Tuesday 29 April.
At last the weather was looking promising for the walk from Helensburgh to Balloch, the first stage of the ‘John Muir Way’ that we postponed last week. We waited to double check the TV weather forecast, it was looking nice outside and the forecast was very promising, so it was up early to get ready. Moira made the lunch, a flask of coffee and sandwiches. We also packed the iPad with the map of the route in the day pack; our guide book hadn’t arrived yet from amazon. Moira drove over the Erskine Bridge and round to Balloch where we left the car in the car park opposite the bus terminus. The car park was free and we were able to leave it there all day.
The plan was to take the bus to Dumbarton and catch a connection from there to Helensburgh. We put our boots on, the route was reportedly very muddy, and went over to the bus that was waiting. It took half an hour to get to Dumbarton as the bus went round the housing estates of Balloch, Alexandria and Renton. We got off the bus in Dumbarton at the bridge over the River Leven, the area where I worked in the ‘60s. It was only over to the other side of the road to the bus stop for our connection and only a few minutes to wait. This bus was more direct, along the main road to Helensburgh in 15 minutes.
The John Muir ‘Coast to Coast’ Way started at the front near the pier head and that was where we made for. At the pier we saw two girls coming in the opposite direction with daypacks and they looked like walkers. I asked them if they were doing the same walk, no, they were heading for Gareloch but they knew the John Muir walk and gave us directions to follow to keep to the right track. We walked over to the turning up Sinclair St and spotted the tourist info office so we went there to enquire about the trail. They had maps in sections for the whole route to Dunbar; we bought one, just £6. There was another couple there also buying the map, the man was doing today’s section but his wife was driving to Balloch to pick him up at the end. The woman in the tourist office said the start was at the pier and the man was going there to begin but we had come from there and just headed up Sinclair St. This was actually the ‘wrong’ way and was why we didn’t see any waymarkers initially. We should have gone straight up from the pier, up Colquhoun St; this ran parallel with Sinclair St and the two streets joined together after The Hill House at the top of the town.
THE HILL HOUSE
This outstanding example of design by architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928) was completed in 1904 for publisher Walter Blackie. It weaves Arts and Crafts, Art Nouveau, and Scottish Baronial styles into a harmonious whole. Mackintosh designed everything – not only the building but also the furnishings, fittings and gardens.
It was donated to the National Trust for Scotland in 1982 and has been faithfully restored. It is open afternoons daily from March to late October (admission charge) and has a café.
See: www.nts.org.uk.
Sinclair St was a long steady climb through the town; it came through the shopping area then past houses to the Upper Helensburgh railway station. It kept climbing to the junction with the road coming from The Hill House. There was a pavement all the way through town then when that finished a cycle track beside the road to walk on. The road was fairly busy with traffic heading over to Luss and Loch Lomond. We were walking at a good pace even though it was uphill and our boots were taking a while for our feet to get used to them again. The weather was initially cool with a slight mist over the tops and still a bit of cloud cover. When we started out my back was a bit sore, but it soon cleared when warmed up. My throat was also sore but it wasn’t getting any better.
According to the map we stayed on the road until we took a right hand turn into the woods at a point marked Daligan. There weren’t any signs or waymarks along the road and the first one we came to was at a gate to a track on the right. The ‘John Muir’ arrow was before this turn and it wasn’t clear whether it was pointing straight along the road or to take this path. A signpost said that the track went to Craigendoran which on consulting the map was shown to be on the coast just outside Helensburgh. We were undecided whether to carry on along the road or turn when the man we met at the tourist office caught up with us and confirmed that we kept to the road. It was about another 15 minutes before we reached the turn to the right at Daligan which was clearly marked. From that point on the route indicators were excellent and there were no problems following the correct route.
Now in the forest it was climbing again, quite steeply at first as the track, a wide forestry path, made its way through the trees. At the top there was another climb off the route to the view point at Gook Hill, 277 metres. There we stopped and had lunch, relaxing, stretched out on the bracken where we admired the magnificent panorama. It was still a little hazy with the last of the early mist and didn’t give clear photographs but it was enjoyable just sitting and looking. Loch Lomond stretched out below us and dominated by Ben Lomond at the top end. In the distance to the left were the Arrochar Alps and far behind the ‘Ben’ we could see the ‘Munros’ of the Crianlarich Hills. This view alone made the walk and climb well worthwhile.
After our lunch of coffee, sandwiches and an apple we began our descent towards Balloch. The track coming up was fairly dry but now the route descended steeply through the trees on a narrow very muddy path, it was fortunate that we had our heavy boots on. Once clear of the trees it was back onto a nice firm wide track.
The sides of the track were lined by bright yellow gorse bushes and the air pungent with the cloying odour similar to coconuts that they generate. The signposting was very good and had to be as there were a few other walks branching off, ‘The Three Lochs Way’ and the walk from Balloch to Cardross, the major ones. The track eventually changed to tar, the Stoneymollan Road, a coffin road that people used to carry their dead up to consecrated ground.
We could now see the town of Balloch below and the road made its way through Loch Lomond Shores. We stopped at the edge of the loch to have the last of the coffee from the flask and had a wonderful view of the paddle steamer, the ‘Maid of the Loch’ with Ben Lomond in the background. It was now just a short walk through the park to the bridge over the head of the River Leven with all the various sailing craft tied up at the marina.
LOCH LOMOND SHORES
Sited on the loch shore near Balloch are a large array of attractions in various buildings, with shops including clothing, antiques and jewellery. In the Gateway Centre you’ll find a café, gift shop and children play area. There are three cafes, a restaurant and a beach kiosk. Visit the Bird of Prey centre, the Sea Life Aquarium or enjoy outdoor activities, mainly based on the loch. It is open daily year-round, from 10am to 5or 6pm. See: www.lochlomondshores.com
Back at the car it was a relief to get the boots off, our feet weren’t used to them and they were also a bit heavy. Moira drove home; I had been slowly getting worse with my sore throat towards the end of the walk now on the drive back I steadily got worse. By the time we were home I was feeling terrible and glad to get to bed with a cup of tea and a couple of pain killers.
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