And so it begins….
Step 1 of a 500 mile journey. It feels like a long road ahead but fully intending to enjoy the journey as much as the destination. The start point was Helensburgh, the furthest point West on the John Muir Way. Accompanied by mum, we headed to the waterfront to the official start point and dipped our feet in the sea. Pretty sure dad was around as I sat to put my socks back on then looked at the inscription on the bench I’d sat on – “The sun shines not on us but in us.”
Then it was off up the way past Hill House (one of Charles and Margaret Mackintosh’s most famous works which we’d visited the day before) and out of town to the fields and forests. The views opened up during the climb around the flanks of Ben Bowie to Gouk Hill. Pausing on top to take in the view of Loch Lomond before heading down the other side, descending on an old ‘coffin road’ (where people used to carry their dead to old consecrated ground) before heading into Balloch and the shores of Loch Lomond. A beautiful, bright, blustery day. 9 miles down, 491 to go…
Debbie's 500 Miles for Parkinson's UK 