Day 27: Drymen Campsite to Bar Hill
? 36km
?466m
It rained very heavily throughout the night, I woke needing a wee and waited for the rain to lighten up before dashing to the farm barn where the toilets were.
We set the alarm for 06:00 and when it woke us thankfully the rain had stopped. There was the occasional ray of sunshine through the very dark clouds. We packed up bags, eating breakfast inside the tent, and then took the opportunity to get the tent down in the dry. It was not due to rain again until about 09:00 so we risked it and left camp with waterproofs to hand but not on.
There was a small section of road to start with then field hopping via a nice dry path, we had the Campsie Fells to our left all the way and it was beautifully green with meadow flowers lining the path but we were definitely leaving the Highlands of Scotland.
We met a big group of lads who had started the West Highland Way early, hoping to get to Balmaha for the Scotland game. They had matching outfits, were doing the 96 mile walk for charity and were in good spirits.
About 5 minutes after we left the gang the heavens opened for a short shower, so we scrambled on the waterproof gear, left it on as long as we could to try and get it dry and then it was off again for the rest of the day.
We continued on, leaving the West Highland Way, just as it gets boring, to join the John Muir Trail. About half a km in a runner checked in with us to make sure we were not lost, turns out he was an ultra runner and we got chatting and explained what we were up to. He was super chuffed for us and reassured us that we were sensible to have started off with lower distances. Soon we were skirting the outskirts of Strathblane and I was craving a coffee, luckily we walked straight passed the Kirkhouse Inn where the lovely lady inside made me a gorgeous takeaway latte which I dipped my Twix into and away we went.
We joined a tarmac path which ran along the river and within 500m we met Chris a fellow End to Ender he was heading north and told us a bit about his trip so far including that we were the 7th and 8th people he had met doing the same thing. We exchanged photos and social details and went our separate ways.
We were very excited to have finally met someone else doing the same trip as us and this boosted our mood along the tarmac that would be our trail for the next 2 and a bit days. A few runners and cyclists passed us by but it was a relatively quiet path, we stopped at one of the many benches to eat our sandwiches for lunch and then carried on. We managed to dodge the rain for the rest of the day and kept plodding along the tarmac path through Lennox Town and Milton of Campsie.
We picked up some water and sweet treats in Lidl in Kirkintilloch before joining the canal path to Kilsyth. We made our way up to the Bar Hill and the Roman Fort, hanging around for a bit, but it started to looked a bit showery in the distance so pitched the tent. We were not exactly subtle but it was a good spot and there were no signs saying we could not camp there. A couple of hours later a group of 4 ladies arrived to do the same so we committed to the spot, unpacked our bags and cooked noodles for dinner.
Day 28: Bar Hill to Loch Farm Campsite (Linlithgow)
? 38km
?194m
We woke early at 05:30 and I found it hard to wake up, I had not slept well, I think because our wild camp spot had not been very wild, so was a little on the sleepy side.
I eventually got going, we packed up and were on the road by 07:00. We passed a runner with his walking sticks coming up the hill, but apart from that saw no one else, we made our way down to the road to re-join the canal. Tom at least made the most of the flat ground and walked without his knee brace, trying to even up the dodgy tan lines on his left leg. ?
Just as we joined we saw an elderly gentlemen with a sizeable pack so could have been our second End to Ender but he avoided eye contact and marched straight passed. We then spent the rest of the day on the tow path, leaving it to change canals from the Forth and Clyde to them Union.
This section of the canal wasn’t actually too bad aside from the tarmac. There was less rubbish, the scenery was much nicer, there were herons and ducks with ducklings. It was quite busy to start with, people on early morning walks or commutes, and when it quietened down a bit, we both listened to a couple of Desert Island Discs podcasts, one with Ian Wright, the other with Brian Cox (actor, not astronomer). This was the first time we have listened to music, or anything for that matter, on trail. There is normally plenty to keep you entertained/concentrate on and neither of us have felt the need so far. Today on the canal path, there wasn’t much of interest or to concentrate on. It certainly helped the day go by and was nice to listen to some tunes!
This was a fun junction because the Union Canal is higher so there is a wheel at Falkirk by a visitor’s centre that takes the boats up, we watched the magic happen and had a cup of tea and a wee at the visitors centre.
We ate lunch sat on the seats in Polmont train station because we were desperate to rest our feet and couldn’t find a bench anywhere.
We travelled through 2 tunnels one right at the start of the canal with rainbow lights the other The Falkirk Tunnel, located just behind Falkirk High Station, was created nearly 200 years ago and was originally used for transporting coal, today it carries the Union Canal beneath Prospect Hill in Falkirk and connects Falkirk to the heart of Edinburgh. The Falkirk Tunnel is 630 meters long and really fun to walk through. It was dripping water through and two little girls laughed at us for putting on our waterproofs and hoods up to go through but the 2 old ladies we met in there were jealous.
We finally got to Linlithgow, Tom picked up some treats from the shop and then headed to the campsite which was next to the motorway and as we feared was rather run down and far from ideal.
Toilets and showers were basic, a bit broken and dirty. But we did what we needed to do and showered but also got to do laundry which was one of the main reasons for staying there.
About 18:00 we heard some music and after a few songs of listening more carefully realised it was the sound of a full on cheesy wedding disco straight out of Phoenix Nights. We never worked our exactly where it was coming from and if there was anyone in a crowd somewhere but it was all over by 21:00. We also ordered pizza to be delivered to the campsite, we have been eating about 18:30 most nights so when they said it could not be delivered until 19:30 and then actually arrived at 19:50 it’s safe to say we were qualified to eat the 18″ each that we had ordered.
It was a muggy night and we both woke in the middle of the night a bit on the sweaty side.
The downer of the day for me, no doubt irritated by the long day on the tarmac, was that my blisters had doubled in size and the plasters useless. Now too big and painful we opted to burst, antiseptic and cover with new plasters.
Day 29: Loch Farm Campsite to Baddinsgill Reservoir (West Linton)
? 42km
?683m
Today was always going to be a big day distance wise so we woke at 05:30 in the rain and got cracking.
It continued to drizzle all morning but it was not too bad as we were back on the tow path so it was easy cruising.
We kept going until bridge 27 where we were advised to take the town route and were at first disappointed that the Lidl had moved location, but then had fun in a posh Co-op instead, getting a pastry each for second breakfast, Costa coffee from the machine, more breakfasts for the next few days and what we went in for, water. We then continued through the town and along Station Road to rejoin the canal at bridge 23. We got to a viaduct where a group were SUPing and passed back under it to join a country park walk along a river and a bisse. It was great to be off the tow path and the trail was great fun through trees and by the water.
We stopped for lunch and a either stupidly or luckily checked my blisters. The plasters had swollen up with liquid and I was getting another blister on the other side of one foot so a bit further on when it started to rain again we hid in a tunnel under a road to sort out stuff including putting on an extra blister plaster. I was a bit upset and panicky now about the seriousness of the blisters but ultimately there was not much I could do but plaster up, drug up, and keep walking.
We continued up a road and then up and over Corston Hill (348m). This was particularly painful on the heels as we were climbing on not that much of a path but the reward was seeing Edinburgh in the distance and spotting all the key landmarks, The Forth Bridge, Edinburgh Castle and Arthur’s Seat.
We then descended to a car park to join the start of the Cross Borders Drove Road which took us back up and over Cauldstane Slap.
By this point I was tired and in some pain from the blisters, but we completed our first marathon day pitching up to wild camp just at the top of thieves road in a field. It did not take long for the midges to sniff us out and this would be the start of our second serious midge encounter.
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