A little tour along the way

The day finally arrives and we begin the West Highland Way trail. Depart from Glasgow by train and arrive in Milngavie before 8:00 am. At the train station the meeting of hikers begins as we chat while waiting for our luggage to be collected. Once the luggage was deposited, we left the station towards the trail. The Milngavie walkway takes us through the commercial area of ​​the town and out. The iconic thistle obelisk has a small crowd as we rush to take exit photos. The Camino begins passing by a series of artistic signs depicting the highlights of the trail.

Entrance to the trail in the charming town of Milngavie.

The trail begins in a local Scottish park and wraps us in a green tunnel. The weather in Scotland is known for changing frequently, causing hikers to continually change their clothing. Layering is best, rain gear is a must, and there is consistency in that the hiker gear dance is done frequently throughout the hike.

Today we will leave Milngavie and head to the village of Dryman in Stirling. Consider a light to moderate hike today that passes through mostly hills and farmland. We are surrounded by sheep lazily enjoying their day. The trail is well maintained and full of beautiful wildflowers as we make our way through a steady drizzle.

Parallel trip to drink whiskey

Today’s goal is 12 miles, but we plan to stop halfway to play tourist and join a tour of the Glencoyne Whiskey Distillery. Like any good tour, a whiskey tasting is included. I had coffee, banana and some muffins for breakfast, the whiskey tasting was surely going to end in a sleepy coma. But, to my delight, it added vigor to our steps.

Glencoyne Distillery

Glencoyne, as far as we know, produces a single malt whiskey. During our whiskey tasting we met several other hikers hiking the Camino. A couple from Israel, a lady from Oxfordshire and a recent university student from Germany. The tour leader practically had to kick us out when we all started hiking and brainstorming ideas for future hikes.

The Pasture Gate Dilemma

After this brief and pleasant detour we return to the path that crosses the field from the distillery. Further ahead we made our way through many pastures passing grazing sheep. Which brings me to the topic of pasture gates. Why are all door mechanisms so different? For the tired hiker, the mechanics of the door lever can provide extra energy that we don’t have. There’s the side door latch that, frankly, gave me trouble getting through the first door during a blinding rain.

Beautiful side gate for pasture

My next favorite is the weird side zipper that generates a lot of energy in our whiskey soaked minds!

Door with side latch

And the double door, which is always for additional security, but this one was not placed correctly and was tilted. I think I’ll call it the leaning door. All comments aside, I am sincerely grateful to the farmers who allow us access to their pastures along the way. I just want a uniform closure.

painted landscape

The trail continues taking us through the countryside, climbing hills and surrounding us with wildflowers. If the Scots had painted the landscape themselves, they couldn’t have done better than Mother Nature.

The trail winds through towns with many options for lunch stops. The WHW also offers Honesty Boxes that are located along the trail and offer many options to satisfy hikers’ hunger. The hiker leaves the correct amount of funds or scans directly to pay.

Our objective for the day is a town called Dryman. We reached our 12 mile marker after crossing a pasture and exiting onto the main road. A short walk takes us to the town square area full of inns and pubs. We settled into our accommodation and enjoyed dinner (we fell asleep at the table) before collapsing into bed. We didn’t stay late into the night as we had our whiskey halfway through the hike today.

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