Day 27 and our macabre lunch

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Trip Start Jun 12, 2010 Previous
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  Drymen, Scotland, United Kingdom
Friday, July 16, 2010

What a way to start the day. We slept well in our lovely room and woke to views out across the magnificent Loch Lomond.  We breakfasted, as is our custom, at 8 o'clock with Izzy, our oh so attentive host, waiting on our every need.  Despite the fact we had blogged into the night after we arrived yesterday evening, we were encouraged to use the computer again this morning, if we wanted, so we took up the kind offer and did another hour to bring ourselves bang up to date. It is not possible to overstate the kindness we received at Anchorage Cottage and even though it was a bit more expensive than the standard B&B price, it was worth every penny.  Where else would the hosts walk in to the guests slaving over a hot computer at 10 o'clock at night with a bottle of malt whisky and two glasses, saying help yourself to a nightcap!!  And the Jura we tried was very good. 
By the time Izzy dropped us back at Rowardennan to start our day's walk, it was 10.45 am.  The weather was fair with winds which became quite strong. There was heavy cloud cover, but we only experienced one shower which was a pleasant change.  It seems amazing to think that after Izzy dropped us off, it then took us 1 1/2 hours to walk back along the loch to where we had started the morning at the Anchorage Cottage.  Such is the determination of the End to Ender not to miss a single step on route. It was also not lost on us that Izzy never considered charging us for her pick and drop off service unlike our experience earlier in this trip.
As we walked along we caught up with our fellow End to Ender, John, and passed some time with him before bidding farewell for the day as we stopped about 2 o'clock to have lunch in Balmaha.  It is remarkable when you chase up the stories of how these different places got their names, just how obscure and steeped in history the origin can be.  It seems we have the Irish to thank for Balmaha.  A woman called St. Kentigerna came over to Scotland in the 8th century to bring Christianity to the Scots.  This woman's name in Gaelic was pronounced Ma-Ha and she settled on an island in the loch called Inchcailoch, which means the island of the cowled or old woman.  This island was in the bay near here and that's how this place got its name, Balmaha, meaning Maha's place.  Anyway we're sure you are pleased you now know that obscure piece of trivia.  We can only hope that this saintly lady is looking down and forgiving us for the somewhat macabra lunch we experienced here.  Whilst feasting on the delightful packed lunch which Izzy had provided, we were approached by a family of ducklings with their mother and a chicken.  It was hard to understand where they had all come from and why they were roaming around so freely in a green reserve area at the side of the loch.  However, there they were and all Debby's natural instincts were to feed these appealing creatures.  As we had already finished our sandwiches, Debby proceeded to break down her hard boiled egg and feed it to the birds.  Keith explained that this was a somewhat repulsive practice, as she could be feeding the chicken its own egg and setting a terrible precedent for these young ducks.  We finished up lunch quickly as the strong winds blew and the ducks became ever more carnivorous and off we walked.
We had said goodbye to John about half an hour ago before lunch, yet who should we walk into as we set off but John.  Another feature of the End to Ender's day is that they cannot get every step of the route right and occasionally the route gets longer due to erroneous side trips.  There were two options to our afternoon's walk, one headed up into the hills for a more challenging first couple of hours, and the other was via the low road.  We parted from John again as he took the upper road, but Debby decided that discretion should be the better part of valour and we should give ourselves an easier start to the afternoon.  After all, we had had an exhilarating morning, walking up and down some significant undulations, as we skirted the loch in quite lovely woodlands, including disturbing a beautiful red deer which was feeding in bushed at the trackside.  So, we figured we had earned an easier afternoon.  As it was, we still had a three hour walk with some significant gradients up into forestry areas and we saw a ddramatic helicopter rescue.  We heard later that a walker on the hill path had broken his ankle and had to be lifted off the hill with an orange flare being used to target the helicopter's support.  It just proves how careful we need to be if we want to finish this walk. 
By late afternoon we were feeling quite footsore with tired muscles and quite frankly Debby was buggered.   True to form however, she soldiered on until we reached our B&B.  In complete contrast to last night, the B&B we arrived at for tonight was also higher priced than the average, but in no way justified it.  There was no bath, the hosts did not introduce themselves, no internet, a pokey room which included bunk beds as well as our double bed which had to be pushed against a wall under the window.  No special toiletry products, no handtowels, no biscuits or extras of any form whatsoever.  Once again we had an example of English import owners running a Scottish B&B, which seemed purely focussed on extracting the maximum amount of cash from unsuspecting guests.  Needless to say, breakfast the next morning was as stark and soulless.  
We have now walked out of the woods, so to speak.  Drymen has a post office and a few shops, meaning that we are now back in some form or civilisation.  This is the first town of any size that we have been in since Fort William.  We became aware as we walked down the banks of Loch Lomond today, that tourism is much heavier here and with it the terrble downside.  The human plague presented with a fine example of natural splendour has descended in droves (after all we're only about an hour from Glasgow here) and the detrius which we produce as a race, began to be evident with plastic bags full of rubbish dumped behind trees.  It is just such a shame that we cannot experience these wonderful areas without spoiling them.  Debby has been remarkably vigilent, and as Keith calls it "does a Justin" each day.  Back at home our dear Iceberger Justin, walks out on Brighton pier each morning and regularly fills a plastic bag with rubbish he picks up.  Well Justin, your example has been taken and Debby is doing her bit for the West Highland Way as we walk.  However, today we just gave up under the onslaught.  We finished today by taking Izzy's recommendation to eat at The Clachan for dinner and the meal was very enjoyable.  In fact they do B&B at a reasonable price and next time we would stay there.  Over dinner we exchanged notes on the day's walk and plans for tomorrow with John who is our regular dinner partner now. 
When Keith finally took his shoes off to prepare for bed, he found a large green caterpillar crawling up his sock.  Although Keith is not renowned for his ability to cope with attacks from small insects, he has now become a lot more philosophical.  He calmly picked it off his foot and sent it back into the garden.  Keith has now developed a theory that he is a bug-magnet providing all the right flesh, the various bugs need to eat and has a wide collection of impressive bite marks.  Fortunately this has provided a screen for Debby who has attracted almost no bugs.  Keith has suggested to Debby that it is "just like that man in Avatar, I'm some sort of special person, they just can't get enough of me".  Debby is not convinced but smiles contently free from bites. Finally we hit the bed, fall straight to asleep and are awake soon afterwards as the bed squeaks every time we move.  And that was the story of our night!

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The two of us, Loch Lomond and mountains	Debby feeding ducklings at lunch at Balmaha	Debby buggered with 5 kms still to go!	Pathh between hedgerows into Drymen

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