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We all met up for breakfast bright and early at the Oak Tree Inn, feeling refreshed after a good night’s sleep. The longest day was behind us, so everyone was feeling positive on this, one of the shorter days. We saw the guy from AMS this morning, and he told us that the weather forecast was predicting temperatures of 32 degrees Celcius for later in the week!

It was already very hot in the sun as we stood outside the Oak Tree Inn getting ready. It didn’t take Gregor long to get his camera out today.

Our destination today was Inversnaid, further up Loch Lomond. We walked down to the harbour to rejoin the West Highland Way.

There be pirates in that there harbour!

Almost immediately the hard work started again, with a tough slog up to Craigie fort.

But the views across Loch Lomond are magnificent, and Gregor couldn’t resist whipping his camera out again.

The path descends over the other side of Craigie and follows the edge of Loch Lomond.

Just after Milarrochy Bay the path follows the road for a wee while before heading into the forest again over Strathcashell Point. A bit of respite from the hot sun was certainly welcome. Over the next few miles the path goes in and out of the forest, following the road for sections, following the edge of the loch for others. Bruce’s blisters were causing him problems by now and that, coupled with the heat, meant progress was slow. Which wasn’t helped by Gail sitting on information boards!

Soon after we stopped again for a break and a bit to eat. It was passed lunchtime by now and we hadn’t got to the Rowardennan Hotel yet, so we were all getting hungry. Everyone had energy bars apart from Mark who had a banana. As we got up to start walking again Mark said “I’ll just dispose of this banana skin discretely” before launching it into the nearest tree with a precision matched only by Peter Van Vossen.

We continued on through Ross Wood, the path going up and down, and over streams. Streams which seemed to cause Gail great distress.

Perhaps it was the bumhole tree that caused her such discomfort.

The path through Ross Wood is narrow, so when we spotted an area that opened out with tree cover, we stopped for another rest.

Eventually we reached the hill in Ross Wood where there are good views over Loch Lomond.

After that there were more descents.

And more ascents.

But finally we got to the Rowardennan Hotel, around 3:30pm. Since it was so late and we were hungry, we all had a cooked lunch. After eating, Mark tried his best to sort out Bruce’s feet with Compeed, while I ‘phoned ahead to the Inversnaid Bunkhouse to say we’d be arriving late. We’d be too late for the evening meal there, so we decided to have a pudding at Rowardennan - such a difficult decision to make with sticky toffee pudding on the menu!

With Bruce’s feet patched up and everyone feeling better for a couple of hours’ rest and a big meal, we set off once again along the edge of Loch Lomond.

Mark’s ears were a bit blocked up, and since the only cotton buds we had were in our big bags being carried by the Filipino boys, he had to make do with Gail and Gregor using their Leki poles.

A couple of miles after Rowardennan the path changes to a wide forestry track and starts to climb steeply before flattening out high above the loch. We stopped up here for a break after the long climb.

A bit further long we stopped for energy bars, and Mark had another banana. We kept a close eye on him this time as once again he vowed to dispose of the banana skin discretely.

The path descends again, becoming a narrow track, clinging to the side of the hill above Loch Lomond.

It was during this section that I noticed Gregor’s interesting long shorts / pulled-up socks arrangement.

Through the trees we got occasional glimpses of the loch.

And around 4 hours after leaving the Rowardennan Hotel, we crossed the Arklet Falls and made our way to the Inversnaid Hotel’s car park, admiring the view as I ‘phoned Marion at the Inversnaid Bunkhouse so she could drive down and pick us up, as it’s a very steep hill up the converted church.

Although the evening meal had been and gone, Marion very kindly heated up some soup for us, and we just had time for one ale before bed.

Day 3