Day 3: Cashel to Beinglass
Distance: 33km
The morning of day three was exquisite. I awoke with an incredible sense of tranquility and awareness. My body was telling me I was rested and ready to go. It was early morning and the air was crisp. The kind that gives your lungs a complete clarity. As I walked throughout the park down to the water, I approached the beach and took in the view around me. The mountains were majestic, expressing their earthly power and the water was pristinely calm, expressing its morning wake up ripples. I knew standing there, in that moment, that this day was going to be an incredible one. The anxiety and homesickness I was feeling the night before was complete gone and I was ready to embrace another day on the West Highland Way.
The midges were out, which was expected with it being so dry and hot. But they weren’t really bothering me too much. I took my time packing up my stuff and chose to just eat breakfast on the trail. The morning started out with a waterside walk along a pristine single tract path. It was my first introduction to Loch Lomond. I felt welcomed in its presence. The Loch was whispering to me along the way, inviting me to bask in its beauty and take in the beauty it had to offer.
The trail makes its way through Sallochy Woodland Camping area. The sites along here were right on the water and were tent camping spots. The Cashel campsite was more for RV camping and so the tents were all encamped together on random patches of grass. Sallochy had separate tenting sites that were much more inviting. Of course, they too had spots for hikers with designated “stop and drop” sites, which too were on random stretches of grass. But if I were to go through here again, you can bet I would try to book one of the actual sites so I could enjoy a fire before going to bed.
Upon leaving the waterside trail, it moved into a wooded trail. For the first time in three days, it actually felt like real trail. The first couple of days were plenty of open fields, wide rocky tract, of course, Conic Hill, small towns and road walking. This trail closed in with plenty of overhead tree coverage and enough elevation throughout the day, that when added together, it actually gave Conic Hill a run for its money. As soon as I entered this forest area, it was straight up with stairs made out of rocks and wooden planks. The crazy and unexpected thing was that it just kept going. Scott and his crew caught up to me, which expected given that they were speedy hikers. I thought that was it and I wouldn’t see them again. But I surprised myself along the way, catching back up to them on their breaks. The community of the trail and keeping track of those hiking around you does make it feel like you had a whole group of friends, even though the hiking itself was done solo.
The sheer number of people that I got to know along the way were amazing. Their stories were fun to listen to and where they came from were from all over the world. Even though I knew it was going to be only these moments in time that I would ever get to talk to them or be around them, there were many times that I felt like I was surrounded by people I had known my whole life. That is the beauty of surrounding yourself with like minded people who have the same passions for life and the same goal in mind.
Entering into Rowardennon, I took a well deserved morning break. The trail walks past the Rowardennon Hotel and Clansman Bar. There is an open field at the back of the property with picnic tables, a water spout on the side of the store and a great view of the Loch. The small store was very well stocked with fresh fruit, snack bars, drinks, and such. The clerk was very friendly, answering all of my questions and encouraging me to hang out as long as I needed to. I taped up my feet, as I was beginning to battle blisters on the pads of the bottom of my feet. I knew if I did not take care of this, it would very quickly end my trip. After spending about an hour relaxing, eating, reading and applying my first aid, I got back out onto the trail.
The next big decision I had to make was whether or not to do the high road or the low road. Everything in me wanted to do the low road but I was battling fatigue in my legs and I felt like if I did the low road there was a good chance I was not going to be able to finish the trail. After all, this was the first time I had ever done a multi-day long distance hike and I wanted to make sure I was setting myself up for success. The low road is known for its iconic views but extraordinarily difficult terrain and is very slow going. In the end, I chose to follow my gut, and went with the high road. A wide tract trail with its own character and experience. A constant slow climb but overall still beautiful in its own way. I am just going to have to go back and do the low road.
I broke for lunch after 16km. The goal was to hike another 5km to just after Inversnaid to a wild camp spot. There were several great wild camp spots along the way after the Bothy along the low road. I made my way beyond Inversnaid around 4pm and got to the wild camp spot. The insane part was I was feeling really good and so I just chose to keep going. And going. And going. What I did not realize was just how rugged, difficult and insane the terrain was going to get. I just kept surprising myself. I felt so strong. The next goal was to get to the Doune Bothy at the top end of Loch Lomond. But between Rob Roy’s Cave and the Doune Bothy I found some new friends! We all hiked together and got to the Bothy and then decided as a group to just push on! It was another 5km to get to Beinglass Campsite and I was already at 12 hours of hiking and 28km. But at that point, the thought of doing another 5km felt like nothing and the intrigue of getting a hot shower was enticing.
I rolled into Beinglass Campsite with Duncan just before 8pm! The days total was 33km, almost double the distance that was originally planned. What I didn’t know at the time was it actually set me up for proper finish. Without doing this, I was not going to make it to the finish in time with the days I had available to me. I have no idea how I got the math so wrong but it was nature’s way of setting me up for success. After a hot shower, a late dinner and curling up into my tent I felt super proud of myself and felt incredibly strong.
Everything about this hike was exceeding my expectations so far. I was looking forward to what was still to come.
DanCyn' Adventures 