My last day here and the weather is still wet and raining. I was packed up and on my way by 06:40am and my first objective was getting off the mountainside and down to the road along the shore of Loch Katrine. I descended to the river, crossed over and then through a gap in the fence to head down across wet ground following a line of canes stuck in the ground with coloured tape on the top. I followed them down to a fairly new deer fence which headed to the SE. It was too high to climb so I walked along its length to a point where it turned right to head straight down the steep hillside. I took a gentler gradient to get down but the last bit before the road was very steep and as there was another fence just before the road I had no choice but to climb over it.

Following the stream

By now the rain had increased and it was fairly miserable walking along the tarmac, even though it was relatively easy walking. I think the road is private but there is a public cycle track along it and soon I came to a distance marker on one of the bridges. It said Trossachs Pier 8 1/2 miles - Stron’lachar Pier 4 miles. So I had 4 miles to go before reaching the public road. The road entered a wooded area which gave some shelter from the rain then I came to the buildings of the Glengyle area.

Glengyle House site of the birthplace
of Rob Roy MacGregor (1671 – 1734)

The first were holiday lets then I came to the main Glengyle House which appeared empty but with evidence of some work being done inside. This is also the site of the birthplace of Rob Roy MacGregor (1671 – 1734) though he wasn’t borne in this house as it was built much later. The map shows a burial ground nearby which I’d read was that of the Clan MacGregor.

MacGregor burial ground

MacGregor burial ground

Off the road to the right I noticed an overgrown path heading into the woods and a stone walled enclosure. There was no sign of any kind so I thought I’d investigate. It was the burial ground with headstones covering a few centuries. The rain continued and so did I. Further along the road rounded the head of the loch and another a way marker said: Trossaches Pier 10 miles - Stron’lachar Pier 2 1/2 miles.

One of two tanker doing the re-fuelling

Old view of Glengyle House across Loch Katrine

Glengyle House this morning

Considering the main pier was only 2.5 mile away it seemed to take ages to get there. I didn’t go down to the pier but pressed on and up the hill to the single track road towards Inversnaid. Just after the road junction and left turn to Aberfoyle were security fencing and construction works for a new water treatment plant. I pressed on in the rain along the road. A path had been constructed to the north road and running roughly parallel but I didn’t take it. With the weather being so bad I just wanted to get the 4 miles out of the way. I hadn’t looked at my watch since leaving and was pleasantly surprised to see the time was only 10:35 when I got back to the car. Changing in to dry clothes was a luxury I’d been looking forward to. My drive home was straightforward and I was thankful to reach Moffat and find that Wallace Brothers butchers had some large steak pies left. So I bought one for next week’s tea.

Rob Roy MacGregor (1671 – 1734)