My now regular guest blogger Romy Beard headed to Arrochar for a day of hillwalking. Romy is originally from Luxembourg and although she’s been living in Scotland on and off for 10 years she is making it her mission to see a lot more of this country than she’s done before.

Romy writes: “Being based in Glasgow it is fantastic to know there are so many walks just a short drive away. On Sunday I chose Glen Loin and Coiregrograin walk at Arrochar. I chose this walk after a search on the brilliant walks website Walk Highlands.

The Glen Loin and Coiregrograin walk appealed because it offered a longer walk that wasn’t simply a hike to the summit of a hill and down again. While it is rewarding to reach a hill summit I find the up – and then the down- is tough on my knees. I wanted a little more variation and this walk seemed the perfect choice.

If you’re in Glasgow, going out for the day doesn’t mean you have to get up early. My boyfriend and I didn’t actually leave the flat until 10.30am. We arrived in Arrochar at 11.30am.

The walk leaves the little village on a narrow footpath through the forest, which goes up and down and has some beautiful scenery. The trail then headed into a more open section before we walked along the edge of dense forestry.

The route then turned to reach the base of the Munro Ben Vane. Here we made a steep-ish ascent on a wide path up to Coiregrograin. The cascading burn at the top marks the highest point of this walk. A few big stones by the side of the road made a good spot for a rest and we enjoyed our flask of tea and rolls for lunch.

The views from here would usually be quite amazing, but we’d picked a rather rainy day! This didn’t mean we couldn’t enjoy ourselves. Thanks to our waterproof shoes, trousers, jackets and hats, we were dry on the inside!

Heading back towards Arrochar, the route is a gentle downhill with the forest on one side and little springs of water coming out of the mountain on the other. I love the sound of water like this. The views inside the mossy forest were magical.

Just before the final descent we were treated to some fantastic views over Arrochar. Walking on a wide track for the final section we enjoyed a gentle descent back to our start point.

We didn’t push ourselves to walk fast and the total time for the 10.75 mile hike was just over four hours. This is a perfect walk if you want to get out for a good amount of time, but don’t want anything too steep or challenging in terms of terrain. I also enjoyed the variety of up and down hills throughout the walk, and the mix of narrow paths and wider tracks. On a sunny day the views would certainly better, but even through a drizzle it’s highly enjoyable!