After spending some time in the New Lanark UNESCO heritage site, we drove towards the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, the first National Park in Scotland. We chose to stop in Callander, a popular town often considered by many as the gateway to the Highlands. We spent two nights over there in order to explore the region and do some hikes around.
It was already late when we arrived in our bnb, so we decided to go for some food in the Crown Hotel nearby and called it a day.
We had a good night of sleep and our first Scottish breakfast the next morning ! It was good, but I find the Scottish sausages very mushy in general…. 🙁
We took the car and drove towards Loch Venachar, stopped to see what we thought was Hamish, the famous Highland Cow, before learning that Hamish has died last year 🙁
Highland cows are quite fascinating regardless, as they have no layer of fat to keep them warm ! Instead they have an extra coat that keep them protected from the rain. In addition, their fringe keeps the wind and the rain out of their eyes in the winter, and the sun and insects in the summer 🙂
We left the fake but cute Hamish, and continued our drive towards Loch Venachar, before stopping once again to admire the views ! Loch Venachar is very pretty, and the Harbour café and restaurant looked very appealing to us, so we decided to have a latte before the hike ! (I’m starting to take pictures with my iphone as well, it’s quite convenient sometimes and the quality is not that bad)
After this little break, we drove towards Loch Achray and found the car park for our hike. The car park and the route to reach Ben A’an t is currently closed due to some repairs, so we had to use Ben Venue car park. Everything is well indicated, so no chance to get lost 🙂
Ben A’an is a popular hike as it is known as the “mountain in miniature”. The hike itself is not very long (4 km), but quite steep and can be very challenging while going up-hill. Once you get on the top, you are rewarded by a beautiful view of Loch Katrine, with the famous Ben Venue in the background and Loch Achray on the other side 🙂
We started the hike and it was already climbing steeply as we entered into the woods. In some places, it was also a bit muddy, but they placed some mats on the floor to avoid to get stuck in the mud 🙂 Well done guys ! When it was really steep, they also installed some ropes on the side so you could help yourself. I wish I had taken my walking sticks with me.. but they were still in Leeds. I planned to take them, but completely forgot to put them in the car 😉
Once we arrived into the birch woods, the path was getting a bit flatter to my relief, and I could caught up my breath. Far away, we could see a summit shaped like a pyramid.. at the beginning, I didn’t think it was Ben A’an (and I remembered Le telling me, “don’t worry, it’s not Ben A’an”), aka the end of our walk, because it seemed so far away.. but it was Ben A’an indeed… unfortunately :p
The flat section was very short and soon enough, we started a steep and rocky path … I stopped several times, pretending to enjoy the views and take some pictures, but it was just to catch up my breath 😀
One last bit of rocks to climb and we reached the summit… and we could admire the incredible and breathtaking views !! It was just amazing !!! All the sweat and the effort was well worth it !
These are the best photographs! I feel like I have been here!
Thank you ! I’m glad! you enjoyed our hike over there, it was really amazing 🙂 thanks for visiting my blog and have a lovely week 🙂
You too! And I will be reading you!
I actually showed a bunch of people, they are the best pics I have seen of that part of the world. You are very talented.
Those are some great photos! Especially that last panorama–incredible view! Definitely makes the effort of hiking worthwhile 🙂
Yes, it was really rewarding. There is nothing worse than hiking for hours then reach the top but don’t manage to see anything due to the high trees 🙂
Love the views from Ben A’an, and a very lovely shot of you from the top standing in front of the rock. Love how green and lush the landscape in Scotland is! And that Scottish breakfast looks delicious – getting a bit hungry I feel! :9
The Scottish countryside is very green and lush for sure, it’s raining all the time :p
Love the last photo, stunning view. Is that taken off the beaten paths or on the trail?
The last picture is taken from a “viewing point”. It’s looking down. There is a trail, but not a very visible one. It’s more or less loose gravel, dirt and a bit of rock 🙂
Lovely viewpoint 🙂 I must go back to Scotland soon!
Breathtaking in many ways I guess 😀
You made it!! I would probably need to make a little stop on the way… making photos are always a great way to catch my breath haha 😀
Oh yes, taking pictures is my excuse when I have to catch my breath :D:D It’s clever isn’t it ? People don’t think you are not fit,they think you have a huge interest for photography ! :p:p
hahahaha EXACTLY 😀 same here!
What a stunning landscape!! I’ve never seen a highland cow before. Absolutely gorgeous. Are they bigger than a farm cow?
Hmm they are not really bigger, their legs seem shorter.
I love your final panoramic image of the view from the summit, stunning landscape. Am looking forward to a trip to Scotland next month and have my fingers crossed for reasonable weather! #Mondayescapes
This view was amazing, really breathtaking ! It was taken with my iphone 🙂
Where are you going in Scotland ? And for how long ?
We had reasonable weather. It was raining a bit every morning, but by 10 am, the sky has cleared up 🙂
Beautiful place it is, while 4K is indeed not too far but I can see from the image, must quite work to reach the summit!
Yes, it’s was quite steep ! It’s not a flat 4 k 😀
Scotland is incredibly striking. It isn’t in my near term plans unfortunately. Just a lot of Asia for the next couple of years.
Asia is good, especially the food 🙂
The food looks so good! I also love the picture of you in the blue jacket, it is so beautiful! The place looks beautiful, and I am glad to see you both so happy and finally together again 🙂
Yes, it is good to be finally together, and the scenery in Scotland was just perfect ! Beautiful and calm.
It looks like an amazing hike! Enjoyed your pictures!
It was an amazing but quite steep hike 🙂
Scotland, a magic land. Have a great time!
Scotland is magical, I couldn’t say better 🙂
These photos are fab as always!!!!!
Thank you ! I’m glad you enjoyed this walk report 🙂
Scotlanddddddddddddddddd I gots to go there 😛
Everyone should go !! It’s just awesome !
it does looks good!
Hi Gin,
What gorgeous scenery and those highland cows are impressively shaggy (I guess they need to be!) I’ve always wanted to visit Scotland but wonder how I will cope with the rugged, cold conditions after having lived in Queensland for so long. Beautiful pictures as always and I love your smile. 🙂
Postcards are still on their way. I had a flare up of rheumatoid arthritis in my hands so I had to wait until I could hold a pen properly. 🙂
Well… it’s true that summer is not that friendly. For me, it’s the perfect temperature. End of June, it was around 17-22°C and it was just lovely. A bit of rain in the morning, but the sky always clears up after a while.
Don’t worry dear, take your time, it’s already so nice of you to send postcards 🙂
Dear Gin
Leisurely hiking, you can always find more beautiful scenery, I hope to have the opportunity to visit England again, for me it is a dream, I do not know whether this life have a chance?
I also miss British food, where the food for me is very fast and can be stuffed, you life is kept in the trip, I believe you must quickly integrate into British life, and the love you have around accompany together, this is a very happy thing.
🙂
That’s what I love about hiking, you can always discover new landscapes and new places.
Maybe you will get the chance to visit the UK, fingers crossed ! It’s the first time I heard someone saying they miss English food, usually, England is not that famous for its food 🙂
I’m doing fine for now, thank you, and I have a lot of support, so it helps !
Have a nice weekend 🙂
Haha, Because I am a tourist, do not eat British food, so it felt strange, I remember the British food as well as fried fish pieces and a lot of chips, if every meal, it should feel tired.
😁
The scenery is amazing. I have always loved Scotland and hopefully will have a chance to come back gain to explore more.
There is always more to explore over there. I was so impressed to see the numbers of hikes they have.. i was so difficult to choose what to do !! 🙂
Looks gorgeous – mats on the ground too, how incredible is that!! Highland cows are super cute too!!
They seem very considered over there, and take car of the hikers 🙂 Without the mat, I don’t think we could have crossed certain patches.. I was very relieved ! And yes, the cows… super cute !!!
Love that cow. Great photos. I felt like i was there,
I’m glad to have managed to take you there 🙂 Enjoy your weekend !
you awesomely captured in photos this beautiful and scenic place! love the cow with furry coat 🙂 you both look lovely! thanks for sharing 🙂
This place was amazing, I wouldn’t mind doing the exact same hike again and again !
What’s with the coat and scarves? It’s JULY people! Can’t we get this summer thing straight?!?!?
Haha ! Not in Scotland apparently….
Oh it looks all so great. The food, too. Even if the sausages were mushy. 😉 And it’s very interesting that those highland cows have no fat but instead this thick hairy fur. Have a lovely weekend! 😀
It’s really so so difficult to find good sausages here, I don’t know what’s wrong with them ! 😀
The highland cows are fascinating little creatures 🙂
Have a nice weekend as well !
les paysages sont magnifiques mais le bonheur que l’on peut lire sur vos visage encore plus 😉 Merci pour ces belles balades !
C’est sûr qu’on était émerveillé face à un paysage aussi beau. On se sent très petit face à tant de grandeur. Et puis, j’étais personnellement fière de moi d’avoir réussi à grimper jusque là :p
Bon weekend ! Est-ce que vous faites le pont pour le 14 juillet ? C’est votre fête nationale ?
Beautiful photos! I love the highland cattle, they’re so fun to look at! I’m looking forward to doing some walks in Scotland, so thanks for the inspiration!
I agree for the highland cattle, I could stop myself and took hundreds of pictures of them throughout the trip haha !
There are so many options for hike in this region, it was difficult to select a few ! But this one is really gorgeous ! I’ve done several others, I will talk about them later on 🙂
Such a beautiful place and scenic place to hike. That view from the top looks spectacular, and great panorama shot to top it all off! You don’t like mushy sausages? Me too! Never like them as I don’t really like minced and soft at all :((( And so sad to hear about Hamish :((( Oh well, at least there is another one trying to be the famous cow now and perhaps one day he will become very, veryyy famous and you’d be talking that you’ve met him when he first started out 😀
This is an incredible place to hike, no wonder it’s so popular for hikers from all over the world ! And “old people” over there are so fit ! when we did our hike, I got overtaken by a man in his 65-70’s and a woman (same age) with a hip replacement. I was feeling ashamed of my fitness level haha !
I like minced, but I like them a bit dried and textured. It’s difficult to explain. Or textured and moist, but not soft and mushy :D:D
Hahaha, the “old people” seem to be very enthusiastic about hiking aroung here. Showing us the younger ones how it’s done. I wouldn’t be surprised if they laughed at all of you slower ones 😀
I think I get what you mean. Not mushy like mashed potato, but tougher, harder like a burger patty 😀
I’m sure they did, because they proudly told us they had a hip replacement just before overtaking us haha !
Yeah, exactly ! It was very difficult to explain… That shows you how weird it was !
I love all your photos Gin (I’m starting to use my iPhone more and more too it’s just so convenient)! The scenery is amazing – we’ve been thinking of exploring more of this part of Scotland and funnily enough were watching a dvd about the Western Highland railway this week. I think the hike up the mountain was well worth it for those magnificent views from Ben A’an. Hope it’s still sunny in Leeds 🙂 It’s been so cold here was 0 degrees yesterday morning – there was ice on all the cars left outside when I went for my walk! Today is cold, wet and damp but we’re off on an outing as we have my cousin staying with us from NZ! Thanks again for your help with the tech stuff I’ve done a bit of revamping of the categories too to make it easier to follow (I put them on the header section) – I was pleased I managed to work it out! Have a lovely weekend 🙂
This area is really worth exploring. It’s beautiful, you want to stop every 5 meters to take pictures. The landscape changes all the time, it’s so pleasant for the eyes !
I agree, the iphone is really convenient sometimes, when you don’t want to carry all your lenses with you 🙂 But the front camera is not so good, so when you take “selfie”, the resolution is not fantastic.
It’s still sunny in Leeds, a bit too much to my liking :p But I shouldn’t complain too much, at least it’s not raining !
No worries, if you need me for something, and if I can help, just ask me 🙂 And it’s so great you managed to work it out by yourself ! Once you get used to it, it’s not very difficult.
Have a nice weekend, brave the cold ! But at least, you can have a cup of coffee or tea when you got home, and it feel nicer than it does for me right now :p
Scotland looks like a place so different than others…along with the great views, the cow is a perfect example too.
Hmm it looks a bit like Iceland to be fair. And I’m sure it must also looks like Scandinavia (but I’ve never explored this region during summer, so I can’t really tell .. it’s just an assumption)
But the cow, I wonder if we can find them elsewhere… I don’t know.
We love our iPhone 6’s also, Gin! Half of our blog photos are taken with them.
Jim
This is really a great phone !! The quality is similar to a good compact camera 🙂 We played a bit with the slow mo option, it was fun 🙂
Yes, slo-mo is great! Two of our friend’s children are baseball pitchers. I did slo-mo videos of them, and they both used them to analyze their motions.
Oh that’s useful actually ! I was wondering what was the purpose of that option, but now it makes sense !
If you are by a lake and a dog, video the dog shaking water off. It’s great!
It seems like a wonderful trip! Beautiful photos as always! :)))
It was a beautiful trip but it’s always too short !
What fantastic views! And I love Highland cows. Sorry to hear about Hamish.x
They didn’t even take the sign out, it’s after a little search on google that we’ve realized that Hamish died last year 🙂 But Hamish is a business, they sell so many souvenirs … better not to make a fuss about his death.
Ah thats a shame.They should name a new mascot and announce it on their website…..even if they call the new Highland cow Hamish too. X
Yeah, they should make it more clear 🙂
You know I love this post! I would love to explore the trails in Scotland!
I’m sure you would have a lot of fun !! There are so so so many trails, and very famous and long ones such as Borders Abbeys Way (64 miles), Great Glen Way (73 miles), Fife Coastal Path (93 miles), Speyside Way (65 miles), St. Cuthbert’s Way (62 miles) and the Cowal Way (57 miles)… these are of course a bit too long for me, but they must be fabulous. People from the Uk love hiking !! You would love it here !
I love your shot of the Highland cow. It’s amazing that they can see anything through that fringe. But I love the way it makes them look! Great pic of the two of you too! :)) ~ Jeannie
Yes, you are wondering if they really something through that massive amount of hair.. but apparently, they do :p
Thanks ! We did a ridiculous amount of pictures of us, mostly to show to the family.. and to keep as a souvenirs 🙂 we will print some for our new flat 🙂
I love the work you’re doing with your new camera (well, not so new but I remember you changed to another model) the colors are so nice and your compositions are so beautiful and descriptive of the place at the same time. I had never seen a highland cow, I thought it was a kind of yak.
Said that the food in the photograph, the second one, would be very exotic and I think I would be very sorry to don’t eat it, we eat just one or maximum two kind of meats and we wouldn’t mix it with a fry egg. I’m sure Scots here would feel the same about our breakfasts of fruit juice and after half an hour a coffee with bread and cheese, “what is this misery!” they would say xp
Thanks ! Yes, I took pictures with my new camera and my iphone 6 … it’s quite decent for panoramic pictures 🙂 And we can take some pictures of us, to show to the family and to keep in the photobook 😉 It’s nice 😉
Well, I’ve seen highland cows on pictures before, but never in real life. I was so happy to see so many of them during our road trip !
Yes, I’m sure they will offended about your breakfast 😀 Regarding my taste, I’ve never had a better breakfast than the one cooked my host family in Quito… all these exotic fruits and juice, it was absolutely delicious ! And I love cheese ! Here in the uk.. they don’t know how to make tasty cheese 😉 Their cheese are so pasteurized that they have no taste at all.
Quito, the cook similar to us! I’ll learn how is the food in Belgium 😉 The iPhone 6 has to be very decent because I can’t guess which is one, of course I don’t need to know that, I’m most interested in see your travel 🙂 Take care.
Once you’ve tasted fruits from South america and South East Asia, it’s difficult to get pleased by your purchase in Europeans supermarkets 🙂
I’ll take some pics of fruits today and tomorrow I’ll post them 😉
I’d like to send you something but I think fruits require permits to export 🙁
No, especially to the uk.. they are very paranoid about organic material.. 🙁
I’ll be delighted to see some fruits !!! It will bring back nice memories 🙂
This looks like a very beautiful hike! I like your comment about taking photos when you need a rest – we hike a lot during the months that we are in Mexico, and laugh about using this very same reasoning! When my heart starts pounding, I know it’s time to “stop and smell the roses.”
haha ! yeah.. we all use that same trick 😉
Nice!! Your experience is similar to mine at Conic Hill, definitely adding this to my list of hikes to do!
Oh I went to conic hills as well 🙂 I felt better over there, because I did this hike beforehand 😀
Wonderful!
Thank you ! I’m happy you appreciated the beauty of Scotland. Have you ever been there ?
woo-hoo, what a rigorous hike! But the views and vistas really are awesome, and I really like the cool Highland cow.
At least, i had an excuse to stop every 500 meters … it was “to take a picture of the beautiful scenery” and not catch my breath, of course :p
It’s been years since I was in Scotland and you are making me want to go back! Beautiful scenery and the photo of you alone is very serene!
Scotland is really pretty, sometimes, you don’t have to go very far to feel in admiration with nature and its beauty. I could have stayed hours up there, just looking at the scenery… but hunger brought me down :p:p
Beautiful country and certainly worth the hike. Hamish #2 is adorable 🙂
Highland cows are adorable, I’m in love with them. I took so many pictures of them throughout the whole trip 🙂
I have a thing for cows. So I’d be right next to you snapping away!
haha !
Thank you for sharing, photos are gorgeous.
Have a nice day.
Thank you Hervé, I hope you are enjoying your summer!
Oh I love that the cows have raincoats and their own windshield wipers of a sort. You are right the hike was definitely worth that spectacular vista.Wow! Lovely photo of you too. 🙂
Thank you Sue ! Yes, the effort was worth it ! But the day after, I could barely climb the stairs :p
Oh I love a good hearty scottish breakfast. We explored Loch Lomond and were blown away by the landscape. The view from the Ben A’an hike is simple stunning. It’s good for me to remember how beautiful my own country can be! Thanks so much for sharing on #MondayEscapes
I quite like the Scottish breakfast, but I can’t help to feel a bit disappointed by the sausages. They don’t taste like meat to me… I miss my Belgian sausages 😀
The view from Ben A’an is really stunning, I was completely stunned by the beauty of the loch beyond us.
I’ve not had Belgium sausages! I must try one day
It’s not that remarkable, but completely different than the ones you can find in the uk. It’s like they put bread or something in the uk.. they are really weird 😀
My first climb of any challenge- ie/ not very difficult!
About 40 years ago…
It’s not very difficult for people that are used to hike, or that are reasonably fit. For me, it was a bit hard, to be honest :p
Well, I was about 18 then… Would feel it now!
You guys look just lovely 🙂 And the place is very cool! The advantage of UK compared to my country, is that you can hike during the summer in OK weather (if you’re lucky enough to not get any rain). Whilst in Romania when I go hiking in the summer I get an extreme sunburn and a terrible headache because of the 40+ degrees Celsius we have here nowadays (even though I wear sunscreen and wear a big cap/hat) :).
Aww thanks ! (I put some pictures of us because my mum is looking at this blog as well, so I wanted to be a bit more personal).
The weather was perfect for me, because i don’t like when it’s too hot. It was around 20-22°C degrees, and it was so nice ! We’ve tried to hike in Croatia before, but we couldn’t even move (close to 40°C).. it was way too hot, and it was the same in the US two years ago. Like you said, the UK is great for that, as long as you don’t mind the rain 😀
I’m suffering for you ! 🙁
Awesome picture
Thanks James, I’m glad you appreciated the Scottish landscape 🙂 I’m just in love with Ben A’an, this is such an iconic place 🙂