It had rained overnight so I had to pack up a wet tent (this was a common occurrence). This day’s section of the guidebook started from Rowardennan which is 2.5 miles away so I started a bit earlier than the previous 2 days to gain some time. The book describes this section of the walk as “arduous”. To begin with this seemed like an exaggeration but after about 5 miles things started getting a lot more difficult. It wasn’t the type of terrain I hadn’t covered before but the path alongside Loch Lomond was very narrow. I came across (read: overtook) a number of more elderly people struggling. At some points I was scrambling up and down a bit (tricky with a pack). On the way into Inversnaid I came across this ramshackle cafe called The Cherry Tree.

I stopped, how could I not, for a cup of tea and a piece of cake. It was staffed by a red haired man with a beard. Upon leaving he started locking up. When I asked about this he said he had to close every time he needed to do some washing up. Sounds a little strange but I once lived in a student house where washing up could only be done when nobody was in the house. I stopped at the Inversnaid Hotel for a brief pause and to take some photo’s of the waterfalls.

In retrospect I should have taken a longer break and cooked something for myself. It was back to scrambling up and down the path alongside Loch Lomond. While earlier I managed quite well I had now walked about 10 miles and was starting to get tired. This made coping a bit more difficult. That said there were plenty of nice spots to stop for a rest with tiny isolated pebble beaches with nice views.

I was glad to get into the Beinglas camp site. The site had a bar so a burger and some Guinness brightened my spirits. I also had the chance to do some laundry.