Day 3 in Scotland: walking the West Highland Way

Our second day of walking was definitely the farthest, with 20+ miles of trail plus a mile and a half of additional walking to get to our the town where we'd spend the night.
We spent the morning in woods near Loch Lomond, walking almost entirely on rocky paths with about an inch of water. The views of the lake were beautiful! We made an early stop at a hotel for a packed lunch of sandwiches, which I then carried with me until lunch.

Halfway through the morning, we came to signage pointing us to Rob Roy's cave. We ventured toward it - it seemed like the path vanished and turned into a sudden drop off into the water - and ran into another walker, coming back from the cave. He flat-out told us not to attempt it; it was a bit of a climb and slide over boulders, and not easy to avoid falling. Obviously I took that as incentive to clamber over the rocks, carrying both backpacks PLUS my little bag of sandwiches, and coaxing my terrified sister step by step, to the cave. Got to admit, it's pretty remote. Clever hiding place, Rob.

Afterward a sweet British couple offered to take our picture by the sign pointing to the cave, although they were mightily confused by the fact that I wanted the sandwiches included in the picture.

And then...and then the day got rough.

Because we walked and walked, and Melissa got tired, and it got dark, and then we were walking in a muddy cow pasture late at night and couldn't see anything, and it was raining. And then FINALLY we got to Crianlarich at 9 pm! Our sweet bed and breakfast host drove us, mud and all, to one of just a few restaurants in the town, calling the proprietor and begging him to keep the kitchen open for us. Thank goodness - I was cold and hungry, and a glass of Malbec and a venison burger was just the ticket! This kindness was so typical of the hospitality we received throughout our trip.