van plus 4

We wake up & pack up in the rain. *Someone* (ahem) forgot to pack the milk and so it’s black tea for breakfast (yuk).

We head for Loch Lomond hoping to be able to stop off somewhere for some leg stretching time for the dogs.

No such luck; the Loch Lomond forest site we decide to stop at is full of tourists and there’s nowhere for us to walk the dogs other than along the concrete path but that’s just not how we roll.

So we head up into the mountains and stop at some random spot for a quick picnic.

Fed, watered and with stretched legs we carry on. Next stop: Loch Lomond.

A quick photo opportunity later we’re back on track for Fort Williams. The scenery en route is stunning; all moody and low clouds yet the rain is holding off. For now.

When the clouds lift and the weather perks up there are dramatic skylines and scattered sunshine.

We stop off at Morrisons to get some meat for the barbie and some wine then head off to Ben Nevis for a quick look. It’s 16:00hrs by now and far too late to walk up (plus the weather has taken another turn for the worse) but it’s nice to return to the mountain we could not conquer 2 years earlier when we chose the 3 Peak Challenge to celebrate our 1^st wedding anniversary. Then, Big H ended up with a torn paw after hiking up a (very) iced up Snowdon but we never discovered his injury until half way up Scaffel Pike. Memories come flooding back of how we had to patch him up with baby socks and therefore never actually managed to hike up Ben Nevis. This was well before our *vanplusfour times* when we spent a few day over at a fabulous little lodge [Old Pines], just on the outskirts of Fort Williams­.