7.6.10 ~ Balmaha - Inverarnan

Day 2 of 5!!

After a great nights sleep Michelle and I were refreshed and ready to tackle what lay ahead for today. The heavy rain from yesterday had stopped during the night and although the ground was very wet it certainly didn't dampen our spirits. Michelle's parents, Colin & Marian, are accompanying us on our 'West Highland way' experience as our 'bag carriers'. They very kindly volunteered and we didn't say 'No'. For those of you not familiar with the West Highland Way, there are companies who offer this service to walkers at a nominal cost. Basically, your bag is picked up from you B & B, or wherever you are staying, in the morning and transported to your next desatination ahead of your arrival in the evening. Brilliant idea, as you only need to carry a day pack with your food and waterproofs. However, our day rucksacks are almost as heavy as our overnight bags!! Well, we need to be prepared for all eventualities and believe me we are!!!! The trip will have cost Colin and Marian more than we would have paid a company to transport our bags but they're enjoying being part of the experirence too. They are even wearing "Steph" T-Shirts!!!!

My brother John arrived in Balmaha last night (Sunday) as he's going to join us for today's part of the walk. His role is "pace setter" and "morale booster". And I think we may need it for today!A welcome break for Michelle from my chat, which she is having to endure for 5 days!!! Chris, if your following mum's blog, I'm fine and whilst Michelle is having to contend with me just now, your turn is looming!! Looking forward to seeing Bev and yourself later in the week. That's my reward for completing the 'West Highland Way'. In the accommodation where John was staying overnight, two guys said to John are you with the "Two Pink Ladies". This title has follwed us ever since!! Better than the "Two Fat Ladies"!!!!

Today we set off from Bay Cottage just after 9.00 a.m. Weather conditions were perfect. Dry and cool. Our distance for today was 21.5 miles! The walk begun on the main road out of Balmaha for approximately 1 mile before heading into woodland and immediately into a gradual climb. There were a few climbs and with each downhill we just knew it would be followed by an uphill ~ and it was! We arrived in Rowardennan, along with the midgies, who were out in force. Our Avon 'Skin So Soft' worked a treat and we would highly recommend this. As the midgies were bad we decided not to stop too long and headed off in the direction of Rowardennan Hostel. The path, for the next part of the walk, was mostly landrover track through a forest. The trees shielded us from the sun and made the walking very pleasant. We met a group of schoolchildren, on an outing, and admired the distance that the children were covering. Whilst walking along John noticed a pink 'star shaped' balloon down by the water and decided, as it matched our pink T-shirts, that he would retrieve it for Michelle to attach to her backpack. It was a bit of a scramble downhill to get it and bring it back up. The balloon is now strapped to her rucksack and survived the day. Enroute to Inversnaid we met Ian Reith, from Dundee. Ian is Michelle's friend Jenn's dad. He had started at Inversnaid, walked in to meet us, then walked back with us to Inversnaid. If you are reading this Ian ~ Thank you for taking the time to support us. So kind of you and very much appreciated. Lovely to meet you.

After leaving Ian at Inversanid we set off on the last leg to Inverarnan. This was a tough part of the walk as the terrain was, in parts, quite difficult. Caution was necessary as underfoot the ground was extremely uneven. With John leading the way and following in his footsteps we managed to cover this tricky part of the course without any injury. The last two miles after coming off the hill weren't too bad but the marker saying it was 2 miles to Beinglas Farmhouse and Campsite where we were staying felt, like many others did, that it was a bit inaccurate, It felt more like 3-4 miles. At the end of the day that last few miles were challenging.!! Michelle's mum, Marian, walked in and joined us for the last mile back to the campsite. We made it and arrived at Beinglas Farm at 6.00 p.m. A long tiring day!!

Our accommodation, a chalet, was brilliant. Extremely clean, warm and had everything we needed. A beautiful campsite with shop, restaurant and excellent facilites. Most definitely would return here. John was due to catch his bus back to Glasgow at 6.40 p.m. so no time for him to hang around as he needed to catch his train from Glasgow to Edinburgh.

We ate at the restaurant on the campsite and had a lovely meal. No late nights though and soon after finishing dinner we headed back to the chalet and to bed. The end of day two!!!