - we passed the powerhouse for the Sloy Hydroelectric Plant, the largest powerhouse in Scotland.  It has 277 meters of head and total installed capacity of 152 megawatts.

About 1½ miles from Inverarnan, we left Loch Lomond for the final time, climbing over a saddle and into the valley of the Falloch River. 

We reached Beinglas Farm, our accommodations for the night, at 1:30 pm and re-hydrated (beer and soda).  The rooms were not ready for check in until about 3.  And very nice rooms they are.  I am sitting on a deck, having tea and gazing into the green hills while writing this, with a gentle breeze blowing.  The washing has been done.

For dinner, we walked over to the historic Drover's Inn, built in 1705.  The saying about the inn is that '"everyone has a story to tell about the Drover's Inn."  Our dinner was uneventful, so no stories to tell.

We walked back through the idyllic valley surrounded by the mountains, in glorious sunshine.  The weather we are having is just remarkable.  We got Magnum ice cream bars at the camp shop (the inn we are staying at serves tent campers, too) and watched the sun set.

Tomorrow should be an easy walk of just over 7 miles along a much tamer path.