BBC Weather
Just getting ready for the day and of course we watched the BBC weather.
Look no rain.
Scotland
The Clachan Inn, Drymen
We are having our evening meal at The Clachan Inn, Drymen – Richard reliably informs me this is the old licensed public house in Scotland.
The food was excellent – I had the Chef’s special lamb burger followed by hot chocolate fudge cake and ice cream. Having to return to Drymem because we could not get accommodation further down the walk has worked out for the best.
Drymen has:
- a large amount of accommodation covering all price brackets – but I think you should book with Carol at Elmbank
- lots of places to eat
- a Spar store with long opening hours – being a village store it is small but stocked with all sorts of things – Richard bought some glue there
- the taxi firm in the village will run you around – it cost us £15 to get back this evening – and they have taken a booking for tomorrow to take us back
So my suggestion is forget Rowardennan and stay two nights in Drymen at Elmbank.
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West Highland Way Day 2 – Drymen to Sallochy Bay (and back by taxi)
Small change of plan today, we have shortened today’s walk (to save on the taxi fare!) but what it really means is that day three will be a ten mile day rather than seven.
The accommodation here in Drymen is very good, we have a three bedroom apartment, all the bedrooms and living room have flat screen TVs, the kitchen is well supplied with tea,coffee, milk and the makings for breakfast. There is central heating, and two shower rooms. Richard has done really well to find this place. It has allowed us to sort ourselves out following the first days shake down walk. (Parrot count so far zero – see our Coast to Coast blog.)
We booked our taxi back last night with a local taxi company here in Drymen.
Before starting we watched Jensen Button win the Japanese Grand Prix.
The Pottery pub where we had dinner last night – the photo was shot just before setting off today – blogging in the rain again, at least for the first part of the day – that’s my positive attitude showing through.
The path was a stream.
Lunch – no raincoat and a great view.
I even wore my sunglasses!
We are now waiting for the taxi – middle of nowhere and a strong 3G signal – so I’ll publish this now.
West Highland Way Day 2 – Drymen to Sallochy Bay (and back by taxi) Read More »
West Highland Way Day 1 – Milngavie to Drymen
Train into Glasgow, we need a cashpoint and a pie shop.
Is there an app for removing rain drops from my photographs?
The Start at Milngavie
There is no missing the start (or the end) of the West Highland Way.
It looks like today is the perfect day to use my water tight case for my iPhone, so I can blog and take photographs in the rain.
The rain has been patchy and mostly light (no over trousers needed) so it has not been hard to deal with. On the plus side there has been some nice light to photographs the woodland colours.
By 2.30pm the rain had stopped and I had my rain coat off.
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West Highland Way – Tomorrow Milngavie to Drymen
We have driven to Drymen this afternoon to drop off our case (it saved us having to pay to have the bag transported). The plan is to have our case, which contains spare clothes, wash kit, food for the trail and other sundry items moved from one B&B to the next by “Sherpa Van”. However due to
- there being no accommodation at Rowardennan – we will be walking to the end of the road and then getting a taxi back to Drymen and then the following morning another taxi to restart the walk
- and Sherpa Van not servicing Inversnaid – for this day we will need to carry our overnight stuff and trail food for the next day
the bag is going to spend three days at Drymen and then it is being taken to Crainlarich.
So here is where we will be walking to tomorrow.
Sunny Drymen
This is the B&B
Tonight we are staying with Diana’s cousin and his wife, Richard and Morag, and they are also going to keep an eye on my car as well. Thank you.
Tomorrow we will get the train from Muirhead via the Glasgow city centre to Milngavie and then we start walking!
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West Highland Way – On Our Way
We got off to a good start this morning, rain and hold ups around Manchester, but there was a good sunrise.
We have stopped in Lancaster for walking fuel.
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Dingwall Camping and Caravan Site
We moved on from the time share in Aviemore this morning and set our tent up at the Camping and Caravan Site in Dingwall.
As a family we like this site and it is a regular place for us to camp. It is located within a short walk of the town of Dingwall with all it’s facilities including a huge Tesco with a cafe only 5 minutes away. In the other direction is a park on the shores of the Cromarty Firth both can be reached using the riverside (canal) path.
The view from the site is good. The sky is dramatically dark in some directions but it is sunny here and I am sitting outside for a change!
The site is adjacent to Ross County Football Ground – there is home game going on there right now as I write this, and judging by the noise Ross County has just scored.
Jeremy making me a coffee.
Part of the kit I have for back packing is a small sheet of heavy duty plastic which I use as a sit mat and as a dry area for when I am cooking. It can be. bit small and I cannot us it to stand rucksack or other gear on whilst packing it is too small. In the pound store I here in Dingwall I have just bought a 1m x 1m tarpaulin which I hope will be more versatile – and it is lighter.
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