There was a lot to consider in keeping an almost 7 year old motivated - where to stay, eating stops, play parks and also where all the toilets are located.
I found a campsite near Loch Lomond and it wasn't too far off the NCN7 route. Although i hadn't expected it to be the hottest days of the year when i booked our pitch a few weeks ago.
Day 1 started with a short train ride to Westerton. FIrst issue was that the Forth and Clyde canal path was on the other side of the tracks and the lift accessing the footbridge required an engineer to reset it. I humphed the bikes up the steps and luckily the lift on the other side was working to take us down.
Once on to the canal path we followed NCN 754 through Glasgow until it linked up with NCN7 at Clydebank.
20220718_102449 by Martin Brown, on FlickrIt was beginning to warm up quite a bit, but the shade of the trees along the canal was a welcome relief.
20220718_110800 by Martin Brown, on FlickrAt Bowling harbour where the canal meets the River Clyde we stopped at the cafe for bacon butties and cold drinks.
20220718_121008 by Martin Brown, on FlickrAs we continued in to Dumbarton there was the obligatory playpark visits. Followed by a spot of lunch under the shade of the trees.
Having refueled we negotiated Dumbarton town centre and continued quite quickly on NCN 7 on the River Leven pathway to Balloch. We had a brief stop to watch Scottish Fire and Rescue officers practising swiftwater rescue techniques and wondered whether they were cooler in the water with all their drysuit, bouyancy aid gear on or not.
Arriving at Balloch it was surprisingly quiet for a sunny Monday public holiday, may be all the Weegies had gone to the Ayrshire coast. And damn was it getting hot. Tubs of Ice cream and cold drinks were required before another playpark hit.
Our route continued out of Balloch Country park, but now on quiet back roads through the countryside before descending in to Gartocharn. There's not much in Gartocharn anymore, just a petrol station with a small shop but we arrived at 5.15pm and it was closed. We did get treated to agreat view over Loch Lomond though.
20220718_171410 by Martin Brown, on FlickrFinally arrived at Lagganbeg Caravan and Camping park (even although we have wild camped, i wasn't sure of a good spot on this route). The campsite was great , large open field, only a handful of other campers (but i was told it was busier over the weekend) the site has also invested in new toilet/shower blocks which were spotlessly clean. Crucially... no midges made an appearance.
We lazed about on our sleeping mats for a bit then set to work on the tent. I rustled up some 5 star camping cusine- stufffed pasta with a tomato, tuna and herb sauce, followed by chocolate cake and custard.... delicious.
After some frisbee, a game of Disney Princesses Top Trumps and a movie, it was off to bed for a very chilly and restless night for me. Note to self- my daughter wriggles in her sleep like a fish out of water and despite the weather forecast saying over night temps being 20c, a sleeping bag liner was not cutting it for warmth. Luckily my daughter still fits in my PHD half bag and she was cosy.
Morning came, and on beginning to pack up there was the ominous sound of thunder and brief 30second pulses of heavy rain drops but luckily it didn't come to anything.
I knew that day 2 was going to be hard. We were back on to NCN7 until it split from the John Muir way. We'd then follow the John Muir way over the Kilpatricks past Burncrooks reservoir to Carbeth and pick up the West Highland Way.
As we hit the start of the John Muir way the trail got rough for little 20inch tires. It was also hot.... my eyes were sweating... or may be i was crying as i not only pushed my bike up the steep sections, i used the other hand to help push my daughter. The track quality did get better as it became a forestry road.
When we got to this sign post:
20220719_105254 by Martin Brown, on FlickrI made the wrong decision to follow the John Muir way and not stick with the forestry road. In hindsight although the road is a bit longer the steep sections on this bit of the way are epic for little people and i had to resort to carrying her bike while pushing my own.
I have never been so happy to see Burncrooks reservoir which meant the end to the tortuous uphill section.
We stopped to watch a huge mechanical tree harvester chop down pine trees, strip the branches and bark off, and chop in to logs. It looked like great fun, but i imagine that after a morning of chopping and cutting it would get a bit repetitive.
We quickly descended to Edenmill cafe for lunch and i was pleased to see that they're putting in secure bike storage(not that i'd think you'd have your bike stolen away out there) and a tool station (they also have accommodation here too and a soft play)
20220719_130206 by Martin Brown, on Flickr
20220719_130405 by Martin Brown, on Flickr
20220719_130348 by Martin Brown, on Flickr(What more could you want in a sign)
A rope swing at Carbeth huts provided great amusement.
20220719_132216 by Martin Brown, on FlickrA quick push up one last steep hill and we were rocketing back down the West Highland Way to Milngavie for ice cream and the end of our 40mile adventure.
20220719_143238 by Martin Brown, on FlickrWould i do the route with my daughter again? Yes, but in the opposite direction as the hills on our day 2 in reverse would be longer but more gradual i think and you'd have an easier day 2 with the river Leven and canal path there'd also be more railway stations to bail out at if things weren't going well.
The other option would be to cut out the John Muir way bit altogether, start on the West Highland Way and continue on it past Carbeth huts towards Gartness and continue on NCN7 from there. A bit more distance but its a flatter route.
We're still planning on doing the East Lothian trail but over 3 days so we have a day off in Dunbar to relax. It would be good to hear of any other kid friendly overnighters that people have done to give me some inspiration
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