West Highland Way: Milngavie - Inversnaid

       

8:30 a.m. start at Milngavie

Monday, 13 February 2012    Distance    Time                  

Milngavie to Drymen              20km         2hrs 55mins

Drymen to Balmaha                32km         5hrs 4mins

Balmaha to Rowardennan       44km         7hrs 6mins

Rowardennan to Inversnaid    55km         8hrs 56mins  

Dumgoyne Hill

Garadnban Forest

Conic Hill from the east

Ben Lomond from Conic Hill

Descending Conic Hill

Balmaha

Above Balmaha

Storm damage

Rowardennan

Beyond Rowardennan

Feral Goat

The West Highland Way is unfinished business. I have walked quite a lot of it to access hills like the Mamores and run some sections nearer to home in the past. I did have a plan to run the whole walk on a summer weekend in 1991 when I was in my early forties and running well but the idea had to be abandoned when I changed jobs and could no longer catch a train from Glasgow to Milngavie after work on Friday evening when I had intended to run the first 20 miles to Balmaha. It would leave me with two days to cover the remaining 75 miles. I was looking at the guidebook last week and thought it might be possible to complete the walk in three days with stopovers at Inversnaid and the Kingshouse but this requires 35 miles, 38 miles and then 24 miles for the three days. I am now in my mid sixties and have not covered more than 30miles in a day over the past couple of years.  Nevertheless, there is only the trying and nothing ventured... I gave it a go today and completed the first section in less than 9 hours.

The February weather was settled with a coolish breeze and some skittish clouds passing over. I got a lift to Milngavie from Gregor on his way to work in Glasgow and started at 8:30am figuring out this would give me 9 hours of daylight. I would need to average over 4mph but given the occasional stop and the climb of Conic Hill, it would require 6 or 7 miles of running. The start of the walk from Milngavie was a mess with the signs vandalised, mud oozing over the path and dozens of trees lying at the side of the trail following the winter gales. After the first mile, I was past the dog walkers and I had the trail to myself. Once into Mugdoch Park, it was the domain of the Duke of Montrose where views to the Campsies opened up and the Way began to feel more enticing.

There is a wonderful section along Craigallan Loch and even the hutter's abodes by Carbeth Loch looked cheery in the morning light.  The descent to the Dumgoyne distillery provides good sections for running as well as stupendous views northwards and to the volcanic plug of Dumgoyach which hides Duntreath Castle, the venue of our daughter's recent wedding. At the Beech Tree pub, there is an information board denigrating commuting on the former railway and almost celebrating car commuting. Crossing the A81 road below Killearn brings you to the most unsatisfactory section of the walk along the former railway track. It is festooned with gates and agricultural land has been usurped by random commercial and industrial buildings that include the old Killearn hospital site which has been an eyesore for the past thirty years.

The A81 is recrossed and leads to the river Endrick at Gartness, from here there is a 2-mile section along a minor road with no particular distinction. There is a lack of signage until it links to the A811 before Drymen through an incongruous field of grazing sheep. The next section that circuits around Drymen had been closed for a few weeks due to storm damage but was now open.  The Garadnban forest was still a mess after extensive tree felling and the trails were capped by 2 inches of mud.  I stopped briefly at the end of the forest for a bite to eat before entering the open hillside that climbs up to Conic Hill which was beckoning to the east. Despite the climb, I was moving well and enjoying a fine collection of songs on the iPod although I did wonder when 'Time is on My Side' shuffled on whether this was still the case.

Conic Hill provided good views to the north and over Loch Lomond and on the descent its lower slopes were mobbed.  It was the school holidays and dozens of young kids were either making their parents despair by dawdling or angry by going too fast for them - you could bottle the parental angst. Balmaha was heaving and the Council car park was full, I stopped briefly to clear my shoes of stones and dirt and eat a banana before starting the section alongside Loch Lomond.  The timing was perfect with the shafts of afternoon sunshine lighting the shore and lifting the spirits.  I was more or less on schedule despite the difficulty of travelling through the Garadnban forest.

I met an old work colleague and his family picnicking at Milarochy Bay and stopped and chatted for about 15 minutes. His teenage daughter was paddling in the Loch which I thought brave in February, I had once capsized a dinghy here in June and suffered hypothermia before being rescued by a passing speedboat. It was beautiful along the lochside but I was beginning to calculate the miles and hours of daylight left. There was no doubt that I would need to run some sections to make up some time.  I ran a couple of miles on the section to Rowardennan from where I tried to call home to delay my lift home. Mobile reception was non-existent, and the telephone box was not working nor was there a public phone in the hotel, I would have to run most of the way to Inversnaid.

I had never been on the next section of the walk beyond Rowardennan before and I was surprised by the well-made track to the north of the Youth Hostel which climbed steadily after Ptarmigan Lodge.  The light was superb but no photographs were taken as I had packed everything in the rucksack so that I could run. It was easy going at first but the track eventually downsized to a trail between tree roots and steep rock faces.  It was tricky after the cottage at Cailness where a new 4x4 was parked, it must have come ashore by boat looking at the wheel tracks down to the loch but why?

As the light began to fail I came face to face with a black feral goat in what threatened to be the re-enactment of the billy goats gruff scene. It looked hornier than me so I took out my camera and it climbed to the rocks above. The light was fading fast and the last mile dragged but after rounding a few more bends I saw the welcoming lights of the Inversnaid Hotel and reached the finish by 5:40pm, only ten minutes later than scheduled for my lift home.  I had once again managed a walk without requiring my head torch.  My feet were in a bad way with a blister and bloodied around the toes but my lift was there and after a hot bath and supper I had sufficient energy to load the photos and post this.

I will attempt the next two stages of a 3 day attempt on the West Highland Way in April or May when there is a bit more daylight.  The next 38 miles over tougher terrain will require 11 hours. And it did, Day 2 can be seen in West Highland Way: Inversnaid-Kingshouse