Day 82 of the End to End took me back to the Scotland I remember from holidays in my childhood. We would holiday in Scotland during the summer and I still have a journal I kept when I was 9 years old (it’s the oldest journal I still have). Grey sky, rain in varying amounts, views obscured by clouds and then, if the weather cleared, a paddle at the water’s edge somewhere at the end of the day.
Today I took the train from Carsdyke to Gourock while Bob took the car across the Clyde via the Erskine bridge. I got to take the Kilcreggan ferry, a small pedestrian ferry across to the Roseneath Peninsula.
There were not many passengers but there were Eider Ducks on the water.
At Kilcreggan I called in at the post office and also got a sausage roll as a snack before the serious walking. I walked along the coast road and admired a well known rock on the beach that has become a local landmark.
Bob parked at Garelochhead and walked back towards me. Meanwhile I had various adventures: a lot of caterpillars on nettles (maybe Peacock butterfly again), a cow in the middle of the road and two butterfly orchids on the roadside.
We met on the road across the Peninsula on a very steep hill. We stopped for lunch at the Peaton Hill community nature reserve where it was good to have a sit down.
The second half of the days walk was along the Gareloch. The road was busier and there were views of the Faslane Base. The rain got a bit heavier and after the welcome shore path across the top of Gareloch, we stopped at the Perch Cafe for some afternoon tea including some very tasty cakes.
It was then only a short walk to Station Road where today’s walk ended. There was a drive to the Arrochar hotel which is beside Loch Long where we are staying. The rain continued to fall and the low cloud obscured the Loch views, more like a holiday in my childhood.
From Psalm 147
God covers the sky with clouds supplying the earth with rain and making grass grow on the hills.
The rain is a vital part of a cycle that makes the hills green and fills the lochs with water. The land is the land because of the rain.
God grant a quiet night and a peaceful end.
JAL 05.07.2019
Day 82 of the End to End, Gourock to Garelochhead via Kilcreggan ferry.
9