Days 2 & 3 – Lowlands to Highlands of Scotland – September 19 & 20, 2022

Day 2 – After spending our first day in Scotland in Edinburgh and Glasgow, we started day two on the first leg of our hike on the West Highland Way. We would hike 12 miles from Milngavie – pronounced ‘Mull-guy’ to Drymen.

At 8:45 a.m. we left Milngavie and headed north, passing Mugdock Castle before emerging into open countryside, where the Campsie Fells (hills) could be seen in the distance. After passing relatively small Craigallian loch (lake) on the right, we stopped at a small monument along the trail where we took a break. As the Way approached Drymen, we walked through small hills and a small but heavily wooded area before reaching the small town of Drymen at 2:30 p.m.

We were originally scheduled to stop at mile 7 at a whiskey distillery called Glengoyne. However, the Glengoyne distillery and everything else was closed for the day because the day was made a national holiday for Queen Elizabeth’s funeral. Although a minor inconvenience with nothing open along the trail, we did fine. We packed lunches. And because we did not stop for whiskey or lunch on our hike, we arrived at our hotel early enough to watch most of the Queen’s funeral live at the pub at our hotel, the only pub open in Drymen. So, it was pretty cool to be in Scotland to watch the queen’s funeral. BBC Scotland did a great job conveying the pageantry of the event, while also reporting how loved and respected the Queen was. As one commentator said, Queen Elizabeth may have transcended the title and position she represented.

Later that evening we had a nice meal at the Winnock Hotel, our lodging for the night. We went to bed early to rest up for our 15-mile hike the next day.

Day 3 – On the second day of our hike on the West Highland Way we hiked 15 miles from Drymen to Rowardennan and lodged at the Rowardennan Hotel. The hike was strenuous with lots of elevation changes. But it was also much more scenic than the first day’s hike.

On leaving Drymen, we headed to Conic Hill, which was more like a small mountain than a hill. The view from Conic Hill is considered world class (see photos) with the famous Loch Lomond stretched out below. This is where the upper lowlands end as we entered the Scottish Highlands, marked by a chain of islands on Loch Lomond that mark the highland boundary fault, the literal threshold between the lowlands and the highlands of Scotland. We then descended into the tiny village of Balmaha, which marked the halfway point of our hike today. There we enjoyed coffee and a hearty lunch.

After lunch we walked the last 7.5 miles along the shores of Loch Lomond through an ancient oak woodland passing three campsites – Cashel, Milarrochy and Sallochy – before entering Rowardennan. The scenery along the shores of Loch Lomond alternated between dramatic and serene. Regardless, the entire walk was stunningly beautiful. At dinner later that evening, we all agreed that today’s hike was the best hike yet from any of our trips, which includes The Camino in Northern Spain and The Rheinsteig in Germany.

Being September 20th, it was also Ronda Hoffmann’s birthday. So, we celebrated her birthday with champagne at the beginning of dinner and a birthday carrot cake at the end of dinner. Mary, one of our fellow hikers, made the cake in Zurich and brought it all the way to Scotland for Ronda’s birthday! It was also our grandson James’ birthday. So, we stayed up late so that we could FaceTime and sing happy birthday to him. He turned two years old. Today was a very full day.