West Highland Way 2019 Day 3

Day 3 Monday 23^rd September 2019

Another night of bad sleep due to numerous people snoring yet again.  I was awake at 5.  At breakfast, I saw the attractive woman again, this time wearing some very cute and very short shorts.  I enjoyed the view, but sadly I would only see her once more on this walk.  Oh, if only I could de-age 2 or 3 decades.  I was on the trail at 7:40 but still passed a few early starters during the initial stage.  Eventually I had the path to myself, which was good because it became narrow, undulating, and often covered with large tree roots or rocks which required some scrambling.  My speed slowed to a crawl (at least in my mind), and my ankles, knees and thighs took a beating over about 20km.

At one point I broke out of the trees to the sound of a waterfall, and immediately after that emerged on the loch edge beside the Inversnaid Hotel, which seemed to have sprouted out of nowhere, as there were no roads to speak of (but there was a jetty).  

Just prior to passing the hotel I encountered a group of elderly people and one of the ladies asked if I had a camera so I could take a photo of them (some of the others made remarks to her that led me to believe she had lost some of her mental faculties), but then enquired as to where I was from.  I told her I was from New Zealand, to which she replied that there was a woman working in the hotel and that I should go in to speak to her!  I did not succumb to the temptation.

A little while later a goat and a kid hurriedly passed me in the opposite direction at a point where the amount of space to pass was enough, but becoming more narrow, pushing their way through the bracken.  

Just afterward, at a narrow point in the trail, a second kid was too timid to rush by me so close, so just stood there uncertain.

 

Turning away from the loch, I passed Beinglas Farm Campsite, with its cute little huts near Inverarnan.  When booking this holiday, I had arranged to stay here believing it to be located in Inveroran, and it wasn’t until I was watching a YouTube video by Abbie Barnes of her walking the West Highland Way that I realised my mistake and had to find other accommodation (which led me to staying in the railway station at Bridge of Orchy – see tomorrow night).

Another 10km later I took a diverting path from up on high down through the forest to Crianlarich, a kilometre off the trail.

Even though the path was very trying today, I still arrived at the youth hostel before they opened, having travelled the 34.5km in slightly under 7 hours.  Strangely, this is the first hostel I’ve stayed at where you purchase “ready” meals, then heat or cook them yourself.

Day 4