Not The West Highland Way
Day 2: Earl’s Seat – Foot of Ben Lomond
Friday 25th May 2018
Distance: 24 miles [view on map]
From my wild camp on Earl’s Seat, I starting the day with a descent over some smaller peaks. the ground was very slippery due to erosion and perhaps because it was so dry, the sandy earth provided no grip.
I passed a distillery before returning to the official West Highland Way path, which I followed for the rest of the day. Stopped at Drymen for lunch and coffee, before continuing on in the afternoon heat. Over Conic hill I had fantastic views of Loch Lomond (last time it had been in cloud). I stocked up in Balmaha Village Shop before continuing along the shore of Loch Lomond into the Highlands region.
Being a sunny bank holiday weekend, there was no accommodation available and even the camp sites were full, so I would be wild camping all weekend. At Rowardennan, I left the West Highland Way for the path up Ben Lomond and camped in the forest. As it turned out I was too close to the path, because I was woken in the night by passing nocturnal hikers at about 1am and 3am with their noisy sticks. I had never had this problem when wild camping before, but I would soon find out how busy the path up Ben Lomond is!
