Before starting the West Highland Way (WHW) I spent the night in Glasgow so that I could start early the next day from Milngavie. I notice that the Chip Shop outside of Glasgow Central is offering a “Justin Bieber Haggis Special” alongside the usual Deep Fried Mars Bar. Apparently this is just a regular haggis supper and is something that Justin Bieber has a penchant for.

The WHW starts with a rather neat obelisk. I didn’t spend any time at all in Milngavie. I didn’t need to purchase anything prior to this day’s walking that I hadn’t got the day before. I was carrying a lot of weight (about 11kg without food and water) as I was camping along the way. In order to keep the weight down I relied on purchasing food each day along the way (with a couple of exceptions).

It was raining in Glasgow (no surprise there) but once I got out of Milngavie and hit open country things started to brighten up.

Most of the views for the first day were farm land and not that exciting. The path was very flat and I started too fast. I went at a normal walking speed (without the pack) so by the end of the day had reached Drymen in no time at all but with a sore ITB. I had to take a little care with pace the next day but after that generally settled into a good rhythm.

Given the ease of the first day I do wonder whether I could have avoided staying overnight in Glasgow and started really early back home. I would have been able to get to Milngavie by 11:30. On the other hand arriving at the camp site in Drymen early was a good idea. The site was actually a small field beside a farm with an honesty box for payment and minimal facilities. As the evening drew on more and more campers arrived and space was getting a little limited.