The meal prep area at Beinglas campsite is indoors and the luggage transfer storage is right next door. Super easy to do breakfast and then make sure all our food was ready to transfer. What a concept after carrying bear canisters full of food on our last hike.
The meal area was busy with no tables available. We prepped our coffee and tea and had a seat with a camper cooking a full Scottish breakfast. Quite a contrast to our simple bags filled with cereal. The difference in meal types did not make the ensuing conversation any less dynamic. We learned our Scottish table mate had much to share about the trail and surrounding area. It was very interesting and entertaining to get a good local perspective. There was definitely a shared appreciation for the stretch of trail we had just completed along the loch. The oak rainforest section with its mesmerizing scents and rich flora. I said it had the something like a rich spice scent. He had a Scottish or Gaelic word for it.
We were grateful for a clear morning. The "eye" of the low pressure system was over Scotland at this point. We would soon be experiencing the precipitation wave off of the sea to the NE on the back of low pressure system. The first wave from the NW soaked us at Sallochy.
For the morning hike the trail was crowded with hikers. The exact opposite of the previous days hike. Where we saw very few people. With the impending rain in the forecast I took sometime to fly the drone a bit over the trail. Here the trail shares the glen with the road and rail line. This section has a large river lined with oaks and full of waterfalls.
Farther north there are a lot of sheep and cattle areas with sheep tunnels under the railway. We also had our only view of a couple Highland coos "cows". Finally, there is a bit of rolling terrain before Tyndrum and then a couple cool historical spots. We had seen something about the old cemetery in the trail guide. It was a really good stop to read the historical sign and explore. Another couple stopped at the same time as us and we ended up walking up to the open cemetery gate and exploring around the headstones. Hoping to see the very ancient stones, but I don't think we saw the very old ones. Across from the cemetery are the remains of the Priory. This is also an interesting spot with an informative historical sign.
The third historical site, not too much farther up the trail, is a battlefield marker. A bit more about Robert the Bruce's history in the area. Tyndrum is very close to this marker and we were walking into town quickly after this historical site.
Our table mate in the morning mentioned how nice the Tyndrum Holiday park was for camping. It looked very nice as we walked by. There were hot tub cottages right along the trail and river. Did they do that on purpose to lure hikers? I have to admit it would be a consideration for next time. For this hike we had a spot at "The Way Hostel". We had also upgraded our accommodation there. A good thing too as the rain was beginning to look inevitable.
Perhaps this is a good spot for some perspective on the evolution of our accommodations on the trip. The West Highland way looked like a great "wild camping" trail similar to what we are used to in North America. Our original plans were simply to wild camp the whole thing. Then with concerns about Lyme disease and "bathroom" hygiene along the trail, we just decided on booking pitches at developed campgrounds. Of course once we realized we were at established spots along the trail luggage service became a possibility allowing the weight of extra camera gear and batteries. Then when rainy weather looked inevitable for just about the entire 7 days on the trail we upgraded half of our pitches to huts. In all we camped in our own tent for three nights, a provided tent for a night, and two "hobbit" huts.
At the hostel we found we were right next to our hiking companion from Hong Kong. She had upgraded to a hut and was drying out her tent over the fence rail. With the impending rain I quickly got to work with our tent. I unclipped the interior liner and set that up. Then threw the sil fly over the fence. I wiped down the liner with a towel and it began to dry in the breeze. We shook out the fly and let it hang over the rail. Within less than in hour it began to rain heavily again. The liner was fairly dry, the fly was still pretty wet. All of it had to be pulled into our tiny hut and stashed under the cots. It was definitely dry enough to set up in the rain again.
We had a good conversation with the host at the Way while he was checking us in. Turns out his friend was triple crowning at the moment over in the USA. We had been watching some of the same Youtube thru hiking videos and talked about those. He filled us in on the history of the Priory we stopped at earlier. Apparently, there was baptismal pool to see nearby.
The hostel was super clean with great facilities for showering and cooking. We kept our rain gear on for the entire time. The rain was as heavy or heavier than Sallochy a couple of nights earlier. So far rain 3 out of 4 days.
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