A taste of things to come - taken from just outside Drymen (pronounced Drimmen) Loch Lomond can just be seen to the centre left of the picture.
One of the many scenic pictures that I took today. The scenery was wonderful and I understand that it gets even better further along the Way.
The Glengoyne Distillery where I took time out to sample their splendid whiskies. Thanks to Yvonne who gave me descriptions of all 4 of the malts that I sampled.
About to embark on the WHW from the official start point in Milngavie (pronounced Mull-Guy).As I write this sitting on the banks of Loch Lomond in tropical Scotland it is amazing to think that I started walking this morning from Partick in the centre of Glasgow. (We are staying at Balmaha for 2 nights and so we are 4 miles ahead of where I have walked to - so I will need to go back to Drymen tomorrow morning to rejoin the West Highland Way.) It feels like another world.
Tomorrow I will walk to Rowardennan nearly all along the east bank of the Loch. The weather forecast is for more sun - I cannot complain because it is certainly better than the rain that I understand is fairly common in these parts. I have been telling the locals that I am bringing the good weather with me - apparently yesterday Glasgow was the warmest place in Britain!
The visitor centre at Milngavie was very welcoming and, because I am walking for charity, gave me a free Log Book, which when completed will entitle me to a certificate to evidence my efforts. They were very interested in my LEJOG walk and said that they would put details of my blog etc on their website.
I have met many interesting people on my travels. Another one today was Eddie, who was walking south, who had heart problems 3 years ago and said that walking was something that he had since learned to enjoy. I said I would mention him on the blog and he said he would donate to the BHF - there you go Eddie I have kept my side of the bargain!
I had a pleasant diversion of a few hundred yards off the WHW when I visited the Glengoyne Distillery for a free whisky tasting. I sampled four of their malts, which were all very good - and I still managed not to get lost afterwards!
The WHW is certainly proving to be good for tourism - I have already met walkers from Germany, France and the US as well of course plenty of Brits.
In the captions to the photos I refer to the pronunciation of the various place names. Since leaving Glasgow I haven't yet spoken about a place without being corrected on its pronunciation. Some like Milngavie ("Mull-Guy"), where the WHW starts, are impossible to guess, some like Drymen ("Drimmen") are not quite so bad. I still haven't managed to get my destination for tomorrow, Rowardennan, sorted out - it appears to be all in the emphasis on the various syllables.
I noticed a hierarchy of walkers today. At the bottom of the list are those simply out for a gentle walk and doing only a few miles; next are those doing only one of the stages of the WHW; next are those doing the full WHW but using hotels and B&B's. I still haven't worked out whether doing the WHW as part of LEJOG is of a higher rank than those who are carrying full camping gear etc - I think that it is but I think that the backpackers probably think that they are superior!
"My father considered a walk among the mountains as the equivalent of churchgoing." - Aldous Huxley
Cheers
Keith
