West Highland Way Day 2

 14th November 

Day 2 - Comic Hill to Easan Dubh (near Inversnaid) 15 miles

I wake to a fine morning.  The plan today is to walk roughly 15 miles to Inversnaid. It's a shorter day than yesterday by about 4 miles. I boil the last of my water for my morning coffee and porridge and take my time to appreciate my surroundings.    

The sun emerges slowly, hidden from view. The summit mound of Conic Hill denying me the full privilege but it's presence is felt in the soft glow spreading across the Glen below.  The sky is clear, a soft blue deepening with the promise of a bright day.  On the far side of the loch, the rugged hills emerge from shadow, their slopes bathed in the warm morning light.  The amber light pours over the ridgelines illuminating every fold and crevice.  

I pack my tent back in to my rucksack and settle it back into place between my shoulder blades, my shoulders complaining slightly, still sore from the day prior.  I set off with a spring in my step, it feels lighter somehow, but then realise it was the lack of water.   

The path continues to wind steeply downwards toward Balmaha, the sunrise now in full spectacle.  I appreciate the fragile warmth it provides my skin this late in the year and lifts my spirits, "this is going to be a good day".   The open hillside gives way to forestry and a well made path winds it's way through the trees. 

Balmaha is a small village on the eastern shores of Loch Lomond.  Two years previous, myself and a group of friends kayaked the full length of the loch. We stopped briefly at Balmaha at the time for lunch and I'm hoping the cafe and toilets will be open on today's visit.

The toilets are closed but I know from experience there's a car park a few miles up the road.  Upon reaching the cafe it is also closed, the problem with starting so early in the morning.  The small convince store is open so I pop in to get a few pieces for my lunch.  Restocked with rations I grimace at the weight of my pack once more.  

The trail now handrails the banks of Loch Lomond for the next 20+ miles.  The water is still and there's barley a cloud in the sky. I stop for regular breaks on the shore for much need restpite from the shoulder straps of my pack and gaze out across the water.  I can't believe this weather.  I strip off the layers that protected me from the cold morning chill and I'm now down to a t-shirt...in November.  

The path twists and turns to mold itself into to the contours of the loch's rugged banks.  It climbs steeply and drops just as sharply skirting the worst of the sheer cliffs that tumble into the dark water below.  At times, it veers away from the shoreline entirely, cutting through dense forest on wide, stony roads that are punishing underfoot.  It's hard going and progress is slow. The first feelings of doubt play into my mind,  I'm not sure I can carry on with this.  It's not the walking itself - it's the relentless weight of this pack. 

I reach Rowardenan, my second day target. With the head start I built from yesterday with the extra miles, I press on again.  Im hopeing to to reach Inversnaid. Racing the sunset I stop roughly 2 kilometres short and make camp on a beach, the last of the sun slipping between the hills. I'm relieved to get this pack off my back. 

 I take a dip in the loch and settle into my evening routine.Tomorrow is apparently the hardest day and it's forecast to rain all day. I don't know if I've got it in me. If I can finish tomorrow in Crainlarich I will be at the half way point.