LEJOG
Distance walked – 30.2km (18.9miles)
Total Distance – 1517.7km (948.6miles)
I was young when I left home
An’ I been out ramblin’ round
An’ I never wrote a letter to my home
Bob Dylan – I was Young When I Left Home
Strathkelvin Railway Cycle Path
Today was the last of our three linking days as we continued our journey westward to meet up with the West Highland Way. We followed the Forth and Clyde canal again for the first half of the day, before striking off across country on the Strathkelvin Railway Cycle Path. What looked on paper to potentially be another tedious day, turned into a lovely day of walking with the scenery teasing us with a foretaste of the Scottish Highlands to come.
Komorebi (see below)
We stayed at The Boathouse Hotel at Auchinstarry Marina last night. We would describe it as unfriendly. While the location was convenient, right on the canal, and the food was okay, it seemed to be trying too hard and getting it all wrong. When we arrived with backpacks in our sweaty clothes yesterday afternoon, they seemed very keen to convince us that we didn’t have a booking. After showing them confirmation emails proving that we had booked and already paid for the room – (using their own website and not a third party), they eventually begrudgingly showed us to a very average room. I think they are trying to market the pub as some kind of upmarket romantic destination, however if you booked a weekend getaway, I think you would be quite disappointed. On the other hand, if you were looking for a venue for a middle-managers sale conference . . . . .
The bizarre highlight of the stay was at breakfast this morning, where the cleaners were loudly hoovering between the tables as we tried to eat. At one point we had to lift our feet so they could get under the table!
It was with much relief that we exited Fawlty Towers and set off again on the canal side path.
Is this cheating??
We had a sense of deja vu as this was our third consecutive day walking along the canal, but luckily the scenery compensated us with lovely views of the Campsie Fells rising up to our right, and we both felt refreshed after a good night’s rest. The 10kilometres into the town of Kirkintilloch seemed to take no time at all.
What can I say about Kirkintilloch? It is probably the saddest and most dispiriting place we have been to on this journey across the UK, so the less said the better. The staff in the post office were friendly however and helped us to send another parcel back home as we culled some more of our possessions to further lighten our load. Unpacking and repacking a backpack in a small post office is no easy task, and was made more difficult when I realised that the cheese I have been carrying for our lunch had melted covering many of my possessions with oily cheese liquid.
Along the Cycle Path
After sorting out Cheesegate, we finally farewelled the canal and left Kirkintilloch by the Strathkelvin Railway Cycle Path. The path initially followed a stream in mature woodland. It was beautiful walking on a beautiful day. I was reminded that there is a Japanese word, “komorebi”, which literally means “sunlight leaking through the trees”. It is used to refer to the peace and sense of tranquillity that one can absorb from simply stopping to appreciate the transient beauty of nature, the perfection of tiny, seemingly insignificant details. Today was a good day for komorebi on the Strathkelvin Railway Path.
The walking was easy and after some time we left the woodland and broke out into open countryside, with distant views of classic Scottish Highland mountain ranges. We had a real feeling that we were walking towards the highlands and a distinctive change in the landscape. We passed several townships and stopped for lunch on a park bench, where we got our first real taste of the Scottish Midge problem. Worse is probably still to come . . . . . .
Dunglass Hill
The path turned westward and traversed over open farmland. We passed under the shadow of Dunglass, a striking volcanic plug, before entering the village of Strathblane.
Strathblane Chapel
We decided to take the road out of Strathblane rather than the convoluted footpaths that the John Muir Way follows as the road looked quicker. Luckily there was little traffic and we covered the several kilometres without problems.
At last – The West Highland Way!
Suddenly, almost without warning we joined the West Highland Way. We have been looking forward to this moment for several weeks now, so it was with broad smiles that we set off on the well-formed path. The West Highland Way (WHW) will take us all the way to Fort William in the Highlands, from where we will have less than two weeks to the end of our journey!
The Scottish Highlands beckon
We only had a few kilometres to enjoy today as we had organised to meet John, an old friend of ours who lives in Glascow. He was going to pick us up and take us to stay at his place in Glascow for the night. It is the first time we have stayed off the track (refer to previous rules of LEJOG), but we really wanted to catch up with John and his family, so we have decided that one night is okay (we will be dropped off at exactly the same spot tomorrow). We arrived at the rendezvous point, a strange slightly rundown pub/petting zoo, which unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, was just closing, forcing us to wait on the road just as it started to rain. Luckily John turned up shortly afterwards and we were soon off to his beautiful home in Glascow.
Tomorow we will continue in earnest on the West Highland Way and see if it lives up to its reputation as one of the best walks in the UK.
