Day 5) Tyndrum to Bridge Of Orchy, West Highland Way
Sunday 4th September – Wild campsite (2 miles South of Tyndrum) to Bridge Of Orchy wild campsite. (9 miles/15 kilometres)
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Blazing sun and flat farmland as we leave the riverside for now. The ruins of the Priory of Saint Fillian appear on the left with explanatory Way signage. We're not historical architecture buffs though, and continue on in the heat.
The pointy hill is Beinn Dorain, a distinctive peak which features on the front cover of our guide book. The funny shaped thing in the foreground is Alan's hand - you think he would have learned how to take a photo by now!
Beinn Dorain as we pass it, with its steep scree slopes.
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What has Alan spotted? Some tall conifers which have been bizarrely cleaved in two, with branches on one side and not the other.
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A lovely river spot for a break and a drink.
We leave the campsite and cross the River Fillian on a long straight farm road that passes the ruins of St. Fillian’s Priory, a small ruin that may be of interest to some – but we’re here for the great outdoors man! We both, to an extent, continue to suffer from “head feels like a block wood” syndrome, something Alan attributes to breakfast and decides to try not eating the next day. Or maybe it’s the massive carbohydrate-loaded evening meals? Most of today’s path turns out to be a military road, long and wide, winding through reasonably impressive hills. Apart from that, little is remarkable, and this day in combination with the previous one (I.e. Bienglas to Bridge of Orchy) really falls down compared to the rest of the WHW in our opinion. We’re talking mostly bland, rolling scenery with little in the way of challenging terrain or interesting sights. Ben Dorain is an exception, and its striking steep pyramid shape features on the front of our guidebook – we find the spot where the photo was probably taken from. Further on, an old lead refinery site has effectively frozen the area it occupied in time – nothing has grown here in the poisoned soil for 150 years! You could mistake it for a modern building site or derelict area. A train whisks by at this point with old fashioned rolling stock, including sleeper carriages – this will be the Caledonian sleeper train advertised on a large sign further on at Bridge of Orchy. We see many hikers on this stretch, several of whom we have seen before. At Tyndrum, they make for a large commercial complex “The Green Welly Shop” while we, in keeping with the suggestion in our guidebook, give our custom to the smaller locally owned market shop. Tyndrum is obviously a motorbiking mecca, and the forecourt of the Green Welly is filled with motorbikes and motorbikers arranging themselves in various poses on their gleaming machines – in fact the area is used literally as a Grand Prix circuit, with bikers continually racing around the mountains on long, curving roads, slowing for other traffic and then going full pelt.
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A path into the woods, (Oh oh Alan, hope there's no axe murderers there!)
Midge net ("no-see-um mesh") is a mandatory requirement for the Bridge of Orchy campsite!
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Bridge of Orchy wild campsite comes complete with water source, picnic tables and on this occasion a crowd of other tents. Bridge of Orchy is one of Scotland's many Munroist meccas, and several of these campers will likely be out bagging tomorrow...
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In extreme cold, the practise of peeing into a bottle in the tent avoids frostbite. In the Scottish summer, this same practise avoids "midgebite".
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A handful of midges wiped from the inside of the tent by a midge repellent covered hand.
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An engorged tick between the toes. This one came out in one piece, only to reveal an infant tick hiding underneath it. Our advice: look yourself over carefully every night and morning if you're walking in the summer months.
After another comparatively short day of only 9 miles, we gratefully reach the wild campsite perched beside the wide River Orchy at 5pm. Two groups are already there, and the site quickly fills to 7 tents by evening. Jo later spots our first tick, embedded in Alan’s stomach and engorged with blood. Agh!!! We are able to remove it, though tear it in half during the procedure. We later find more feeding ticks between Alan’s toes and on Jo’s arm. Double Arg!!! These were most likely aquired either at last night’s camp site, or in the red deer territory we have passed through today. We resolve to remain vigilant for Lyme symptoms over the next month or two. The site is midge infested, though our repellant tempers their ferocity as we prepare dinner on one of the picnic benches. It’s utterly delicious – Super Noodles (which we recommend), apricots and smoked sausage. It’s going to be a longer day tomorrow with 13 hilly miles to cover.
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