Rowardennan - Inverarnan - 14 Miles (22.5 Km)
On leaving the hostel, we heaved our heavy packs and heavy they
sure were. My dear friend had a knack for packing the whole
caboodle, plus the proverbial kitchen sink. The young man at
reception looked at her in utter amazement and inquired if she knew
about the transport service. We only then learned that hikers use a
transport service to send their packs to their next destination.
It didn’t take much convincing to send our packs by van to our
overnight stop. The other hikers looked at us in disbelief as we came
sauntering past, casually swinging small plastic bags containing the
day’s provisions. By then, we were well known for carrying the large
backpacks.
Again, the path followed Loch Lomond’s shores and passed through
more natural oak woodlands, where I even spotted wild goats. The
area was very much associated with Rob Roy MacGregor, and there
are countless stories about him, but I wasn’t sure if they were all
true.
The trail was considerably hillier than the previous days, and it was a
good thing we weren’t carrying those heavy packs. Camping was at
Bengals Farm, a place with a great bar/restaurant and cooking
shelter, a blessing in the dreadful weather.
Afterwards, a walk across the river took us to a bar believed to be
more than 300 years old. The place had a fantastic atmosphere,
made even more so by a cosy fire and a massive wooden table. It
became an excellent night of singing and drinking copious glasses of
red wine in the company of other hikers. So much fun was had I left
my wallet in the pub!