9: Walking with midges (Rowardennan to Inversnaid)

It’s difficult to know exactly what to make of Rob Roy. Sir Walter Scott’s famous fiction painted a rosy outlook of his exploits, making him seem like some clannish Robin Hood. Chroniclers of history ignore the myth and either regard Rob Roy as a brigand and blackmailer, faithful to the Jacobite cause, while others argue that Rob Roy had been wronged and had no option but to live a bandits' life. 
As with so many stories the truth may mostly depend on your viewpoint and if, like me, you have no allegiance to either side, then it becomes possible that both accounts can co-exist. Whatever the real story may be, it cannot be denied that for a short period Robert 'Roy' McGregor (Robert the Red or Rob Roy) was the laird of Inversnaid and the West Highland Way crosses through it. No doubt, if descendants of the Wild McGregors, as they were known - and I'm sure it didn't mean they had legendary parties - were still in possession of the land today there would be a payment extracted for safe passage.
It is similarly difficult to know exactly what to make of the youth hostel. The first impression is of a grand and lavish building situated on the loch side but once inside the battered interior reveals itself as somewhat spartan. The grand hallway crudely divided at first floor level to reduce the fire risk. The rooms bare of ornament and unnecessary furniture, or even space to lay out our luggage. Finally, bunk beds have long lost their allure as they are mainly an opportunity for us to hit fleshy body parts against unexpected woody parts. 
Nursing our battered heads, shins and elbows, we headed down for an early breakfast of the continental variety. It wasn’t great but there was plenty of everything which for us was just what we needed to see us through the day. By the time we were finishing the horde of German students arrived and we were glad to escape from the cacophony of the dinning room. 

Outside low, curling wispy clouds hung to the loch side. The general gloom, the still air and the flat loch all suggested that today the midge net and repellent were going to have a starring role.

The iPhone is determined that every event happens in the 'golden hour'

We placed our luggage in the hut where we should have found it yesterday and as we returned the key to the hostel warden, he gave us a perplexing warning to ‘beware of bears’. 
A few West Highland Way walkers add an extra day to their trip here and make the climb up Ben Lomond, as one of the many paths to the summit starts from Rowardennan. Anyone doing so today would have been sorely disappointed as the view would have been totally erased by the low cloud, making the whole enterprise - apart from bagging a munro - pretty pointless. 
For the first time we began walking without having found a shop to buy some lunch. Lunch for us so far had consisted of a variety of fruits, this morning we were going to have to rely on what we were carrying and anything we could find along the way. 

The path out of Rowardennan was broad and led into a wooded area on the slopes of Ben Lomond. After a mile and a half there was, for the first time, a choice of routes and we decided to take the low path which held close to the loch side. This was single file, rocky and undulating; the compensation was occasional glimpses of the view along the loch. The higher path remains broad, fairly flat and much easier walking but as it passes through mature woodland there are fewer views to enjoy.

T'was moody on the low route

Between March and September, due to the large number of visitors to the loch side shore, wild camping is managed and only allowed in certain designated areas with a permit. A couple of miles beyond Rowardennan this zone ends and it is possible to wild camp. Fortunately we don't have to worry about such things especially as the previous evening wild campers would have been plagued by midges. There weren't too many midges around now unless we stopped for a moment, then they would begin to gather around our heads. 

Constant ups and downs on a narrow path

We were beginning to be on nodding terms with quite a number of our fellow walkers. Along the lower path we made good speed but others were struggling with the tougher terrain and the constant ups and downs. Overtaking on a single track is more difficult and the unspoken walkers etiquette is that you should give way to faster walkers. When a stunning loch side view appeared we liked to stop and enjoy it and therefore be overtaken again, which happened with laughter and good grace. 

However around the time we were passing Rob Roy’s prison - where Rob Roy is supposed to have imprisoned a ‘factor’ of the Duke of Montrose in an attempt to extract a ransom for his release - we caught up with a group of three English walkers who were seemingly unaware of the etiquette of allowing passage. At first we made a short stop to allow them to get far ahead and hopefully beyond this narrow section of the path, but very soon we had caught up again and it wasn’t until Jerome politely but firmly asked if we could pass that they finally let us through. 

We were all walking in a two-step bubble due to the rough terrain which meant that if there was a view we had to stop to enjoy it but having passed these walkers we upped our pace so that there was no chance we would be overtaken once more. It also meant that we arrived at the Inversnaid Hotel around eleven thirty.  

There was a reception area where we de-booted and removed our backpacks. The interior was plush and expensively decorated, despite this they were very welcoming and we bought coffees and cake and used the (excellent) facilities. Then Jerome spotted that the main lounge had a splendid view over the loch and we went and occupied some very comfortable armchairs while we watched other walkers arriving outside and finding places to sit in a picnic area in front of the hotel. 

So far, (in marked difference to the Pennine Way) we’d never been more than three hours away from a good coffee.