The West Highland Way - Day 1 of 6 - Milngavie to Balmaha, Amazing first days hiking. Simply Superb. скачать в хорошем качестве

The West Highland Way - Day 1 of 6 - Milngavie to Balmaha, Amazing first days hiking. Simply Superb.

The West Highland Way is Scotland's premier long distance footpath. The hike is 96 miles (154 km) long and runs from Milngavie north of Glasgow to Fort William in the Scottish Highlands. It is estimated 36,000 walk the entire route annually and is considered by ourselves to be one of the best long distance trails in the world Monday 13th May Milngavie to Balmaha, Day 1 We had travelled up to Milngavie, Glasgow the night before by train from Manchester (where we live). We checked into the Premier Lodge (there are 2 very close to each other), where our luggage would be collected from and carried for us to our next destination. It was a beautiful sunny day, with a good weather forecast for the week. We left the hotel at 7.30am and went to the nearby Tesco to purchase sandwiches, fruit etc for lunch. The walk begins from an obelisk in the centre of town, which the locals are more than happy to give you directions to. We called in Greggs Bakery nearby, and sat on a bench by the start of the walk, eating our breakfast whilst watching many excited walkers arrive. After taking the customary photos we set off on the clearly marked path, and soon left the town through miles of beautiful bluebell woods. Greggs Bakery, Monday to Saturday 6.30am- 5.30pm. Sunday 9am-4pm 6 Douglas Street, Milngavie, G62 6PB https://www.greggs.co.uk/ We continued, passing a picturesque lake on the right an hour later, arriving at Beech Tree Restaurant and Cafe Bar at 10.40am. This looked lovely, with breakfast served from 10.30am-12, and an extensive food menu. There is an attractive picnic area, if you are eating your own food. The cafe is set in the old station, the line was shut in 1951. We continued as we had eaten earlier. http://www.thebeechtreeinn.co.uk/ We passed Turnip the Beet Cafe at 11am, they had a lunch time deal on and drinks and cake. https://www.turnipthebeet.co.uk/ Again we passed by. Many walkers spend day one walking from Milngavie to Drymen a distance of 12 miles, we had decided this would be too short a day so continued. We ate our lunch at 12.30pm, with the first fantastic views of Loch Lomond. Loch Lomond is the largest lake in Great Britain and provides Central Scotland with its drinking water. The walk continues through fields and forests, until at 2.15pm we reached a split in the path. The road to the left can be taken to Balmaha, which is a great alternative if you are tired or the weather is poor. The main West Highland Way path goes to the back of Conic Hill. We took this following gravel and earth paths, with sustained steep sections, some steps and a stile and finally attained the top of the path at 3.30pm. We thought this was well worth the effort with tremendous views over Loch Lomond. From here there is a path to the left which goes to the top of the Hill (361m), we opted not to do this, and sat looking at the views instead. The path is not easy going down, being steep and stony. We reached the car park in Balmaha at 4.15pm. Conic Hill is a popular walk from Balmaha, and we passed many people walking up. In Balmaha there is a village shop which is open every day from 7.30-10pm, useful but quite expensive. We bought bread, salmon, and tomatoes for tea. There is a coffee and ice cream shop next door to the village shop that shuts at 6pm, also The Oak Tree pub, which has accommodation and a lovely if slightly expensive menu. https://www.theoaktreeinn.co.uk/ We stayed at the Balmaha Inn booking in advance on Bookings.com, expensive at £99.00 for a very small modern room, but with fantastic views over the lake. When we checked in we found that the breakfast is not served till 8am, and having another long days walk would have preferred breakfast earlier. https://www.balmahainn.com/ However, day one had gone better than we thought, it was a beautiful day, with fantastic views, great weather and new friends to meet. Distance Miles 20.41 Duration of Walk Hours 9.11 Average Pace Min/Mile 27 Steps 56260 Elevation gained in feet 1844