Arduous with a dash of spicy

The second day on the West Highland Way began with a typical Scottish breakfast. Atypical might be a fairer description.
We walked (and hiked) 15 miles from Drymen to Rowardennan (row-War-da-n). The tread was a stew of forested road (not all that different from what we see on the PCT), sheep trails, a magnificent stepping stone path and a footpath along Loch Lomond.
Our walk transitioned to hike early on as we headed up Conic Hill sharing the walk with sheep corralled in only by the miles and miles of rock fence. The walk off Conic provided us with a marvel of hand place (and large) stepping stones down the steep descent to Balmaha on the shores of Loch (Lake) Lomond.
The rest of the walk was along the shores of this beautiful loch (the largest in the UK,) until we reached the remote Rowardennan Hotel.
Again, we called it a day on the Way with with a pint and fine dinner (in my case Steak and Ale Pie.) Joe had a side of haggis fritters with his meal.

An aside: We were joined for a brief period, in the morning by a young man and his two black labs. As we marveled at his pace and the distance he was going to cover in the out and back from Drymen we realized that his mother was our hostess at the Clachan Inn, who was instrumental in finding us a table at the popular pub.Читать далее