It is estimated that over 100,000 people walk sections of the West Highland Way each year, and today we added 21 more to that number as Bernadette led us out of the Rowardennan car park heading north on the main forest track enroute to the remote bothy at Rowchoish. It is not long before you branch off the main track as it starts to climb up the hillside into the forest and you take to the very narrow, single track that now dips down towards the shoreline of Loch Lomond.

A shoreline track this may be, but it is by no means a leisurely stroll. Trees and scrub, interspersed with small rocky outcrops, gullies and watercourses make this a walk where care is needed to ensure a secure footfall in many places. Concentration is required, and I am sure that many a WHW walker with a heavily laden rucksack may well have a few chosen phrases to describe the minor ups and downs along the way. Awkward underfoot, but at eye level a pure joy. The views out over Loch Lomond towards the nearby Arrochar Alps were quite stunning from every vantage point along the way as the photographs below will show.

Rowchoish Bothy is located a short distance in from the shoreline with the track swinging away and slightly uphill from the shoreline as you approach the bothy. Interestingly, this area has seen settlements for hundreds of years, with at least nine families having been recorded as living at Rowchoish in 1759, with the current bothy having originally been the byre for Rowchoish cottage which was inhabited till the late 1930s. The byre, extensively repaired and re-roofed is now maintained by The Mountain Bothy Association. Today it provided us with a resting place for our lunch break, although in todays fine weather conditions, some opted to dine “al fresco”.

Our return to Rowardennan was a two-way affair. Seven of us, with Bernadettes approval, returned via the high level forest track, while the remainder retraced their steps over the outbound route, and quite amazingly both groups arrived simultaneously at the convergence of the lower and higher paths for the final stretch back to Rowardennan.

A brilliant and very interesting walk, thanks to all for your company, and many thanks to Bernadette for a great day.