Day 54 (14.3 miles)

Drymen to Rowardennan
– The Wet One

This is the day I’d been dreading. The day of constant heavy rain, definitely the worst day, from a weather perspective, the whole trip.

I didn’t set of until after 9am. The Post Office opens at 9 and I wanted to post some maps home, also to give the weather the best chance of clearing. (Well, that didn’t happen)

I’d been looking forward to today and especially the climb of Conic Hill (361m), but as I approached I could see in the distance the weather I’d be faced with by the time I reached the top. So I reluctantly took the shorter, easier route around the bottom to Balmaha.

When I reached Balmaha – on the banks of Loch Lomond, I thought twice about stopping for coffee & cake, but was worried I’d get cold if I stopped, even inside, with the wet clothes I now wore. I pressed on thinking it might stop raining and I could dry off before the next opportunity to stop came by.

As I walked the rain got heavier and heavier. If I’d submerged myself in Loch Lomond I wouldn’t have been any wetter. What a dismal day!

My plan now was to get to Rowardennan as quickly as possible and out of my wet stuff. It worked to a certain extent. I got to the youth hostel at 2pm, but then found I couldn’t check in until 3. So sat for an hour, thankfully out of the rain, whilst I waited.

Luckily I’d pre-booked dinner at the youth hostel so didn’t have to venture out again, on the downside it meant only bottled beers.

Some stats:
Mileage count: 958.5
Pint count: 196
economy: 39.1mpg
Malt Whisky count: 12