Journal Entries

The walking along the northern end Loch Lomond reminds me a lot of home. Lots of craggy rocks, jumbled rocky trail, mud, dense undergrowth. I love it.

One similarity to the Appalachian Trail: people who live near the West Highland Way like to cater to hikers in fun little ways.

A few new things I've discovered: "honesty boxes", you can guess what this is if you think "honor system". Also, Scottish Tablet is a hard butterscotch fudge. Goddamn delicious.

More jungle-like forest, with beds of moss so thick it feels like we should be seeing dinosaurs and giant apes. There are a lot of similarities between here and home. I was looking for hiking destinations like this. I think I can count this as a great success.

A little more cloudy and rainy on day three, but instead of constant clouds, we had sun interspersed with spitting rain that came across the Loch. The mountains were all shrouded in mist for most of the day.

Somewhere at the end of the rainbow is a pot of haggis.

The forests in Scotland are gorgeous. The undergrowth is like a jungle, fed by the year-round rain. The trees get wonderfully gnarled and thick, and covered with moss.

The forests in Scotland are gorgeous. The undergrowth is like a jungle, fed by the year-round rain. The trees get wonderfully gnarled and thick, and covered with moss.

After lunch, the skies cleared quite a bit. The Way walks along the edge of Loch Lomond for close to 30 miles, as we cross from the Lowlands to the Highlands.

Not so rainy today, and thank goodness for that. The start of the day went over Conic Hill, a thousand-foot hill between Drymen and Loch Lomond. The clouds lifted just enough for some lovely views of the Loch, which we'll be walking along for the next two days.

We ended the day in Drymen, a lovely little village with a great pub for dinner. We stayed at a B&B just outside of town, below the abandoned Buchanan Castle. And the sun came out just in time for us to not hike in clear weather.

The castle is amazing. After the end of WWII, the owners removed the roof and abandoned it in order to not pay taxes on a habitable structure, and it has since been swallowed by thick Scottish fauna. It's like a jungle in there. Dark, mossy, impossible to see more than a few yards into the brush. Definitely must be haunted.

I saw a rhubarb plant with leaves bigger around than hula hoops, stalks wider than my forearms, and taller than me. I should have taken a picture.

Hi sheep!