June 22, 2018–Stage 3: Rowardennan to Inverarnan (24.2km—15 deg.C)

By yon bonnie banks and by yon bonnie braes

Where the sun shines bright on Loch Lomond

Where we two have passed so many blithesome days

On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond

O ye'll take the high road and I'll take the low road

And I'll be in Scotland afore ye...

Obviously these two lovebirds were not hiking the WHW or if they were then bonnie is Scottish for rocky!!!  This stretch of the trail was tough.  Although it followed the shore, it was no easy flat stroll. Scrambling over rocks and trees and detouring up and around streams and water falls made for an exhausting day.  The altimeter in our phone clocked 96 flights of stairs—almost as many as the day before when we hiked up Conic Hill.  

In spite of the pace and difficulty of our progress, we did see beautiful scenery and had some interesting encounters.  One with feral goats (Laurel can still run!) and one with the hiker that I liberated from the laundry shed back in Rowardenen (he and his wife didn't recognize me and proceeded to regale us with the harrowing story of his accidental imprisonment in a shed while drying socks).  Anyways we made it to the end of the Loch and then to Beinglas Farm B&B by 3:30, in time to check each other for ticks, wash clothes and have a pub supper (cullin skink* and lamb curry).  A local band was scheduled to play in the pub at 9:30 pm, but we were fast asleep before then.

*tastes better than it sounds (it's actually potato leek soup with pieces of smoked haddock)