“By Yon Bonnie Banks…….”

The title? Well it is a well known song of the same name. Here it is if you really want to listen to it.

We had a lovely dinner at the Oak Tree inn last night. Followed by an equally good breakfast this morning. A decent breakfast sets you up for the day. Today would be our first real taste of Loch Lomond. This part of the way will take us from Balmaha to Rowardennan. Our destination is the Ben Lomond bunkhouse run by the National Trust for Scotland.

Leaving Balmaha you come across a prominent figure. He is Tom Weir. A prominent figure in the region. More by clicking his name.

Leaving Balmaha behind the path climbs very sharply to a lookout point. Having puffed our way to the top there was no view due to mist and low cloud. So we puffed our way down again to find that there was a path around the hill that was no sign posted but we could have taken and saved ourselves the effort first thing in the day. Never mind.

We stopped for a rest and a drink in the carpark at a bay on the Loch popular with campers and holiday makers. As we sat on the bench we saw two people I guess in their 80s smoking a cigarette sat on the tailgate of their 4×4 car. The gent was dressed in a day kilt with socks and brogues. He was very dapper. After they had finished smoking he came over and said “its lovely to see you walking with your daughter! hello my dear” and talked to Debbie what a smoothie. He was so charming. He gave us a brief chat about where we were, some history and put his hat on Debbie. She of course loved it. he bade us farewell as he had to continue on our way. I loved our brief encounter.

The path is quite well maintained and meanders its way through beautiful old woodlands. You can smell the oxygen first thing in the morning. It was uplifting.

Much of the woodland is under regeneration where non natives are being felled and replaced with native Birch, Rowan and Alder. They call them the pioneer species.

We enter Cashel Forest. It is known as the Forest for a Thousand Years. Here the ancient Forest is being restored to its former glory.

There are a few places where the trail runs along the only road in these parts and more than one driver was a little close for comfort.

We came across a steep climb that got the cardio system pumping as we had to climb to get around a large rocky outcrop. The views from the top were worth it. The descent however made my old knees let me know they were not happy.

It remained a warm and humid day. It made me rather sweaty and with little breeze it was not getting better any time soon.

The Ben Lomond Bunkhouse was a lovely little place. It is the local HQ for the rangers that look after Ben Lomond mountain and the local forests, flora and fauna. It also has a room with bunk beds for the ladies and a separate one for the gents. So Debbie and I sleep apart. Run by the extremely affable Alex and her dog Jack, the place is a little haven off the trial. We caught up with our washing, played with the dog, met our fellow walkers lodging with us and just had a wonderful chilled out evening. This was a day to nearly recover from Conic Hill. The weather held. Lets hope for more tomorrow.