On Sore Feet: Day 43 Loch Venachar to Inversnaid

Day 43 Loch Venachar to Inversnaid

Kilometers: 19

The Glasgowans at my campsite had a very good time last night; me not so much. I think they were up until around 2.30 - 3 am, playing music the whole time. They had thought they'd be alone at the campsite and I didn't want to ruin their evening. Thankfully I liked the music! I woke up about 2 hours after they went to bed and couldn't sleep, so I got up, packed my things and went on my way. The morning was cloudy but the sun soon came out and it turned into another lovely day ☀️

After about 11 kilometers I reached Loch Katrine, a bit tired after my not so great night.

I found a cafe! At lunchtime! It was at the southern end of Loch Katrine and as I was sitting there someone asked if I was going on the steamship? Steamship?? Apparently there's a steamship that runs along most of the lake, 11 kilometers, walking would be 21 kilometers and so far today I hadn't seen a single place to camp.

What to do? On a LEJOG you're supposed to walk every step of the way, but with all the problems I've had so far it's too late for that. Besides, after a great day yesterday, today has been a bit difficult for the knee. I decided to take the steamship. I'll never come back here again, this is my only chance.

The Sir Walter Scott.

What a lovely boat ride! The views were stunning and the steam engine was quiet, making the trip very pleasant.

Beautiful views for an hour.

After leaving the steamship I joined the Great Trossachs path towards Inversnaid. At first it felt so nice to be on a trail instead of a road, but it wasn't long before my knee started protesting, so the next chance I got I took a trail down to the road. Of course there was a locked gate, but I assumed it's to keep people out, not in, so I climbed over it (I'm getting very good at climbing locked gates!). It was now getting very hot and I had to walk as much as possible in the shade of the few trees along the road.

A world on a rock.

There's a reason I don't like them.

I had reservations for a tent at Inversnaid Bunkhouse but managed to get a bed in a dorm instead. There are four of us in here, the others are doing the West Highland Way, which I will be on tomorrow .

There's no place to cook your own food so I had dinner at the restaurant. They cooked a special meal for me, chicken salad with fries, and made sure to check what I couldn't eat. And it was soo good! Another WHW hiker joined me at my table and it was very nice to have someone to talk to again! He's the first hiker I'v met so fat who knows what The Great Outdoors Challenge is, he's even done it a couple of times.

Moonrise just as I was going to bed.