West Highland Way Copyright © Barry Smith 2012. All Rights Reserved. Day 3 - Rowardennan – Inverannan  13½ miles Drizzle greeted us today, and yet again no breakfast, but this time involuntarily.  As we exited the building we were in the throng of the Orks, who were congregating outside. Prior to leaving, and as the rain was less severe, we looked around the grounds of the hostel which in its former days had been a splendid hunting lodge with magnificent views across the loch. By our departure time at 8.30. the rain had eased, and we were able to walk most of the day in a base layer. Today’s route would take us along the rest of the length of Loch Lomond to Inverannan. And for the first couple of hours we walked along the easier high route on the undulating forestry track to its end, along the way passing several waterfalls and beautiful carpets of bluebells on the hillside. We also came across and passed, two packs of Orks in all of their paraphernalia, which suggested that they may be going our way. From the end of the forest track our route followed the shoreline quite closely to the end of the loch. We stopped for lunch at the Inversnaid Hotel, and along the way again noted the constant flow of people we saw who were doing the walk. As we progressed, Graham & Phil – by now named the Dynamic Duo, descended from the path to explore Rob Roy’s cave by the waterside and returned unimpressed but with a photo, prior to scampering off into the distance trying to show how fit they were. (Youth has some stupid traits!). We soon left the loch at its northern end and the trail climbed away from Loch Lomond to a wide pass  which descended into Glen Falloch. The previous soft scenery dominated by water and woodland now gave away to the rocky fells and mountain views of the Highlands. We were staying the night at the Stagger Inn – an ‘extension’ of the infamous Drovers Inn situated on the opposite side of the road to it. When we arrived at the Drovers the Dynamic Duo had nearly finished their first pint, but had had the decency to have drinks waiting for Mart & myself. Once checked in, Phil quickly went in search of his new bag, which had been efficiently supplied and delivered by AMS, and was informed by them that he could keep it permanently. Excellent service, and highly recommendable. The evening meal which we had in one of the back rooms at very busy Drovers  proved to be excellent value for money, and following this we and the other diners were politely requested to vacate the room for a party booking. To our surprise the vacated room quickly filled with Orks – they were not only following us, but were continuing on to the Fort William as well. We headed back to one of our rooms where great intellectual debates took place – only to be secretly recorded by Phil, and – with much hilarity - played back to us later. Unusually, that evening was an entertainment evening in the bar, and we finished up hitting our beds at about 1am, which probably wasn’t the best plan considering that the next day was to be the longest leg of the walk at 22miles!