The “wigwam” was very good, being warm and
snug and well insulated from wind and noise unlike a tent, with
enough room for 4 people to lie down on the floor in two pairs head
to foot with still plenty of spare floor space around them. Much
better than camping with a tent – otherwise, except for an electric
light, a small heater and two small windows, not much different.
We decided it would be wise to eat breakfast and
then immediately get the “travelling bag” ready as we didn't know
when it would be collected. This was just as well as we saw the van
arriving to collect the bags before we had left the campsite.
We had everything sorted and were off at 10:00. I
had seen some walkers pass through the campsite earlier following a
path which then started up quite steeply on a hillside nearby and
wondered if that was the way we would be heading, but after checking
the map we found that the WHW route followed a stony vehicle track
which ran along the bottom of the hill leading to a stony path.
There was light drizzle and as it was warmish and
sheltered from wind, we walked to begin with in our thermal shirts
for the first few miles.
We were passed by some of the others who had also
stayed at the camp site including the foreigner with the fully laden
“70+10” litre rucksack who we had seen in the Rowardennan Hotel.
At the top of a short stretch of a steepening in
the path, we met the two Belgians who had found a bench and had
taken a short rest, As they were just leaving, we decided to also
make use of the bench and have a short sit-down for five minutes.
I put on my Paramo Fuera Smock due to the breeze,
and we were soon on our way again.
We reached the day's half-way point which was
also roughly the West Highland's half-way point at about the 6 mile
point after passing the Belgians, at the head of Bogle Glen where an
offshoot of the WHW dropped down about a kilometre to Crianlarich.
This was an ideal spot for lunch, so we sat on a
handy grassy “seat” which was also sheltered a bit from the
breeze and light rain and ate the sandwiches we had bought in the
morning at the campsite shop.
As we were eating our lunch, other walkers who we had seen
also walking the WHW arrived, including Kevin and his partner from
the first Bed and Breakfast at Drymen. Some of these walkers also stopped for a rest and
others passed by and stopped further along, including the Belgians.
As we were sitting there, I also put on my Paramo
Third Element Jacket over my Fuera Smock to keep warm as it was still
drizzling.
After half an hour, we pushed on through a wooded
section which was lovely as the narrow stony path meandered this way and
that and also went up and down, so was never boring. Also the trees
were mixed and growing in random places with the ground covered with
bright green Sphagnum Moss and Wood Sorrel with the odd outcropping
of bright red and white spotted Fly Agaric toadstools.
There were also views of surrounding mountains
with their summits largely covered in mist.
The drizzle began to change to light rain, so I
stopped to change from my Paramo Fuera Smock to my Rab Bergen Jacket
as I would have found the Paramo Third Element Jacket too warm for the
conditions.
We reached the end of the wood and dropped some
steps to a bridge over the railway and sat on the low parapet for
five minutes.
Two hundred metres away the path crossed the A82
main road and then passed the remains of St Fillan's Priory which was
surprisingly small and had trees growing among the ruins.
We saw a sign for a campsite at Auchtertyre a
kilometre further along (another campsite with “wigwams”) and
they had tea and coffee for sale, so we decided to have a break there
for a hot drink.
Afterwards we continued for the last couple of
miles and then spotted what we were certain was Glangarry House, our
Bed and Breakfast stop over for tonight. It was on the other side of
the river and the A82.
We had thought that we would have to walk to
Tyndrum and follow the access road for Lower Tyndrum railway station
before we could cross the river and then walk back down the A82 to
Glengarry House, a distance of just over two kilometres, but as we
reached a large area of bare rocky soil, which turned out to be the
remains a lead smelting plant used for lead extracted form some
nearby lead mines, Karen spotted a stile on the other side of the
river in front of Glengarry House and a footpath. There was also a
small sign near us pointing to Glengarry House, so we decide to
investigate this direct route.
We changed direction to reach the nearby river a
hundred metres or so away, and found we could cross using some
partially submerged boulders, with care, as the opposite river bank was
reached by quite a wide step across. Then a few metres away was the
stile, right opposite Glengarry House on the other side of the A82.
We knocked on the door and received a warm welcome
and were shown to our room where we found a menu for breakfast,
packed lunches and also for evening meals! This meant we need not
walk down the busy A82 into Tyndrum for an evening meal.
So we had a shower and hung stuff up to dry and
also washed a few clothes.
We went downstairs at 19:00 for an excellent meal
and chatted to two other guests, both men, who were also walking the
WHW sitting at another table and then went to bed at 22:00.
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| Inside the "WigWam" |
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| The "WigWam" |
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| St Fillan's Priory |
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| Crossing the river near Glengarry House |
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