Day 49 - Cars!

The Glencoe ski resort ski lifts can be seen on the top right of the photo. This was taken near the end of the walk today.

A view across Rannoch Moor showing the desolate nature of the area.

A bog on Rannoch Moor.

John Muirhead and myself on the Bridge of Orchy before starting today's walk.

We eventually received news from the garage that the car needs a new gear box. As the price that they have quoted is more than the car is worth it looks as though the car is a write off. We are therefore having a rest day from the walk tomorrow and travelling to Perth to hire a car and to retrieve all of the belongings in our car. We will return to Bridge of Orchy to stay tomorrow night and I will resume the walk on Thursday. Although the news about the car has not been good we are relived that the uncertainty is over and that we can continue with the venture.

Today I walked 13/14 miles from Bridge of Orchy to Kingshouse. The majority of the walk was across Rannoch Moor which is a desolate bit of land. All the life that we saw in about 10 miles of walking were a handful of meadow pipits and a few flies (but amazingly still no midges - which was just as well as I had forgotten to put my insect repellent on). the weather was again sunny but the wind helped keep the temperature down. I can't think what the Moor would be like in poor weather. There was however a feeling of being somewhere special where there is no interference from modern life.

As mentioned yesterday I walked today with John who is from Bathgate. We both agreed that it was very much for the best that we were not walking across the Moor on our own. It would have felt incredibly lonely.

All of my ailments are still behaving themselves and I felt very good walking today. This was helped by the paths mainly being of good quality and there not being too many hills to deal with.

As I am not walking tomorrow the next blog will be on Thursday when I hope to walk to about 5 miles short of Fort William and the end of theWest Highland Way.

Today's KBW goes to John for walking with me for a day and a half and for being such a wonderful character.

Today's thought is that I should have remembered to bring the list of quotes with me when I came down to the residents lounge where I can get a strong enough signal from the hotel's wifi.

Cheers

Keith

Day 48 - On and off the road

A view along the River Cononish.

The hills are now definitely becoming mountains as I walk north.

A self portrait of the happy walker celebrating reaching 700 miles.

A "sheep creep" which allows passage under a railway line. A bit of a tight squeeze especially if carrying a large back pack.

No positive news about the car. It reached the Jag garage in Perth this morning but they were unable to look at it today. We therefore do not yet know what the problems are.

Initially Jean and I were pretty fed up with the car problem - mainly because of the uncertainty of it all. We have however been able to take a more philosophical view, and we know that something will turn up - we just do not know what! We managed today as I walked from the B&B at Crianlarich to the hotel in Bridge of Orchy (about 14 miles) whilst Jean (and the luggage) was very kindly given a lift to Bridge of Orchy by the proprietors of the Craigbank Guest House - thanks very much Charles and Karen.

Tomorrow I plan to walk to Kingshouse a distance of 14 miles part of which crosses Rannoch Moor. The hotel offer a transport service so that I can get a lift back to Bridge of Orchy after the walk. Jean will be OK as she has Wimbledon and the World Cup to watch on TV. I may be speaking too soon but this is the first hotel for several days where the TV, internet and our phones all work and I can upload photos to the blog.

Wednesday will be more of a problem if we still do not have the car. We will however worry about that if it happens. I would like to thank Neil for his kind offer of his Dolomite - but I suspect that I will have reached JOG before he is able to get the car through an MOT!

I have joined up with Andrew Gardener (yesterday) and John Muirhead (today) for several miles. This has made the walking easier as talking to others takes ones mind off the process of walking. Both were also raising money for charity - I wonder how much people raise by walking the WHW each year. I have arranged to walk with john again tomorrow.

My ankle seems to be better and the reduced schedule has improved my shins. Everything else is in full working order. I felt tired for the first couple of miles today but I think that this was probably due to the nervous energy that I wasted yesterday, and the rigours of part of the clamber along Loch Lomond on Saturday. However after a few miles the going unusually for Scotland became flatter and it felt much easier walking.

I promised an update of the walk stats:-

4,973 pounds raised so far

718 miles walked

227 miles still to go

24 beds slept in

96 bird species seen

7 wild mammal species seen

19 walkers have accompanied me (plus 2 dogs)

12 support drivers

1 pick up truck

6 men in kilts

41 days walked

7 full rest days

17 miles average each walking day

2000+ miles in our car (exact number not known as we do not have car at present)

2 types of single malt drunk

19 counties walked in

"The Americans never walk. In winter too cold and in summer too hot." - J B Yeats

Cheers

Keith

Day 47 - Major hitch

A very short blog today. I walked the 7 miles to Crianlarich as expected this morning - thus bringing up the 700 mile total for the walk.



This afternoon we had out usual rest day tour - unfortunately the gear box failed in the middle of nowhere. Amazingly the AA got a break down vehicle to us within 45 minutes. The garage could not sort the problem and so the car is being taken to the Jag dealers in Perth for them to run things through their computer.



Tomorrow I hope to walk to Bridge of Orchy as planned. Jean and the luggage will come along by train , taxi or our hosts at the B&B have offered to drive her. We are booked into the Bridge of Orchy hotel for 2 nights, and hopefully by Wednesday the car will have been sorted and be back with us. If not we may have to hire a car for the next couple of weeks, although Jean is not too keen on driving a different car.



Because of all of these problems I am running late tonight and so cannot do a full blog. I was planning to update all of the stats - hopefully I will have time to do so tomorrow.

"Keep smiling" - Keith Lindsay

Cheers
Keith

Day 46 - Loch Lomond reprise

At present I am unable to upload any photos. I will try again later, but I apologise if there are no photos today. They were mainly even more scenes of the Loch anyway - you have probably seen plenty already.



Today started off very well, again with bright sunny weather, and I was given my wish for a slightly lower temperature. This was assisted by me walking along the east bank of the Loch which meant that the sun was hidden behind the hills for all of the morning. I reached Inversnaid by 11.45 in time for an early lunch, feeling good and having made good progress on smooth paths.



This enjoyment was soon to disappear as most of the path after lunch - from Inversnaid to Inverarnan, was appalling. The path often consisted of rocks, boulders and tree roots and often required more clambering than walking. I do not know how I would have managed it had the path been wet. The host at tonight's B&B confirmed that he has heard many tales of woe from this part of the WHW, as people do not appreciate the difficulty of the path before setting off. He does however promise me that the path is a lot better from now on.



The nature of today's walk also made it difficult to fully appreciate the fabulous scenery. Firstly the path was often through trees with the Loch barely visible. Secondly The poor state of the path meant that I had to walk with my eyes down on the path to avoid tripping over rocks etc. Luckily I managed to avoid any damage although I did stumble several times.

Because of the nature of the WHW, being off road to a large extent, it makes it difficult to divide into stages. Jean has come up with a plan which involves having 2 half days rather than a full rest day. Tomorrow I am therefore walking only 7 miles from Inverarnan to Crianlarich (where we are staying for 2 nights) with the afternoon being free for sightseeing.



Still no sign of the dreaded midges. I have been told today that they are not too prevalent at present because of the dry, hot and windy weather in recent weeks. I will keep you updated.

The highlight of today was seeing a pine marten. It was on the path only about 10 yards ahead of me having just caught something to eat. Jean also had a wildlife experience when she saw an osprey whilst driving.

KBW's today for Des and Margaret, and Graham for services to communications.

" Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around the lake" - Wallace Stevens (or should it be loch?)

Cheers
Keith

Day 45 - The bonnie bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond

A view over Loch Lomond from the West Highland Way.

And another.

The view from our accommodation at Balmaha (pronounced Balmaha!) showing a helicopter about to land.

When I took this photo I thought that I was capturing a Highland Cattle bull - however Jean doesn't think that it is a Highland Cattle, any ideas?

Today I walked the 14 miles from Drymen to Rowardennan. I can know officially announce that this is pronounced Row ar denn un (with "row" being pronounced as in an argument rather than as in rowing a boat). The early part of the walk - the 6 miles to Balmaha was very easy walking with very good even, well marked paths on relatively flat terrain. I did however opt for the easier "lower" route which misses out Conic Hill - I am not here to climb mountains! The second section to Rowardennan was however very tough with lots of up and downhill sections and the paths in many places were of more dubious quality. Towards the end I resorted to the road to avoid further punishment. This means that I will not be able to claim that I have walked the WHW but this is not my objective - getting to JOG is!

The weather is still bright and sunny - a few degrees lower would be ideal for walking.

I am pleased to sat that my various leg problems are holding up well. I have worn boots rather than trainers for the last 2 days and this gives my ankles more support over the uneven ground. There were a few times today when my left ankle had an opportunity to be painful as I stumbled on loose rocks etc but it did not take them - let's hope that this continues.

Tomorrow I walk to Inverarnan which is again about 14 miles. My guide book says that this section is generally recognised as one of the toughest of the Way. So although 14 miles is less than I normally achieve in a day it may still be a good challenge. I had a good reminder today that all miles are not equal. In any event I will have to make it to Inverarnan as the road does not go past Rowardennan. After dropping me of Jean will have to retrace her route south down the east side of the loch and then travel north on the west side to meet me to the north of the loch (are you still following this?).

Martin told me in an email that the BBC had a feature on the trouble that the midges were causing this year, and he asked me to recount my experiences so far. I think that he was probably looking for some tales of woe - if so he will be disappointed to learn that we have not yet encountered any midges. My insect repellent spray and wipes are still waiting to be used. I expect that they will be soon.

I would like to thank Eddie (who I met on the Way yesterday) for already making a donation on justgiving.com. Really appreciated, thanks Eddie.

Today's KBW's are :-

Martin - for his continued communications via email,

Eddie - for proving that there are still some good guys out there.

"Walking gets the feet moving, the blood moving ,the mind moving. And movement is life." - Bruce Chatwin

Cheers

Keith

Day 44 - West Highland Way

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

Day 43 - Two thirds and still walking

Two bridges cross Avon Water,a tributary of the Clyde, near Hamilton.

I appreciated the welcome, but they had miscalculated - I completed two-thirds of the walk today!

Hosts George and Annette in their pretty garden.

There are a series of these adverts - Mexico, because their moustaches remind me of my grandma; Cameroon because it rhymes with Macaroon etc. I haven't yet seen one which says England because they are British - if I do I will let you know.

Whilst it would be untrue to say that I enjoyed my walk through Glasgow it was certainly interesting and was a lot better than I had feared. Jean also found it easier to drive into the city than she had thought may be the case. I did however see several examples of the stereotypical Glaswegians - I will let you fill in the gaps! There was a row of shops where about half were empty, the open shops were a family lawyer. a criminal lawyer, a cheque centre and a charity shop - I expect that a soap could make a plot out of this!

I apologise for continually talking about numbers but I am an accountant. I have now walked 650 miles which is over two-thirds of the way to JOG. The exact two-thirds point was just outside the entrance to Hamilton Golf Club. I now have less than 300 miles to go (295 to be exact) - and whilst I know that it is still a long way and that they will be hard miles, it does feel good to have less than 300 to go. You may remember that when I had done one-third I said that all I had to do was repeat what I had done - twice. Now I can say that all I need to do is half of what I have already done.

A guide to walking LEJOG that I have says that the final third is the hardest as the body starts to fail because of over use. I understand what they are saying - but only time will tell. The slight problem with the walk did not appear again today. The left ankle had only one twinge when I landed on an uneven path.

Tomorrow I start the West Highland Way and hope to reach Drymen.

Today's KBW's are to George and Annette our hosts for tonight. Thanks to them for hosting us when we are only known through a common acquaintance. As we do not expect to have any more hosts or support drivers or walkers I have decided that future KBW's will be awarded to the best feedback to me via the blog,by email, text or by phone especially to people who reply to the questions that I sometimes ask.

"Walking would teach people the quality that youngsters find so hard to learn - patience." - Pepper Giardino

Cheers

Keith