Even though I had a rest only four days ago I'd covered roughly 85 miles in that time and was flagging a little. The inconvenience of been unable to wild camp in the eastern shore of Loch Lomond turned into a blessing as I'd be stuck with either walking close to thirty miles to Inverarnan or ten or so to Milarrochy. I needed to wash my clothes in any case, charge my batteries and rest.
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| View approaching Loch Lomond, Clonic Hill in the distance |
I wound along the road for a few kilometers before going along the Old Military Road and joining a dirt track. Just after the road I stumbled on a few wild campers, and another load within the next ten minutes. Logging was taking place in volume here, carving up the landscape horribly. It did however allow for dramatic views of the loch which was fast approaching below. Soon there were several hikers ahead and behind me and I began to realize how truly busy this trail was.
Competitiveness is a little ridiculous in a long distance hike, some of the best and most experience hikers I've met took their time, enjoying the land they were traveling to and clocking off the miles without counting. These things I knew. I also knew I'd rather die than let anyone over take me. As I left early it took a little while before the hordes joined in. Most were day walkers who'd parked in Balmaha and walked up to the three peaks of Clonic Hill which over look the Loch from 360 meters above.
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| Loch Lomond from Clonic Hill |
The climb up was made easier by passing another heavy ladened backpacker, a man in his 30s, and
desperately striding to keep ahead of him. Near the start of the climb I past three hikers with smaller packs two Americans and an Australia taking very elaborate photos- it made be badly miss my SLR. Near the top two tents marked a couple of wild campers, and the ton of rubbish they'd dumped around them. It angered me. When I wake up after wild camping I feel like that small patch of earth belongs to me and I owe it something, I wouldn't dream of damaging it.
I paused as the main path went down, to my left there is a smaller more rocky path scrambling up the edge of the hill to the peak. It was another twenty meters and I remained out of breath. I must have stood there three or four minutes before trudging back and beginning to climb the last bit. If it took that long to decide then I'd regret it if I didn't and when I reached the top the decision proved the right one. The view was possibly the best on the entire hike.
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| Descending Clonic Hill |
Hundreds of people were about today, and walking down I noticed a large number of backpacks as well as family parties. Balmaha was at the bottom and after walking through the information centers I reached the town's version of a high street: a shop with a cafe on one side and a pub/hotel on the other. The shop yielded snacks and meals, the hotel some cheesy chips. I was slightly unsettled by just how many hikers were there, every single resident seemed to be donned with varying sized packs and walking boots. Three younger men were sat outside the shop with their sacks lent back against the chair, eating snacks before shoving each other to their feet before continuing.
In less than an hour I'd entered Milarrochy Bay Campsite and Caravan Club, only a little climb along the coast of Lock Lomond and a stint along the road before reaching the camp. The decent from Clonic Hill had made my legs shake badly, the jolting seeming to jolt the muscles and I reached camp tired through. Nearly out of charge I left my EasyAcc external battery at reception and loaded the washer with my clothes. Since I was short on battery I sat and read Master and Commander for an hour or two. The midges made the outdoors unpleasant so after I lay in my tent and listened to the reports from Wimbledon washed and cushioned on top of my freshly laundered and warm clothes. By night fall the section I was camped had another five or so small tents on it. One had the same Deuter backpack as me, which I pointed out to him in an excited geeky manner before even introducing myself.
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| Milarrochy Bay Campsite and Caravan Park |
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