Legs a bit sore from yesterday’s rough terrain, we woke up after a good night’s rest (sans apparitions of dismembered clansmen thankfully) at the Drover’s Lodge and crossed the street to enjoy a leisurely breakfast in the atmospheric Inn. Today would be a “relatively short” 12 miles hence enough time to slowly ingest a cooked breakfast in the company of the Inn’s many stuffed creatures.
The morning walk started easy following the beautiful river Falloch.
A few rapids and falls gave us reasons to slow down a bit and take in the scenery (once again bathed in glorious sunshine – are we in Scotland still? What is going on??).
A lone farm marked where we’d cross the river on the smallest of bridges to continue on the Way.
The trail climbed gently on a wide 18th century military road. Out of the forest and river bed, we had the first real views of the day and a good, easy pace on this well maintained track. Nothing like yesterday where you had to watch every step unless you wanted to trip on a tree root or fall down a steep incline. This was relaxing…
Moss-covered stone walls guided us for a while, encircling a farm that appeared to own half the land we laid our eyes on.
It was not a quiet day with the distant traffic noise from the road (A82) running parallel and plenty of sheep grazing the hillsides. Spring babies training their vocals were everywhere and I didn’t mind the distraction, stopping whenever they were close enough to the track to get a dose of cuteness.
More climbing brought us to the edge of a conifer plantation and a viewpoint over the village of Crianlarich. Most importantly, this spot marked the halfway point of the West Highland Way!! We celebrated by taking a 5 minute break and shoveling a chocolate bar before heading up through the plantation.
I was rather enjoying this secluded stretch in the woods which seemed to dampen the ambient noises and cool off our sweaty bodies.
Eventually the track brought us back down to the valley floor and across the main road we’d been avoiding for a while.
One more crossing, that of the River Fillan, and we were back on farmland.
A bit blasé by all the sheep, I marveled at a close encounter with a Highland cow which had been sadly elusive this week.
The Way then went past the ruins of St Fillan’s Priory – a 12th century monastery turned priory by Robert the Bruce, King of Scots in honor of 7th century Irish evangelist St Fillan.
With only a few more miles to go and an easy track, we picked up the pace to make it to our final destination in time for a late lunch and a chance at a restful afternoon.
More river crossings on beautiful stone bridges led us to our first albeit small expanse of moorland. Dried grass and heather contrasted with the deep blue sky. As beautiful as this new scenery was, our legs were getting tired and our grumbling stomachs reminded us we’d perhaps pushed this morning’s walk a bit too long… With no breaks longer than 5 minute over 12 miles, we had officially depleted our energy bank!
Thankfully, 30 minutes later we saw the final line as we reached the shade of the Pine Trees Leisure Park in the outskirts of Tyndrum. We quickly found a picnic table by the stream and devoured our packed lunch with gusto, watching all the other walkers trickle in one by one. Fun fact: Tyndrum is the site of Scotland’s only gold mine which explains why so many people were ankle deep in the water, sifting rocks and sand. The leisure park is known as the perfect spot for gold panning and looks like it attracted many looking to get lucky!
Our relatively quick walk today (a little over 5 hours) meant we had more time to check into our B&B. The long hot shower was followed by a cup of tea and homemade scones made by our hosts which was a delightful surprise. There wasn’t much to do in the tiny village of Tyndrum so we only made it out for an early dinner at The Real Food Cafe.
We thoroughly enjoyed our meal of smoked salmon salad and fried haggis bonbons washed with a local cider. Honestly couldn’t have picked a better way to end the day…and prepare for tomorrow’s ass kicker.
