Laura's Blog: The fantasy land of lochs, mountain ranges and mythical creatures

I remember feeling so free and tuned in to the fresh air telling me to stand in awe of creation. I remember feeling the frost tightening the skin of my face, taking away those dead skin cells and any possibilities of wrinkles. I remember feeling so lucky to have the amazing hiking trails around Loch Lomond so close by to escape to.

It all started last March when we had a sudden down pour of snow. Literally EVERYTHING stopped, including universities, shops selling milk and bread, and even church services. My now fiancée and I had planned on meeting up one Sunday, but when we discovered church was cancelled due to the snow, we spontaneously decided to go for a few hours hike part of the way along a popular trail called The West Highland Way in Loch Lomond.

The West Highland Way is Scotland’s most well-known hike to see amazing Scottish country side along the famous lake called Loch Lomond. The full walk would take from 5-7 days to complete non-stop, but we just wanted to do a quick few hours along the walk. We had done the walk previously in Summer, and we really enjoyed seeing all the magical waterfalls, views of the lakes, mountain ranges and hearing sounds of sheep baaing. Therefore, I was really looking forward to seeing it in Winter with all the snow everywhere. Don’t these pictures just look so invitingly peaceful?

I must admit, it was really hard seeing where the path was in all the snow… Luckily my the boyfriend and now fiancée was born in Scotland and had been on the walk many times before to know where to walk. Don’t let this put you off going for part of the walk though!! When there isn’t any snow it is really quite easy to see where the path is.

So here we are at the final viewpoint (can you see the crocodile-like monster in the lake?). We then decided to walk back to the car, after seeing a snow cloud coming closer, and then having an amazing roast dinner at the Drovers Inn, a mere 5-minute walk away from the starting place of the walk. I loved this walk so much, and I am sure you would too!!

I hope I have inspired you to take a walk outside and appreciate how amazing it is to live in Scotland! I would highly recommend taking this walk at least once in your life, it will leave you feeling so peaceful, like you have just entered into a fantasy land of lochs, mountain ranges and mythical monsters.

To take the same hike as me, it would take you around 2 and a half hours by car and around 3 hours by train and bus to get to the start of the hike. You could take the train from Edinburgh to Ardlui, and then take a 10-minute bus ride from there to Inverarnan to start the walk. Now you can do this trip in one day or stay the night. There are two types of accommodation nearby: Beinglas Campsite in either tents or cabins, or hotel rooms at the Drovers Inn nearby. 

Read more about my hike and other hikes at Loch Lomond