went up to loch lomond originally but there was far to many tourists about for our liking so decided to hop over to loch long instead for a couple of nights. parked up just past the ardgartan hotel at the head of the cowal way just off the A83 and took a short walk along the part of the cowal way that runs alongside the western edge until we found a nice burn to follow down to the edge of the loch where we set up camp.
this is the view from where we decided to set up camp...
when we set up camp i was surprised that there seemed to be a distinct lack of midges, maybe with it being so dry over the past few weeks they didnt feel like playing but this gave me a chance to try out different ways of setting up the bivvy sheet id made to try out, i decided just to have one side open overlooking the loch so no real change to how i normally have it set up lol!.
after getting a brew on i thought id try my hand before making some food, i was expecting maybe a small codling maybe even a mackrel which is usually what id catch on the west coast and which im usually more than happy with as ive always used a spinner rather than bait, after ten mins or so this was the result.
ten mins after that this was the result.
i dont have any pictures from the following ten minutes but imagine if you will a bloke laid on a lochside at sunset with a full belly lol!
not long after that the battery on my phone died so the last remaining picture is from my mates phone. had a very restfull night and watched the moon make its way up over the hills opposite and got an early start the next morning making our way up to what looked to be a very tall roof poking through the trees with what appeared to be a chimney on top which actually turned out to be a beacon tower but the view up the lock towards arrochar was stunning
unfortunatly the path ends there so we made our way down to the hill to the lochside and made our way along the edge to where the path starts again further down opposite the oil depot.
there had been a warning that it might rain and rain it did with all the thunder and lightning you would expect so by the time we got to our next camp we was quite wet but soon dried in the heat, we made camp and got a small fire going due to the fact that the midges came in clouds once the rain had stopped, some pine resin of which there was no shortage was just thrown onto the fire by the handfull to keep them at bay, for some reason midges dont seem to bother me but my mate is a midge theme park so it was a good job we was up and back to the car the next day after a three to four hour walk. so a good time had by all and highly reccomended you pay the place a visit. take care if midges dont like you though lol!
this is the view from where we decided to set up camp...
when we set up camp i was surprised that there seemed to be a distinct lack of midges, maybe with it being so dry over the past few weeks they didnt feel like playing but this gave me a chance to try out different ways of setting up the bivvy sheet id made to try out, i decided just to have one side open overlooking the loch so no real change to how i normally have it set up lol!.
after getting a brew on i thought id try my hand before making some food, i was expecting maybe a small codling maybe even a mackrel which is usually what id catch on the west coast and which im usually more than happy with as ive always used a spinner rather than bait, after ten mins or so this was the result.
ten mins after that this was the result.
i dont have any pictures from the following ten minutes but imagine if you will a bloke laid on a lochside at sunset with a full belly lol!
not long after that the battery on my phone died so the last remaining picture is from my mates phone. had a very restfull night and watched the moon make its way up over the hills opposite and got an early start the next morning making our way up to what looked to be a very tall roof poking through the trees with what appeared to be a chimney on top which actually turned out to be a beacon tower but the view up the lock towards arrochar was stunning
unfortunatly the path ends there so we made our way down to the hill to the lochside and made our way along the edge to where the path starts again further down opposite the oil depot.
there had been a warning that it might rain and rain it did with all the thunder and lightning you would expect so by the time we got to our next camp we was quite wet but soon dried in the heat, we made camp and got a small fire going due to the fact that the midges came in clouds once the rain had stopped, some pine resin of which there was no shortage was just thrown onto the fire by the handfull to keep them at bay, for some reason midges dont seem to bother me but my mate is a midge theme park so it was a good job we was up and back to the car the next day after a three to four hour walk. so a good time had by all and highly reccomended you pay the place a visit. take care if midges dont like you though lol!
) trip 
