Day 9 - Kilsyth to Milngavie

We are at the end of day 9 now, on the banks of Loch Craigallian, having our tea and hot chocolate.  Today was a fun day of walking that saw us get off of the canal tow paths, and start heading north along the West Highland Way.  Scottish people seem to be very enthusiastic about the WHW, which goes from Milngavie to Fort William where Ben Nevis is located (Google homework from a previous post).  We will only see the first 25 km of this trail but are glad to have been on it.

We met an interesting trio on the canal path, the true life inspiration for Grumpy Old Men, played by Walter Mathau, Jack Lemon, and the other old guy who I forget.  They were hilarious!!  First off they told us our packs were too big, without even knowing where we were headed.  We travelled with them for a couple of kilometres and couldn't stop laughing the whole time.  If they weren't bickering with each other they were sending zingers our way.  One guy asked Ben my name.  When he told him, he asked what kind of name that was.  Ben told him French. The immediate response was, "I hate the French."  At the end of it the main guy wished us luck and said if we were ever back this way not to bother looking them up.  It was all in good fun and we appreciated them taking our minds off our feet for a while.

Scottish walkers take their walking and paths very seriously, and as a result there are lots of rights of way set up and enforced.  We have seen this on two occasions.  The first was yesterday as we basically walked through somebody's back yard.  I nearly had a heart attack when a huge Alsatian (sp.?) came at us barking from in his cage....  The second was as we crossed two different golf courses today.  I think we took part in the Balmore Golf Club ladies morning!!  Don't worry John Farrington, we used good course etiquette and waited for the foursome behind us to play through before we crossed the 16th fairway!

We decided to get a juice before the last push into Milngavie when we saw a little tea house in Balmore - The Coach House.  It is a fair trade gift/tea/coffee shop.  There was lots of cool stuff inside.  As we walked up the owner was outside in the second hand book shed.  We struck up a conversation, and eventually realized she was closed on Mondays.  Nevertheless, she opened up for us to get two cold drinks and use the loo, and let us sit on the patio to take our break.  We gave her a Canada pin as thanks.

We made good time to Milngavie (pronounced Milnguy by most) and stopped for some grub, and supplies.  We watched a bit more Wimbledon while eating.  Andy Murray was about to play as we left and it seemed to be picking up in there.

About five different people in Milngavie asked us if we were prepared for the Midges or Midgies, so we decided to pick up some Midgie repellant.  We've had a few already in the first week but not as bad as it seems to get according to the locals.  As always, the Scots seem to be looking out for us - thank you Ian MacDonald for calling ahead on our behalf!!

Another 5 km after that found us at our current location, which might be our best wild camping spot yet.  You know we've been through all of the important stuff when tent talk comes down to "Would you rather be a carrot or a tomato?" - "I don't know." - "Well I'd rather be a carrot because you're protected in the ground from all the animals that want to eat you."  Makes sense...

Tomorrow we might stop at the Glengoyne distillery for a quick tour and to top up our water bottles (with water), then on to Drymen for a late lunch, and then on to our next wild camp.

Thanks for reading everybody!