8 days to go – Kilts at Bowling

From google maps and streetview I’d been unable to work out how I was going to get from the canal to the Clyde at the end of the canal at Bowling. Normal boats just exit the last lock and sail happily on, but kayaks have to exit the canal two locks from the end and still several meters above the height of the river. In google maps all I could see were high vertical walls and impenetrable woodlands between the canal path and the Clyde.

Another recce trip was required. Wendy and I put the bikes on the car with the idea of parking at Bowling and enjoying a leisurely cycle along the canal and a picnic in the sun. When we arrived in Bowling we were confronted with rain and thousand of happy hikers in kilts – we’d managed to time our trip to coincide with the Glasgow kiltwalk! The event marshals weren’t going to stop us cycling by the canal, but Wendy and I decided that sharing a narrow canal path with 13,000 Glaswegians was unlikely to end well, no matter how cheerful everyone was.

On the bright side: the rain soon stopped, the kayak exit from canal to path is just a low grassy slope, and there is a rough path down through the trees from the canal path to the Clyde. Great to know that I’m not just going to have to turn round and go home when I get this far.

On the drive home we stopped in Kirkintilloch to look at the canal there and book a hotel for my second night out.

Considering the large number of portages and the difficulties involved in getting the kayak in and out of the canal by myself, I have decided it is not practical (or safe) for me to do this lowland canal section of the trip with a fully loaded kayak. I’ll now take minimal supplies for the first three days. Wendy will meet me at Bowling with the rest of my kit so that I can load up before getting on the Clyde.