Loch Lomond hike and Long Drive

Friday was our first planned hiking day. We went to Loch Lomond, famous in song, to hike the Conic Hill Trail, about 2.6 miles with 700 feet of elevation gain. Perhaps a bit more challenging than anticipated?

Fortunately, we had a description of the trail, and indicated which direction to follow for the loop. The first part was a wide stair fashioned from large flat stones.

While I was climbing, I thought about the description here as a “rocky trail with some high steps”. In Colorado, a rocky trail features loose, often jagged stones, not much human design. This was quite different, and thankfully so. We made it to the top of the engineered trail.

Brian and Clare at the top of their hike

So much plant variety!

A bonny lass on the bonny, bonny shore of Loch Lomond

Yes, Clare got muddy feet in a small stream she crossed. She washed her boots off in the loch.

Later, we lunched across Loch Lomond, with a view of the hill we climbed!

The long white line is plastic bags full of rocks, to make the rest of the trail more manageable. We made it to the tiny white dot to the right.

We stopped at the Kingshouse Hotel for a quick beverage. This place is a famous hangout and base for climbers, hikers, and skiers. The mountains surrounding this area are very steep with many waterfalls.

A lot of lochs reside along the Great Glen Fault and are connected to each other by locks along the Caledonian Canal. We finally arrived in Fort William just in time for dinner at the Silly Goose in the Lime Tree Hotel.