Days 4 and 5 – Hiking along North Loch Lomond and Rivers in Scotland

On the third day of our hike we left Rowardennan and continue north along the remote eastern shore of Loch Lomond for 13 miles to Ardleish, where we take a ferry at the end of the day to Ardlui, which is across the lake on the Western Shore, where we will spend the night and have dinner at the Ardlui Hotel. I want to stress that none of these locations are what I would call villages. They consist of a few houses and a hotel.

This section of the hike follows the northern, very remote section of Loch Lomond where the waters plunge to a depth of 620 feet and the lake begins to narrow. The terrain is very challenging along this section because the mountain falls steeply into the water creating very little shoreline. So, the trail goes over very uneven terrain – mostly rocks and tree roots. Although wild and beautiful, the going was slow and difficult. You felt yourself climbing as much as walking. It would take us 6.5 hours to traverse 13 miles. I normally walk a 15 minute pace. Our walk today was closer to a 30 minute pace. At the 7 mile mark, we stopped to eat our bag lunches at Inversnaid, which consists of a restaurant and hotel. It also has a spectacular waterfall that empties into the lake.

After lunch, the remaining 6 miles of the hike became even more difficult. We did get to see Rob Roy’s cave along the way before reaching Ardleish, where we caught a small ferry across this narrow part of the lake to Ardlui and our Hotel.

On day 4 we hiked 15 miles to Tyndrum and had dinner at the Tyndrum Inn before retiring at the Tigh na Fraoch, our lodging for the night.

Although longer than the previous day, our hike was much easier. In the morning we took the ferry back across the lake and started where we had left off the previous day. We experienced a totally different landscape – soaring mountain views and gentle glen walking. Following along the River Falloch, we would get glimpses of the cascades of the Falls of Falloch before reaching the halfway point, Crianlarich, where we would eat our bag lunches. After lunch we marched onward through the surrounding hills towards Tyndrum, our destination. We initially follow the river Fillan across the valley floor. At Kirkton Farm we came across the ruins of St Fillan’s Priory and a graveyard before joining the River Cononish into Tyndrum. So, we would hike along three different rivers today.