The Club Summer Holiday – Bill (Oct 2002)

After bidding goodbye to our fellow members at the end of the weekend in Yorkshire (where a good time was had by all despite the usual Yorkshire weather) we two [Bill and Chris – Ed] headed off to spend the night in The Pulpit of a former chapel in Kirkby Stephen, superbly converted into a youth hostel. The Pulpit turned out to be the name of one of the dorms, fortunately for us.

On Monday morning Scotland beckoned, our destination Rowardennan SHYA hostel on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond.  

I was unaware of it at the time but parts of the area had been flooded in August due to heavy rain but saw no sign of this during our stay. The weather was good for the entire holiday, something almost unparalleled in the histories of both Scotland & NKHC.

Taking advantage of the dryness above and under foot we went walking every day, even donning boots for a leg stretcher on arrival at the hostel. It will amaze some that no castles or stately homes were visited. We also resisted all loch cruises and ferry trips on offer. We did however take the opportunity to tour the new visitor centre at Balloch that opened earlier this year as part of the ‘promotion’ of the area as Scotland’s first national park.

Disappointingly this seemed to be a commercial exercise aimed at separating visitors from their money with shops, cafes, an IMAX cinema and an aquarium of some sort. Fortunately lack of time meant we didn’t have to decide which ones not to patronise and we avoided them all.

Hills ascended included the most southerly Munro (Ben Lomond, 3192 ft) and the highest point in the Trossachs (Ben Ledi, 2873 ft). As many will know the Trossachs is the area where the Highlands meets the Lowlands. Until 400 million years ago the Highlands formed part of the American continent but split off and collided into Britain and where they meet is the Highland Boundary Fault. One of our walks crossed the divide but luckily there were no big holes in the ground. Another walk along Conic Hill followed the line of the fault that could be seen to continue through Loch Lomond as a chain of islands. The view from each hill was superb with lochs and high hills abounding, especially to the north with mountain after mountain on display.

By going mid-September we had hoped to avoid other tourists and the midges. There certainly were no crowds but the midges were surprisingly abundant, materialising out of nowhere - happily few bites were sustained. To the best of our knowledge only one tick was encountered. It received medical attention but was pronounced DOA at the health centre. More welcome wildlife would have been red deer, red squirrels or even eagles but sadly they kept a low profile.

We had to leave on Saturday but couldn’t resist the chance to climb one final hill. Ben A’an is ‘only’ 1,512 feet but is another noted viewpoint. In common with all the other hills we climbed it doesn’t waste time with flat bits – every inch is uphill, often very steeply, and once at the top the only way is down. This certainly took a toll on my legs, which found the going increasingly hard as the week went on. What with this and Chris longing for a pint of English beer our thoughts turned southward. The journey home was broken at Blackpool for tram rides and the illuminations before the inevitable tussle with the M6.

In our few days we were only able to scratch the surface of what the area has to offer, especially for the more intrepid, so there’s plenty of reason to return.

Thank you to Chris for his usual persistence and organisational thoroughness in putting the trip together.