Joel Varty
Loch Lomond and its islands from the summit of Conic Hill, with the sky opening up overhead
Series: Scotland Hiking Expedition

Day Two: Conic Hill and the Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond

Travelphotography

Day Two of the Scotland trip. Up Conic Hill at Loch Lomond, an old song my dad used to sing, stone steps on the way down, a stop at Luss, and on to the Kings House on the West Highland Way.

Today we climbed Conic hill at Loch Lomond. As we hiked, I was reminded of my dad singing along with John McDermott to this song.

By Yon Bonnie Banks and by yon Bonnie Braes,
Where the sun shines bright on Loch Lomon',
Where my and my true love, will never meet again, on the bonnie bonnie banks of Loch Lomond
Oh you take the high road and I'll take the low, and I'll be in Scotland a-for ye…

He would sing that while milking the cows. He was always singing, as I remember him then.

We were in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, Scotland's first, set up back in 2002. The trail follows part of the West Highland Way before peeling off up Conic Hill itself, an eleven-hundred-and-eighty-foot peak sitting right on the Highland Boundary Fault.

It was perfect weather for hiking, cool with some wind to keep the midges at bay. All we needed to do was walk.

The trail starts in the trees, all that height looking straight up
The trail starts in the trees, all that height looking straight up
Some seriously gnarled old trees in the woods on the way up
Some seriously gnarled old trees in the woods on the way up
Looking back down the trail, the loch already showing through the gap
Looking back down the trail, the loch already showing through the gap
Our guide running through something at one of the stops on the way up
Our guide running through something at one of the stops on the way up
One of the dark rocky shoulders of Conic Hill above us, still a fair way to go
One of the dark rocky shoulders of Conic Hill above us, still a fair way to go

I can honestly say that coming down was harder this time. The stone steps that have been laid in the last few years are great, but you have to be careful where you step.

The stone steps that make the descent easier and trickier at the same time
The stone steps that make the descent easier and trickier at the same time

The views were spectacular, to say the least. It was breathtaking to stand there and think of the generations of Scots (and tourists, but that's less romantic) who have taken in that same view. You're looking out across the islands of Loch Lomond to the Arrochar Alps lined up beyond.

Standing on the ridge with the loch curling away on both sides
Standing on the ridge with the loch curling away on both sides
A clearer look at the loch and the islands with the mountains lined up behind
A clearer look at the loch and the islands with the mountains lined up behind
Loch Lomond from the ridge, the cloud sitting low on the mountains across the water
Loch Lomond from the ridge, the cloud sitting low on the mountains across the water
The cloud rolling down into the loch on the far shore
The cloud rolling down into the loch on the far shore
A moody one with the rain coming in over the far hills
A moody one with the rain coming in over the far hills
The wide panorama from the top with the loch and the islands stretched out below
The wide panorama from the top with the loch and the islands stretched out below
Looking the other way, the farmland and the haze running off into the distance
Looking the other way, the farmland and the haze running off into the distance
Pausing on a high point with the green patchwork rolling out behind us
Pausing on a high point with the green patchwork rolling out behind us
Catching my breath at the top, all that green stretching out behind
Catching my breath at the top, all that green stretching out behind
And the postcard shot, the islands sitting in the loch behind me
And the postcard shot, the islands sitting in the loch behind me

All in it was about four miles and three hours, with around eleven hundred and fifty feet of climb.

We stopped in at Luss on the way around the Loch to stand at the water's edge itself before carrying on to our hotel the Kings House, a place right on the West Highland Way path. Lots of travellers stay here on foot as they hike.

After Luss we kept going north out of the park and up into Glen Coe, which is where the Kings House actually sits, with the mountains right there out the windows.

The Kings House, right on the West Highland Way and full of hikers passing through
The Kings House, right on the West Highland Way and full of hikers passing through

Before dinner at the Kings House tonight a storyteller came in with a harp and told us about Corrag, the witch of Glen Coe.

Our storyteller and her clarsach at the Kings House, just before she started in on Corrag
Our storyteller and her clarsach at the Kings House, just before she started in on Corrag

The way the tale goes, Corrag saw the Glencoe Massacre coming and tried to warn the chief of the MacDonalds. He wouldn't listen. So she took his sword and threw it into the loch, and said that as long as that sword stayed where it was, no man from the Glen would ever fall in battle again.

For a few hundred years it held. Through Culloden, through Waterloo, men from Glencoe came home. Then in 1916 a dredger pulled an old sword handle out of the water at Loch Linnhe. The very next day was the first day of the Battle of the Somme, and seven men from the Glen were killed.

Sitting in a wood-panelled room after a day on the hills, listening to a story like that, you remember pretty quickly that this country has a long memory.

Wandered into the Kings House Bar after to close the night out. They have a row of whisky flight boards on the menu, three drams each, designed around regions or moods. I went with the Highland Mixture: Clynelish 14, Fettercairn 12, and Cragganmore 12.

Sat there with all three lined up on the wooden board, taking them in order, the bar warm and cozy - a wood fire burning in the corner fireplace. Good way to unwind after a long day!

The Highland Mixture lined up, three drams on the wooden board
The Highland Mixture lined up, three drams on the wooden board
The flight board menu, in case you're curious what was in mine
The flight board menu, in case you're curious what was in mine

More where that came from

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