After camping I’d had a pretty good night’s sleep. It looked like it was going to be sunny so I set off reasonably early in case it got particularly hot by midday (I was thinking back to my first day in the Lakes). The walking was pretty straight forward to begin with and the scenery was not particularly exciting. That was until, coming out of the Garadhban Forest, I got my first glimpse of Loch Lomond ahead. As I would be spending the best part of two days (and one night) by Loch Lomond this was a welcome sight.

After this the walking became a little more difficult with an ascent of Conic Hill (I wonder why it’s called that?). The hill isn’t so big but the ascent is quite steep (particularly with a pack on your back). The views off of the other side were well worth it though. I am informed that the islands that stretch out across Loch Lomond form the boundary between the highlands and the lowlands. The descent of the hill is a bit more difficult as this side of the hill is swarmed with tourists visiting from Balmaha.

Balmaha was a good place to stop. A nice little tourist spot with a pub and a shop. I stopped for a sandwich and a cup of tea from the pub. Next stop was the camp site at Sallochy. Wild camping is not allowed along the shore of Loch Lomond but a “wild camping site” is bookable at the Forestry Commission website. I did misjudge the location of the camp site somewhat. Camp sites are marked on the OS maps in my guidebook. However, my guidebook was older and this particular camp site is newer. The point at which the map says Sallochy was not the point where the camp site was. This caused some confusion. If this had happened later in my hike I would have rolled with the uncertainty but as this was only my second day I was a bit overly concerned. After walking a couple fo extra miles I reached the site. The camp site didn’t have a shower (it was always good to shower off the sweat at the end of the day) but it did have a compost toilet. This is kind of like the King’s Privvy. You can look down and see all of the shit but, luckily, it is designed so you cannot smell it. The camp site also had a wonderful view over Loch Lomond. I spent the evening reading the paper and enjoying this view.