Loch Lomond – The Walk

Day three finds us traveling along the beautiful shores of Loch Lomond. We said goodbye to Balmaha, hoping to walk 7 miles to Rowederran. The sky is cloudy and threatening and I start the day with my raincoat on in the hope that the weather will be better. Let’s hope we don’t have another day of the jacket dance.

Oh my God, Charlie Brown!

The trail leaves Balmaha with a climb to find a rewarding view of the lake. There promises to be plenty of views as our hike over the next two days will keep us on the shores of the lake. The trail immediately presents us with more rock steps that you already know Sugar Sand loves. «Oh my God» has become his new favorite exclamation. I joke that he might consider changing his route name to Good Pain.

View from the footpath along Loch Lomond

Damsel in distress

As we descend a steep section of rock steps we pause to allow a fairly large group of fine, burly young Scots to pass by. A boy stops to offer Sugar Sand a piggyback ride, promising to take her to safety. She refuses, but I’m starting to think she’s discovered something. Maybe it’s worth a little fall so these guys can rescue me. After all, I hope to find Jamie Fraser wandering around here, but we keep passing so many fine groups of male hikers. Ladies, I say ditch your dating apps and hit the trails of Scotland.

Rain, rain, go away!

Sugar Sand has a bad habit of calling out to the beast today! First was «I’m so glad we’re on day three and our feet are staying dry.» Almost instantly our first water crossing was in front of us! Luckily, we stayed dry this time. Then he said, «It’s not raining yet, maybe I’ll take off my poncho.» Uggg I’m sure it will rain now and it did. The rain started as a drizzle but fluctuated throughout the rest of the day without exception. The trail quickly turned into a large puddle.

For those of you looking for FT training from my home state of Florida, you can use the WHW to get used to a wet trail. Better yet, you can train without our swamp puppies, alligators or all our lovely snakes. We simply accept the suction and continue moving through the puddles. But the rain had more in store for us. The trail soon became the WHW creek as the water runoff was constant. We got the full experience of the Scottish weather by walking this section in the rain and cold.

breaking waves

The best part was the sights and oh, the sounds! I had imagined myself sitting on this lake and listening to the waves hitting the shore. Thoughts about how I sat for a while just to absorb that sound. I discovered that I didn’t have to sit while the coastal waves sang to us along the trail as we walked. It was magical. It’s no surprise that Scots find their homeland magical and full of fairy tales. The land and sounds evoke that storybook feeling.

Loch Lomond shores

magical creatures

At that time we saw magical creatures or Did Nessie from Loch Ness move to Lomond? No, they were crazy Scots swimming in the rain in 58 degree weather. Luckily, we walked ahead and found some swimmers getting ready and putting on wetsuits. Thank goodness they do! Our Scottish friends explained that normally in June they wouldn’t need wetsuits, but it was turning out to be a cold summer. The culture here is so amazing and the people so charming and quirky that it fills your heart with joy.

dumb swimmers

We continue and the rain too. The trail is still soaked with mud and difficult to navigate due to the rain. We head to Roweradennen for the night and are rewarded with hot showers and hot food.

Go Scotland!

Scotland are playing in the World Cup tonight, so let’s hope the boys do well! Then we found out that a bunch of crazy runners are running the West Highland Way race this weekend. They travel the entire route, 96 miles in 32 hours. They leave at 1:00 am on Saturday, so we should see them passing by in the morning. Just when you think the hikers are crazy, a completely different kind of cray cray shows up! Let’s go runners!

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