16 miles ascent 2340′ descent 2058′
As the weather continued to bless us with bonny blue skies we headed out on what would become a fabulous day of picture-taking! Our kind host at Inversnaid Bunkhouse volunteered to help us by shuttling a group of us back down the long hill to rejoin the West Highland Way. This challenging, very rocky trail would lead us to Inverarnan and require that we pay close attention to each step.
The path began as an easy, forested track along the lake, although it soon became an undulating, rocky scramble which included large boulders.
It was easy to see how Rob Roy could hide among these boulders and avoid capture by the several Protestant Dukes of Montrose over a span of 30 years. Throughout that time, he supported the Jacobites and their commitment to the Catholic Scottish King James VII, his son and his grandson, Bonnie Prince Charlie. The handle “Rob Roy” came from a Gaelic term which referred to his red head of hair. He was finally captured in 1722. Well, back to the trail…
There was no shortage of delightful views.
Although the climbing over rocks was slow going, it was fun. These three miles were slow but brought us to several instances of the entire treks’s most beautiful parts.
We took advantage of well-placed benches for a quick rest.
Once again we came upon fields of aromatic, wild garlic
The narrow trail continued to wind through the trees and rocks. We had to discipline ourselves to watch the trail and not get caught up in the beautiful scenery.
However, as the path emerged from the woods, we were pleasantly surprised by a lovely panorama of the lake, mountains and fields of blossoming bluebells.
To avoid scrambling, a tricky area was simplified by the use of a ladder.
This picturesque ruin is perched on a beautiful site and an ideal vantage point for overlooking Loch Lomond. Letting my mind wander, I contemplated what stories this cottage could tell of a bygone era.
We finally arrived at Loch Lomond’s northern end after three days of relishing its geography and flora. And now we reluctantly bid farewell to this gorgeous lake.
This inviting stream tempted us to take a quick dip. However, we still had a long way to go and passed it by.
The rocky terrain had now been replaced with open moorland. Apparently, we were of great interest to this curious sheep.
We traversed Glen Falloch on an easy track passing by farms and sheep. Shortly, we arrived at the junction where we departed from the Way to walk about a mile into Crianlarich.
The Crianlarich Hotel was a welcome site as we were exhausted after a long, but fantastic day!
