Day 5 Loch Trool to St. John’s Town of Dalry

We got an early start from the Clachan Inn for the walk I should’ve done yesterday from the south western end of Loch Trool back to St. John’s.  It was an hour’s drive to the Loch Trool car park so it was about 10 o’clock before I was able to set off.

The SUW around the loch had been diverted due to forestry work so I had to walk the path along the northern shore which, although good, didn’t allow decent views of what is reputed to be a very pretty loch.  That was a shame.

At the eastern end of the loch the trail gave way to a good forest track (though without the forest!) over moorland and increasingly gaining height.  I had a good view of the rather nice, small Loch Dee and several cyclists passed me going in the opposite direction.  Apparently part of this stretch of the SUW is a well-known and well used cycling trail.  There was a number of merrily tumbling streams and this was just one of ’em.

The weather wasn’t good – rain coming and going and it was one of those awful waterproofs on and off days that all walkers dislike.

I saw another walker ahead of me and, excited that I might have at last found another SUW walker, caught her up and had a brief chat.  It turned out that she was on a longish day walk and being picked up by her husband some miles ahead.  Another woman who passed me going the other way was also a day walker.  So I continued my solo ramble, happily listening to an audio book as the rain came and went.

The path was good all the way to a small road which I followed for a mile or two and then across a footbridge over a stream (Garroch Burn) and through fields, up and down and losing the path for a while.

As I walked in the afternoon the weather brightened up, it got warmer and dry.  So it was off (again!) with the waterproofs and thin fleece.  I came over the top of a hill and there in front of me was tonight’s destination – St. John’s Town of Dalry.  On several later walks I also crested a hill to find the day’s destination before me.  It’s a nice feeling.

I was back at the excellent Clachan Inn at about 6:15, showered, changed and headed to the bar for a couple of good pints – one a local, the other Fuller’s London Pride, on sale in Scotland, which felt either brave or diplomatic! Had fish and chips to eat and they were the best I’d had for a long time, with lovely light, non-greasy, crispy batter. Noelene had a ‘naked’ burger which she enjoyed.

I really do recommend the Clachan Inn.

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Click HERE to download the .gpx file of today’s walk

Some Photos From Day 5