Into the woods

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It began raining as I and other hikers gathered under the Oak Tree Inn’s sheltered outside tables adjusting our rainwear. The rain had picked up the previous evening, and had persisted through the night. So on that front at least it looked like this day’s hiking would be a little more challenging! But, true to form, just as soon as I’d put on my rain pants and parka, the rain slacked off. Just another drill I guess, but northward where I’d be hiking the clouds were heavier, so I didn’t imagine I’d escaped the weather altogether.

Heading out the woods were lovely—damp and glowing green in the diffused morning light. As I passed by a beach, clouds over distant peaks across the loch to the northwest caught my eye. Light glowed out of a vaporous void, adjacent to a distant dark curtain of rainfall. Spots of sunlight dramatically lit the hills underneath. I paused for a while to capture some shots of this while other hikers marched by.

This, my third day’s hike on the West Highland Way, was only about eight miles. The trail alternated between being loch-side, or traversing through woods across blunt peninsulas. For brief stretches it was on or alongside the Rowardennan Road. There was one fairly stiff three-hundred foot climb up a wooded hillside, but otherwise the hiking was pleasant, the path generally wide and well-defined.

Loch side the route occasionally passed by carparks and campgrounds. There were lovely tree-screened views across the loch, hills on the far side glowing in the sun. Sometimes rainbows appeared, and I stopped to take a picture of one above distant hills, with a scraggly tree just offshore.

Some stretches of the trail wound through groves of birch trees, other stretches through areas more wild seeming, with a mix of oaks, beeches and rowans. Ferns blanketed the forest floor, a mix of green and autumnal yellow, to dry tan fronds. I could easily fancy I was walking through Fangorn forest in Middle Earth, and that perhaps an old gnarled tree might stretch its limbs and wink at me any moment with heavy lidded eyes!

Rain, a sculpture, and a monument

All too soon I arrived on the outskirts of my destination for the day, Rowardennan. Passing by a hotel and lodge situated on a stubby point, I arrived at a bathroom/shelter structure by a carpark just as it began to pour. I took shelter there with a few other folks, hoping to wait out the rain.

There was an intriguing bas-relief mural, carved in black stone, emplaced along one of the broad, curving, interior walls. Amid figurative depictions of water flowing from cupped hands, salmon in a stream, rowan branches and the reclining figure of a man, was inscribed a poem by John Muir. Although an alluring artwork, the focus on men in the poem and artwork certainly seemed a little sexist to my slightly more enlightened modern sensibilities. But Muir was in any case a man of his times.

After perhaps half an hour the rain did slacken, and I continued on the short remaining distance to the Rowardennan Lodge. Along the way I passed by a striking sculptural monument, a large dark stone ring, set on edge, with a small pyramidal inclusion in the base. This created a visual portal through to the waters of the loch, and the hills on its far side. It is a powerful memorial to those who gave their lives in the conflicts of the First and Second World Wars.

Rivendell Rowardennan Lodge

The sun had come out now, and under billowing clouds the utterly charming and distinct structure of the hostel soon came into view. Rowardennan Lodge is a wonderfully ornate rustic Victorian structure. It is built out of natural stone bricks, featuring a short tower with a conical roof, and multiple gabled wings, including broad sets of windows looking out on the loch. It began life as a private hunting lodge in the mid-eighteen hundreds, but has been a youth hostel since the mid-twentieth century.

I was too early to check in, so I wandered down over the broad well-cropped lawn in front of the hostel to a bench overlooking a dock and the loch to eat my lunch. A young woman on an adjacent bench amiably chatted with me a bit, and I remarked to her that the lodge seemed reminiscent of Rivendell—peering back over her shoulder at it she agreed. Later, waiting in the bright common room for my room to be available, we chatted a bit more. Her name was Helena, and she was waiting to see if she could get a campsite at the adjacent campground. She was backpacking the West Highland Way. She was from London, and mentioned another trail she’d hiked in the Cotswolds, similar in some respects to this, although perhaps slightly less dramatic.

Before long my room became available. On the upper floor, it was super nice, with a broad set of windows looking out over the loch and hills on the other side. I’d been prepared (due to some old Tripadvisor reviews) for the lodge to be a bit dingy, but this was absolutely not the case. Although obviously an old building, it was very clean and airy, with modern fittings and fixtures. I just read it re-opened two years ago following a major facility upgrade, and it totally showed.

An afternoon stroll, into evening

It was still just mid-afternoon, so I took a walk around, following the track of the WHW into the woods behind the lodge a bit. There was a very well stocked “honesty box.” An utterly charming concept, these are unmanned little standalone structures containing various snacks and stuff that you pay for self-checkout style. I remarked to three young Scottish men resting there that sadly the concept would probably never work in America! They were wild-camping the West Highland Way. The tallest and chattiest of the three introduced himself as Aldo, which I had a little trouble learning to pronounce, as the the first syllable was like “owl,” not “all.”

The woods were beautiful in the late afternoon light, and I walked a short distance up the trail to Ben Lomond I intended to take the next day. I came across a delightful small waterfall, and paused to take a few shots.

Back at the lodge I took a shower, then purchased a beer from the nice woman at the main desk, and headed on to the dining room. There I had some of their hearty stew, and a brownie with ice cream for dessert. Back in my room, I pulled the day’s images off my card, and worked on one of these blog posts a bit. Then to bed, as the wind outside picked up for a rainy night. I was definitely happy to be in my room!