Day 2- Saturday May 12, 2018 - 11 miles
We woke to a fabulous day. The sun was shining and just a few fluffy clouds in the sky. The wind was not as strong today albeit still a bit chilly, but this was perfect walking weather.
We got dressed and down for a very nice continental breakfast in the Guest House breakfast area. We had ordered a hot breakfast but Christine, who is the manager, seemed to have her hands full wearing many hats, so there was plenty to eat and it was really good and fresh so we just went with it. Christine did make us a few sandwiches in a bag lunch, that were very yummy, so after breakfast we and collected our packs, which was no easy task as our room looked like both our packs had just exploded on the floor from last night. Vicky woke with a terrible headache, almost a migraine, so this did concern me as she was not really enjoying herself on this trip yet. We got some more ibuprofen in her this morning and I hoped things would get better today. So out the door we went.
Day 2
Taynuilt in a beautiful little village with a train station we had passed through on the way to Oban. Below we cross a bridge over the train tracks leaving town.
The town smelled wonderful and I soon discovered it was the honeysuckle growing wild along the road. A favorite of mine in the Spring.
Walking through the neighborhoods of Taynuilt
On the outskirts of town is the Bonawe Furnace. It was run from 1753 to 1870 and was the largest charcoal iron furnace in Scotland.
It is now open for tours. Just past the Iron Works a few challengers had spent the night in the fields. As we approached them we could see it was our friend Willem Fox and his friend Leendert Bakker from the Netherlands.
Just past the Iron Works was the area that Andrew Glass had told us about last night at dinner. This section is what we had been concerned was too muddy to pass and since it led to a foot bridge across a river, which was our only way to proceed on our course, it was a concern. However when we found it, it was soft but easily passable if you were careful.
The footbridge was lovely and so was the river it ran across.
Just on the other side of the river was the Smokery and the Inverawe House. There is a fish hatchery on Loch Etive and the fish are raised and then smoked in the Smokery. Willem and Leendert stopped in to buy some smoked fish for their lunch (not being a fan of smoked fish I was tempted to get a scone, but my pack was so heavy with food already, I didn't need another thing!)
After the Smokery you start out in a county park, which had plenty of trails and was a very nice wooded area, of course there was some logging going on as well.
It was a lovely walk along Loch Etive all day. We crossed paths with Andrew from Canada yet again as we started to climb up around Loch Etive. He was sitting on the side of the path (below) very close to the rocks. I first thought that he was leaning close to get water that might be dripping from a spring or seep, but in fact he was curled up in almost a ball. He had an attack of extreme vertigo as the trail does slope quickly up the side of the hill. We stopped and chatted with him, got him to breath deeply and then offered to walk with them putting him on the inside of the trail and myself and Vicky toward the edge. We also gave him my hiking poles for better balance. Below is Vicky and Andrew walking up the trail. He did fine!
Loch Etive is a long loch! From Taynuilt almost 10 miles long
(remember to click on the pictures to see them much larger)
The perfect lunch spot along the lake
After lunch walking among the Gorse
A beautiful yellow flower, but beware the thorns!
The bright blue sky highlighted some snow still lingering up high on the tops. Ben Cruachan (1126 meters = 3694 feet)
eventually we made it to the River Kinglass. This is where Andrew and honestly everyone else that Went through Taynuilt was heading.... except us and maybe we should have!
River Kinglass- turning to the right up the glenn takes you to Glenkinglass Lodge on a good two track route and then on to the West Highland Way.
Our way showed a single dashed line on the map which turned out not to exist anymore. Maybe 50 years ago it was a trail but that has long since sunken into the bogs!
I knew this was a bad idea for Vicky the moment the trail ran out, just over the bridge as we would be on this path for the rest of today and tomorrow morning.
We tried to stay as close to the beach as possible but we couldn't always and when we were forced up higher the ground was boggy and hard going.
We only had 3.5 miles to go to reach our campsite for today and we did make it,but it did take a few hours to make it! I could tell Vicky was not having a good time. She had not been feeling well so far this trip and not having a trail to follow takes it out of her in a hurry.
Our campsite for the night along the Loch.
It was impossible to not appreciate the beauty and solitude of this campsite as we had to be the only people for miles in all directions and you could not hear a sound when the wind died down.
evening moved in around 9 pm
and it was only getting really dark around 10:30 pm. It was a perfect night. I was hoping this might be my chance at the Northern Lights, but some clouds rolled in just after sunset as I expected given the high cirrus clouds you can see at sunset. (below)
