Day 18 Iverarnan to Cashel Monday 30 May Bank Holiday Monday

Distance 20.39 miles, cumulative 301.3 miles, 9 hours 30 mins, walking time 7 hrs 30 mins, pace 2.8 mph, camped at Cashel Farm.
After a heavy downpour yesterday evening while we were eating in the bar (good timing) we awoke this morning to a smog of midges. 

Originally we thought we would be in for an easy day walking along the bonnie bonnie banks of Loch Lomond but walkers coming the other way kept saying how tough it had been. The first three hours were up and down with quite a few scrambles hence our slower pace today. We then bumped into a West Highland Way volunteer who said we had done the worst of it and the path soon become easier underfoot. We saw two walkers with a dog which was carrying doggy saddle bags. Steve got all excited and started to think about getting a dog until Lynn pointed out it would only be carrying it’s own supplies. The sulk was a short one as Steve cheered up when he started to think about getting a ………donkey. 

On day one of the West Highland Way a wildlife information board promised feral goats amongst other treats. Steve had been looking forward to seeing them as he is fond of goats. Today we finally saw a small herd of feral goats which kept Steve happy for several hours.

The scenery was once again stunning and included lots of bluebells, wild garlic and wakeboarders!

There are either a lot of cuckoos in Scotland or one which has followed us throughout. As you may have guessed we do not know our birds very well but the RSPB wardens at the Inversnaid reserve are experts and every day they write the birds sighted in the reserve on a whiteboard. So as a little tester for JC we wondered what the Latin names were:

Wood warbler, tree pipit, pied wagtail, willow warbler, chaffinch, robin, blackbird, cuckoo, wren and buzzard.

Today it was Steve’s turn to hallucinate and get excited about seeing a snack wagon only to reach it and find out it was a Ben Lomond ranger service mobile information trailer. Later we did hear the chimes of an ice cream van but just as we reached the car park it was visiting it pulled away. Steve threw a little tantrum.

It was a beautiful day and we were surprised by how many beaches there are on Loch Lomond and some were busy with sunbathers and swimmers. The Scots do not share the same half term week but there were plenty of English families and Scots enjoying the Bank Holiday.

The campsite we are staying on is right on the lochside behind the beach. 

Today’s milestone was passing the three hundred mile mark.