Inverarnan to Bridge of Orchy - 19.5 miles
We walk up fairly refreshed after a good nights sleep but I feel like i've been beaten up after yesterday, the sooner we get our legs moving the better!
We have our breakfast in the bar before getting our stuff together and setting off into a drizzly grey day, within 10 minutes it starts chucking it down and we have stop to put on the waterproof trousers - what a difference a day makes, glorious sunshine yesterday and torrential rain today, well thats scottish weather for you!
Everyone seems to have set off at the same time today so it's pretty busy along the path and we get chatting to the guys we saw at Rowardennan, Charlie & Ronnie so the time goes pretty quickly even though we're walking through muddy paths in the pouring rain. It's nice to hear everyone's stories of why they're walking the way an it's a welcome distraction from the unrelenting rain.
We pass the signpost for Crianlarich where some people leave the track for the day and head through a couple of miles of conifer plantation along undulating tracks. It does at least offer a little bit of shelter from the rain before heading down to the bottom of the valley and across the road past the priory ruins of Saint Fillan.
We stop at Strathfillan wigwams to use the loos and get a hot drink to try and warm up a little, there's a sheltered area outside and we make the most of 10 minutes out of the rain, we get moving pretty quickly as we're starting to get cold and are pretty much soaked through even with the waterproofs and make our way into Tyndrum and the oasis that is the green welly stop!
We must have looked a sorry sight as we trudged into the green welly service station, absolutely sodden at this point, but the staff were lovely and let us drape our waterproofs around the cafe while we warmed up with some hot soup and scones and gradually dried off
our stuff. It would've been very tempting to stay longer but we still had another 7 miles to make it to the bridge of orchy and we pretty much just wanted it over and done with!
The rest of the way was along an old military road running alongside the railway tracks which under other circumstances would've been an easy walk, but the combination of the previous 2 days walk, the driving rain and my feet being soaked through all conspired to make this section absolutely miserable…i don't actually remember much about it other than just forcing myself to put one foot in front of the other, it seemed never ending and i have never been so glad to reach the end of a days walk as this one.
I am so relieved when we finally reach the end of the path and drop down into Bridge of Orchy, past the sleeper hostel and arrive at the hotel at half past five…it feels like a lot later!!
We spot a deer crossing the road in front of the hotel, it's a lovely moment after what has been a pretty grim day out on the way and our spirits are lifted further when we get into our gorgeous room at the hotel which is very posh and we're soon clean and dry and all is forgotten…especially after a few glasses of wine and a lovely meal in the bar.
It's a great night chatting with fellow walkers and playing a random domino game with some belgian hikers, so much so that we end up having a few more drinks than we'd planned…oh dear, we'll suffer for it tomorrow and it's a whopper 21.5 miles to Kinlocheven over the highest point on the West Highland Way!
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