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Walking Land's End to John o'Groats with Mark Moxon

Rowardennan to Inverarnan

Loch Lomond
Loch Lomond

What a nice surprise! Today the weatherman is gravely handing out weather warnings for torrential thundery downpours and the risk of local flooding, but is this the forecast for Scotland? Nope; it appears that Scotland is going to enjoy the heatwave for a little longer, but Devon and Cornwall are currently experiencing major rain and the south is sweltering in severe humidity and uncomfortably high temperatures. For once it's a good thing that Scottish weather is a law unto itself; today there's not a cloud in the sky.

Johnny Foreigner

Loch Lomond from the West Highland Way
Loch Lomond from the West Highland Way

It didn't start off well, though. The West Highland Way is a popular track and because it's relatively easy (at least compared to walks like the Pennine Way) it's a great track for those looking for a week-long holiday walk. A whole industry has sprung up around the Way and it has become one of the most popular walking destinations in the country for visitors from abroad. The resulting commercialisation of the Way might make purists wince, but it's good for business; perhaps the best example is the official accommodation guide for the Way, which contains a section at the back selling an amazing array of merchandise. You can buy West Highland Way mouse mats, glass tankards, car stickers, neck pens, baseball caps, coffee mugs, sewing kits, clothing, belt bags, paperweights, posters, cutlery sets, wallets, golfing umbrellas and badges, all emblazoned with the Way's logo; hell, you can even buy a miniature bottle of whisky called the 'West Highland Way Dram' that comes complete with its own etched dram glass. If there's one walking track in Britain that knows how to pull in the tourists, then it's the West Highland Way; funnily enough you don't see Pennine Way merchandise for sale, even though there's a definite market for a T-shirt that says, 'My Boyfriend Waded Through Hundreds of Miles of Boggy Shit on the Pennine Way and All I Got Was This Lousy and Surprisingly Stinky T-shirt.'

Loch Lomond
Loch Lomond

You Take the High Road

Loch Lomond
Loch Lomond

Probably because I was so wound up, I missed the turning to the loch shore. This section of the Way has two accepted routes, a high road and a low road, and I'd wanted to take the low road after yesterday's wonderful shore hopping. But I never saw the turning and it took me a mile or two to realise I was stuck on the stony road that cuts through the forest, avoiding the shoreline and climbing the sides of the loch at a steady but easy gradient. I wasn't too bothered because the high road is the easier route, but it's also less interesting, so I ended up stomping as fast as I could, passing the poor souls who were struggling with their full packs in the utterly unforgiving sun.

Rob Roy's Cave
Rob Roy's Cave
Loch Lomond
Loch Lomond

Up and Down

A mountain goat by Loch Lomond
A mountain goat by Loch Lomond

According to the literature, the section of the West Highland Way from Inversnaid to Inverarnan is the most challenging section of the whole walk. I can see why; if it had been raining this afternoon when I walked it, it would have been a nightmare because this is real lochside walking. If it's not the tree roots it's the boulders, if it's not the constant up and down it's the slippery mud, and if it's not the rain it's the motley collection of streams that dribble across your path. But the sun has been shining for days and, more importantly, I did today's walk without a heavy pack on my back, so I waltzed along the Way like a mountain goat.