Thursday 15th July 2004
My catalogue of losses while walking the West Highland Way continued to build on this walk. As I was packing in the morning I realised that I didn’t have my shampoo, which is not an original occurrence. Checking in the shower, however, failed to find it so I was feeling a little happy to see the last of Balmaha when I left, which is a shame as it’s a nice village and I enjoyed myself there the previous evening, but it was tainted by my carelessness. That is tragic as the village certainly does not deserve it. On this day I walked just seven miles along the West Highland Way passing through woodland beside Loch Lomond and over steep headlands. It was a good walk with plenty of variety, but before long I was at the Rowardennan Car Park at the foot of Ben Lomond, and in the rain.
After a moment to question my sanity I headed up the steep path that climbs through woodland and onto the moorland. Fortunately the rain soon cleared and I had an enjoyable time walking along the not too steep path in open country with tremendous views of Loch Lomond behind me. As I neared the top it started raining, the clouds descended and going became steeper so when I finally reached the summit of my first Munro it was very cold, wet and windy, which was not very pleasant. After eating my lunch I got my gloves out and put my waterproof trousers on, but some idiot had packed them at the bottom of my rucksack, which did not put me in the best of moods. In view of the poor weather, I decided to abandon my plan to descend via Ptarmigan and returned the way I had come. The rain soon stopped (naturally) and I had a pleasant descent until I started overheating in my waterproofs. It eventually started raining again, though only lightly, before I reached the wood, which did not help.
By the time I reached the car park I was seriously overheated, so it would have helped if I’d had any water left (!), but I suppose I also should have walked more slowly and taken breaks during the descent, but that's just typical of me. When I recovered I went to the Rowardennan Hotel, where I had a couple of drinks and by the time I returned to the nice, secluded hostel the sun had come out, which is just typical. The next day was going to be a big walk: twenty miles to Crianlarich over what is considered to be the toughest part of the West Highland Way. I couldn't wait! It sounded like fun.
The descent down to Balmaha was easy, and it had taken me less than seven hours to do the whole nineteen miles. It was a good, enjoyable walk, so what was wrong with it? Well, at the end of the walk is a visitor centre wherein I managed to lose my maps. An extensive search failed to locate the missing maps so I had to buy replacements. It was fortunate that they had them there, but it was a huge expense that I hadn’t anticipated. And then there was where I stayed: Bunkhouse Lodge. I didn’t really know what to expect so I was surprised to find a room all to myself, although admittedly it wasn’t very big! My next cockup was with some cans I had bought from the local shop for dinner only to find out that there no kitchen facilities are provided in the bunkhouse. Oops! Instead I had to have something to eat in the nearby pub, which was much more expense, and since the bunkhouse did provide breakfast and packed lunches there was even more expense. Therefore I had already spent £37 from the £50 that I had taken out of the bank in the morning. I supposed that the cans would do for the next day and for now I had just treated myself to eating-out, so it’s just a pity that I hadn’t planned it that way.