West Highland Way: Day 5

Date: Thursday 5 April

Route: Inversnaid to Inverarnan

Distance: 7 miles

Accommodation: Beinglas Farm B&B, Inverarnan

Our final section of walking alongside Loch Lomond was a slightly trickier path than yesterday’s wide forest path but it was perhaps the most consistently lovely stretch of the walk so far, with lots of ups and downs (and an occasional clamber), mainly along the loch shore before finally leaving the northern edge of the loch and heading to Beinglas Farm, just beside the West Highland Way at Inverarnan.

We made the optional detour to “Rob Roy’s Cave”, a gap between boulders where the outlaw may possibly (or quite possibly not) have hidden at some point. Lest anyone should miss this (non-)sight, someone has helpfully painted the word “CAVE” on a neighbouring boulder in white paint. I’m guessing that this may be more for the benefit of boat trips than anyone else – was slightly surprised/ relieved to see that the letters weren’t actually visible from the train on the other side of the loch when we headed back to Glasgow.

In true Scottish fashion, getting to the cave on foot is the kind of gritty challenge that visitors are expected to rise to, if so inclined, nonchalantly risking life, limb and a fall in the loch in the process – if this were in England there would be Health & Safety warnings everywhere and/or a barrier stopping you from getting anywhere near it. Being weedy English types, we were brave enough to get close enough to take a photo, but no closer.

The walk was understandably dominated by views of the loch, seen through trees, through clearings, at different angles, from on high, from the shore and by slightly smelly feral goats, as well as a few ramblers, including ourselves. The photographs we took are probably the most eloquent illustration of how lovely the views are on this section of the walk.

The path finally starts to wrench you away from the vast expanse of water near a sheep-filled green pasture, a good vantage point from which to look back on the miles travelled loch-wide.

Once you have passed the Doune Bothy (basically a large shed/barn-type building, complete with sleeping space, a fire, a dartboard and an incongruous bottle of orange squash), you get to see the most northerly portion of the loch, before heading on and away over hillsides, through a diminishing number of trees, past the Ardlui Ferry and more primrose-strewn verges to Beinglas Farm.

Five days in and still nothing worse than a few rogue snowflakes to contend with – this can’t last, can it?! Oh, and tomorrow’s section is 12 miles long, rather than the 7 miles we’ve completed each day over the past few days. Onwards and upwards!