Drymen to Rowardennan - Saturday, May 25

We enjoyed our breakfast while chatting with the other guests, a young couple, Zoe and Jonathan, from southern England. The sun was shining, and we felt exhilarated as we started off up the hillside.

We soon were on a path leading up through gorse, toward Garadhban Forest. The forest track was wide, and the woods were dark and cool. We saw the big walking group again, but passed them when they stopped for a break. They had stopped at the point where the first view of Loch Lomond appears. It was also the point where there was a sign telling us that Conic Hill was closed until the following day. Conic Hill is closed to walkers for about a month each spring, during lambing season. This month usually ends in mid-May, but this year the closure was extended till the 27th, one day too late for us. There's an alternate route, which we took, going down a farm lane to the road and walking along it to Balmaha. We were again covering ground a bit too fast - it had taken just two hours to walk the 6.5 miles - so we stopped there for a mid-morning break, at the Oak Tree Inn.

After Balmaha, the route leads up a little hill to a rocky area called Craigie Fort, where there's a good view of Loch Lomond. The big group was spread out over the rocks, so we went on, but we didn't lack for good views. As we went down the other side of the hill, the sight of bluebells with the lake beyond was stunning. After half an hour or so of very pleasant lakeside walking, we stopped and ate lunch on the rocky shore.

The path paralleled the minor road, sometimes crossing it, sometimes by the lake and sometimes above it. We were in woods most of the time, but there were large sections where the trees (conifers) had all been felled. Notice boards explained the plans to re-introduce broadleaf trees that were native to the area. As it was a hot day, we missed the tree cover - while understanding the purpose behind the sad sight of thousands of trees on the ground. The heat, though, was certainly not a bother, and the whole day was one of outstanding beauty - beautiful blue sky, blue lake, blue bluebells! Stunning!

We came to Anchorage Cottage, our B&B for the night. Since most people want to get to Rowardennan on that leg, and Anchorage Cottage is four miles short of Rowardennan, Izzy has a scheme. She had invited us to stop in and say "hello" as we passed by, but then suggested that we go on to Rowardennan. She would come pick us up there when we telephoned her. We did as she had said. She and Ivor were outside working when we arrived. Her father was visiting, and was very happy because Celtic had just won some football championship. They kindly invited us in for a cold drink, but we decided to keep going, instead. The path continued on through woods, going up a hill with a rock face where we watched young children being taught rock climbing techniques. Alida thought about how much Brigitta would like that. We bumped into Zoe and Jonathan, who were calling on their cell phone to find the location of their place for the night. It was supposed to be a woods cottage, and they thought they had found it, but wanted to call someone and make sure!

Izzy picked us up when we phoned, and after we took showers and relaxed a bit, Ivor drove us back down to Balmaha for our dinner. Both car rides had us mildly terrified - it's a very narrow, very twisty, very hilly road, and they drove very fast. Well, maybe it wasn't really fast, if you knew the road as they do. In any case, we appreciated the ride, and the ride back from dinner. We ate at the same place, the Oak Tree Inn, where we had had a morning break. And again the English threesome were at the next table. We asked Ivor on the way back whether he knew the age of the "old oak" in front of the inn. He said that it was 600 years old, and there had been concern when they did road work about whether the roots would be harmed; apparently they weren't.