WHW Day 3 - Rowardennan to Inverarnan

Total distance: 21.22 km
Start time: 8:45; End time: 19:50
Time spent actually walking: 5 h 15 mins
Time stopped: 5 h 40 mins


Today we excelled all previous records by spending more time stopped than walking according to the gps. Not that it was particularly hard walking, we just spent a long time hanging around in the pub at lunch time, then looking for Rob Roy's cave, then sitting on beaches. We missed the 'low road' along Loch Lomond, so we ended up with a quick and easy forest track straight into Inversnaid. By lunch time we'd made pretty good time. Our first mistake was stopping for lunch for about two and a half hours. Our second mistake was hanging around looking for Rob Roy's cave! The 3rd quarter of the walk was a bit scrambly, but not nearly as bad as advertised in the book, and the last quarter was easy as well. But it's upsetting to arrive so late, because you don't have time to relax. We're having dinner without getting washed, because we decided to have dinner instead! We're in the Drover's Inn, which is filled with stuffed animals, including a bear. It's also full of our usual crowd of hikers. Mike ordered vegetarian haggis, which tasted almost like the real thing. One of the interesting things about this trip is watching Antonia get outside at least two large meals per day (not counting snacks)! She isn't usually a big eater.

The weather was really fine and still today. It brought the midges out, but they weren't a nuisance if you keep moving (not sure how we managed to avoid them). It's supposed to rain tomorrow and as we climbed up out of Loch Lomond, the sun was misting over, and I could smell rain on the air. I wonder if it will materialise. After walking for a day and a half along Loch Lomond, it felt strange to leave it behind. It's really incredibly picturesque, not just for the views over the lake but for the woodlands as well.

WHW Day 2 - Drymen to Rowardennan

Total distance: 23.34 km
Start time: 9:15; End time: 19:30
Time spent actually walking: 6 h 59 mins
Time stopped: 3 h 4 mins


Today was a lot more exhausting than yesterday, even though it was just a tiny bit further. It was also a lot more beautiful. Maybe it was the long climb up through the conifer plantations to conic hill that did it? We had lovely views over Loch Lomond and its islands from up there. We made it to Balmaha for lunch by about 2:00 pm and that food also turned out be very good, the best meal so far. Mike and I have fallen into the routine of sharing a meal between us. It's kind of tedious having to negotiate each time, and it takes some of the fun out of eating out, but at least its the right amount of food. I learned some interesting things in the pub about the allegedly superfast evolution of arctic char after they got stuck in the Scottish lochs at the end of the ice age. I never really thought of lakes as being like islands for freshwater animals, but I can see how they could work like that and encourage diversification. The weather took advantage of our lunch interval to get its raining over and done with.

Apart from that, our Scottish weather has been more sunny than not, but rather melodramatic and occasionally ominous. In the afternoon, we walked along the Loch, up and down, up and down, and before we even knew it it was past 6.00 pm. I had an attack of whatever stomach bug Mike picked up in Paris, Antonia had a headache and sore feet and we pretty much limped along the last stage. We stopped at Rowardennan Hotel for dinner where Mike and I were able to bask in a bit of reflected glory from the acclaim that was really meant for Antonia. On the WHW, you pretty much see the same people time and again, so we are starting to know our crowd. After dinner, we walked another half mile along the road to the youth hostel in the freezing cold wind. We've got a nice room though and right now I'm planning to sleep in it.

WHW Day 1 - Milngavie to Drymen

Total distance: 20.26 km
Start time: 9:15; End time: 17:45
Time spent actually walking: 5 h 27 mins
Time stopped: 3 h 2 mins


We had a lovely day, walking just over 22 km (12 miles?) from Milngavie to Drymen. It was the best imaginable weather through surprisingly flat, but quite varied country. We had woods, a small loch, and a hilly passage before walking along a disused railway track to the pub where we were having lunch. In the afternoon, it seemed that we mostly walked a long a covered pipe bringing water from Loch Lomond, then through country lanes to Drymen. We stopped for tea at a disused sand quarry with nice views over Loch Lomond. This is a really nice time of year in Scotland because it feels like the earlier part of sping. There are wild irises, bluebells, rhodedendron and hawthorn flowers dropping their petals everywhere like confetti. The walk was really a breeze and even Antonia was hardly tired at all at the end. In fact, she was running round and round in circles in the garden of the bed and breakfast.

Glasgow

Glasgow looks like a nice city, but like most northern cities, it's a bit wet and grim in the drizzle. It's also a bit dead before 10.00 am, which is when things start opening. I was really keen to visit some of the places described in Rob Roy, since I was reading it obsessively just a couple of weeks ago. However, of my two 'colleagues', one was sick and the other was tired, so things were a bit tricky for me. I managed to find the cathedral and necropolis, but they backed and filled at the idea of being out in the rain amongst tombs. I was a bit disappointed because I haven't seen anything quite like the Necropolis since I was at Pompeii. The Romans were known for building real cities of the dead outside the cities of the living, and this is a similar type of place. I later managed to get a drawing of its skyline at a museum and learned that it was opened in 1833, and specially designed to limit the risk of infection from cholera and typhoid. Since our recent visit to the catacombs of Paris, I'm starting to build up a picture of a crisis in management of dead people in the early 19th century, involving overcrowding and infection from existing resources. It's a little remembered story now, and I think there is also a religious aspect: cremation would not have appeared acceptable to most Christians two centuries ago, but it has come to solve what would otherwise be a worse problem in our times.

We visited the cathedral which out to be my favourite type of church - all mixture of styles from medieval to modern and lots of hidden spaces. I found the crypt where Rob Roy arranged his meeting secretly with Frank. It looks far too small and brightly lit for the purpose now, but as Antonia pointed out, churches used to be lit by candles. After that we went to the museum of religious life and art which was surprisingly good. For non-British readers, I should explain that religious education is compulsory in British schools, but it often takes the form of an education in world religions. This museum appeared to be designed to fulfill that role for the local schools with art and artefacts from many religions of the world, arranged by theme and culture. School groups studied a contemporary painting and Antonia analysed the contents of the Seder plate and drew a Sikh symbol. Meanwhile, I got my sketch of the Necropolis.

Next, we went to the museum of modern art. It's a very nice building, but we weren't much taken by any of the current exhibits. We went and had lunch in a pseudo-French brasserie opposite and studied its architecture instead. That is to say, Antonia and I had lunch while poor Mike just watched us. There were a whole bunch of other museums and sites it would have been fun to see, but it seemed wise to head for our hotel and get some rest before starting the WHW the next day.

The Testing Trip

As I mentioned earlier, Mike got sick in Paris just before we left on our long journey to the start of the West Highland Way. We are now in Milngavie, expecting to start hiking tomorrow and he is still no better. At any rate, he nearly passed out carrying his stuff to the hotel, which does not bode well. He has been trying quite hard not to whine, as he navigated London and Glasgow like something out of a B movie about zombies. He has been feeding himself varying amounts of food off my plate, depending on how much he decides he can cope with. As for me, I did seem to catch it from him, but it's affecting me much less and I usually manage to walk it off. I am not passing out or stopping eating, or anything like that. Antonia is very tired as would be expected, and her wasp sting has gone away to be replaced by an impending eye infection. Let's hope she fends that off too.

I really enjoyed our train ride to Glasgow. The worst part was waiting in the station in Euston, where Mike somehow nearly got into a fight with a really strange guy and Antonia fell asleep in my arms at least an hour before the train was ready for us. The Caledonian Sleeper is one of the cosiest night trains I've ever taken and actually one of the cheapest with the bargain berth tickets. I slept well and was awake at 5:30 am looking for the moment we passed the Scottish border on the gps. It seemed as if the landscape got wilder almost immediately as we climbed up into the southern uplands. It was all grey becks, looming clouds and swollen green hills. Of course, it was raining.

We had a slightly chaotic arrival in Glasgow with a couple of zombies (Mike and Antonia) and our luggage scattered all around. All I remember now is that Antonia and I ended up pulling our socks and shoes on on the platform instead of in the train. Then we began the very important search for breakfast and coffee (except for Mike who can't face anything).

London Zoo

After getting up at 5am British time, taking a bus, then a plane, then a train, then the London Underground, we made it from Grenoble to Euston station by midday. We played an amusing game called 'condense your multiple suitcases into one big one' at the left luggage office, so that we would only have to pay one exorbitant fee. After that, Mike went off to a friends to recover and Antonia and I went to London Zoo. Quite an expensive afternoon, but as usual it was fascinating and there is far more to see than we could possibly manage. We saw two shows, drew lots of animals in the reptile house, and photographed lots of animals in the aquarium. We are not so much into the big animals in this family (except aardvarks and komodo dragons).

Actually what was really interesting us on this trip was the interaction between the animals and the zoo environment. Antonia likes searching for the frogs and snakes in their tanks. I liked looking at the cross-sectional poster of the aquarium and realising that I was standing on top of huge tanks of water - and realising that yes, a huge amount of technology and specialist knowledge goes into maintaing these animals.

It's interesting when things don't quite work out the way the zoo would have liked. At the penguin feeding display, they would like to show us penguin feeding behaviours, including the penguin chick who is supposed to be learning to take food from the keeper, but prefers to beg or steal from other adults. I think I know who is setting him a bad example. Three or four herons had flown in from Regents Park on schedule for the feeding. There is an overhead electrified wire but it didn't seem to stop them. Still, after eating himself silly, one of them must have forgotten about it. He flew into it and crashlanded in a heap on the far side of the penguin pond. It took him awhile to pull himself together again.

The Bad Beginning

In general I don't think people blog much about bad days, things going wrong, etc. I can tell you why, it's because they don't have time. I decided to make some time anyway.

Our story starts with us looking forward to a holiday in Scotland which we began planning nine months ago, involving some much needed hiking along the West Highland Way. All should be going like clockwork, because I began planning and booking (mostly) before accommodation started running out. I was extra pleased that we managed to arrange to have our house painted while we were gone, even though it meant emptying our bedrooms and bathroom and packing, all pretty much on the last day. That's a lot of work.

Then it turned out that against my will and better judgement Mike had to take Antonia to Paris 2 days before the start of the trip to see some relatives who couldn't possibly come down to us because a) they don't like mountains and b) it just wasn't convenient for them, but they were damn well going to throw a tantrum if they didn't see her. So off he went with her, leaving at 4.30 am and returning at midnight.

I must admit, my main fear was that she would be exhausted. I didn't anticipate that he would get food poisoning/gastric flu (diagnosis pending). So on the last day before our trip, with my intended teammate basically unable to remain vertical, I canned all the activities designed to enhance my comfort and wellbeing (such as getting my hair neatened up) and focused on the essentials.

As I was working on the string of endless tasks I hadn't time for I remembered that Antonia had a dance class that evening. Suddenly even the essentials were compromised and I was left with a choice between leaving clean or leaving adequately rested. I've chosen leaving clean, so to hell with sleeping, I might as well blog!

Anyway, I was sort of coping under the strain when said relatives, you know, the ones who just have to see Antonia, but at their convenience, not ours, suddenly remembered that the day they had picked to tear my husband and daughter away and wreak havoc in our lives was my wedding anniversary. I had very sensibly forgotten and when they reminded me of it with an email, it did nothing for my composure.

Now, if it seemed like things couldn't possbly get any worse, what happens at 8.00pm but that Antonia gets stung by a wasp that accidentally flew into her sandal. Fortunately, she's not allergic, but it's in a sensitive place for someone who's supposed to be walking 20km a day starting very soon. I'm watching the pink, swollen patch nervously.

Also, Mike has a fever, which suggests something infectious that can last a fortnight and which we can all catch. I'm feeling a bit woozy myself, but I'm hoping it's just exhaustion. Tomorrow, before 7 am, we leave for what is basically 36 hours of traveling without a place to rest our heads. Then we start the hike. Maybe...