Day 4 of our 8 trek of the West Highland Way was yet another fantastic one folks! Mostly easy walking and largely great weather makes days like this one dreamy.
Once again our crew of 12 was split between 2 B&Bs, some were at the Glengarry B&B up the road (which sounds great) and then we had 4 rooms at the Tigh na Fraoch B&B (Heather’s House in Gaelic) which was amazing for our crew! At our respective homes for the night, we woke up to yummy breakfast before catching our transport taxi at 815am back to Inverarnan (Beinglas Campsite). This was the same spot we left the Way yesterday.
We piled out of 2 taxi’s at about 835 and gathered at the Beinglas parking lot to get packs sorted, sun screen on, final blister checks and start our walking / hiking apps! The crew was really excited about the largely level walking today and that we had sunshine!
The last time I was at this campsite it was a little cafe and a small shop and some places to stay. Since 2008 it has grown fabulously and now boasts a big shop, bar and restaurant, cabins and more.
From the Bienglas Campsite, we headed up and back out of civilization again. Largely on wide track or some skinny sections up and over the hills through bracken and trail that had been turned to stream with the recent rain fall. All very easy walking if you kept a close eye on a sure spot for your foot!
After a fantastic morning we all took a lunch break together! I love when people can walk at their own pace, dispersed on the trail and yet we still find each other for breaks! Especially when there are some benches and sunshine.
After lunch we had a steep, long climb up into the forest to follow forest track for a couple of hours. Some was unfortunately clear cut forest but they already have saplings planted to build up the next forest for walkers in future!
After a couple of fun tunnels (one was a sheep run that require some serious crouching), a few bridges and some decent decline sections, we were back on level ground and making our way into town on park paths or moorland paths.
By now it’s raining hard. Most of us thought it would stay to just a classic mist of Scotland but were quick to discover this was a serious deluge and quickly donned the rain gear for the last couple of hours on trail.
We passed some fantastic historic spots on our final kilometers of the trail. An old graveyard with a informative display of what the engravings on the grave stones mean; the ruins of the St Fillan Priory, and the loch where they believe Robert the Bruce’s sword was thrown into and legend suggest it still remains in the lake to this day.
We made it into town later afternoon. Our walking crew for the afternoon (Niki, Deb, Kristi, Lori, Shar and I) made our way to the Tryndrum Hotel for a pint and late lunch / early dinner. We were shortly joined by the rest of the crew as they made their way into town for an end of day pint!
The rain continued to pour down! We braved the quick walk to our B&B and I took my turn doing our laundry (Rosa, mine and Shar’s) while they finished up in the pub or went back for showers. The laundromat machines were outside! Gotta love the Green Welly shop.
It was an early, chill night for most of us. After laundry, a shower, and a chat we all got ready for some downtime and finally some shut eye.
The stats:
- Trail: West Highland Way, Scotland
- Day: 4/8 Finished!
- To/From: Inverarnan / Tyndrum
- Start/Finish time: 8:45am/3:00pm
- Distance: 20km (19.7km Hiiker)
- Steps: 27,598
- Terrain: wide track on open ground or through forest. Easy walking for about 80% of the day mixed with some undulations and a few steep / long ups and downs
- Weather: 19C blue skies in the morning into rain for the end of the day (and it’s still raining)
- Breaky: full Scottish breakfast
- Lunch n Snacks: ham sandwich, half a Kit Kat and a Juice Box
- Dinner: haggis, neeps and tatties
- Pints: 2
- Tonight’s home: Tigh na Fraoch (heather’s house in Gaelic)
- Mood: smiling
- Body: body feels good, dealing with some abrasion from brace
- Highlights: waterfalls and rapids
- Lowlights: laundry
- People of interest: the couple who say just a foot away from where we were having our lunch break in the middle of nowhere then proceeded to make loud phone calls
- Spontaneous dancing: nope
- Deep thoughts: let it flow
Day 5 we would to Bridge of Orchy – stay tuned for details!
Brande
runningforthegate 