Back in February the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park announced that a camping ban was proposed for the eastern shore of Loch Lomond, covering a strip of land from Drymen to Rowardennan.
The aim is to give the authorities extra powers to deal with what’s being termed “informal camping” - basically car-camping outside of a camp-site - within the ban area and the problems it brings.
The increase in the number of informal campers has brought with it an increased environmental impact - human waste, protected trees are being cut down for firewood and general littering has accelerated along with drunken anti-social behaviour and violence. The impact of this extends to local residents and regular Park visitors, and this is what’s prompted the proposal.
As a local I’ve seen the problems first hand, but as an outdoor activist I’m aware of the potential erosion of our freedom to roam that we now have enshrined in law, so I decided to do something about it.
My main worry was that walkers on the West Highland Way would find themselves stuck in the ban area late in the day, would camp, and then find themselves unnecessarily harassed by the authorities in the middle of the night. The official line is that if the ban comes in it will be intelligently policed to avoid that scenario, let’s hope so.
With the public consultation on the ban just finished, with a result of 60/40 in favour of the measure, I proposed a wild camping project to the Park authority. There is a great distinction between wild and informal camping, but, perhaps a distinction only noticeable to the outdoor community?
A demonstration seemed the best idea, so I took Grant Moir (Conservation) and Geoff Miles (Marketing) from the Park authority, wild camping in the hills north of Ben Lomond.
The route I chose was an accessible one in location and distance walked, with a couple of km’s on trackless hillside followed by a camp on a exposed ridge at 560m. We looked at where to camp: pitching; water sources. How to camp: cooking; toilet arrangements; staying warm. We looked at some of the gear as well. I supplied much of the kit and was keen to show that cost was not an issue, taking kit ranging from budget to top-end.
There were first-timers in the group and it went very well, no mishaps, no upsets, and with a lucky bonus of some fantastic weather. The location, the ease of the execution, the terrain, the views and the surprising isolation showed wild camping at its best.
We were joined overnight by various media folk including a BBC reporter, a journalist from the Daily Record and a film maker. The coverage was important as we all wanted to project similar messages, that wild camping in the National Park is business-as-usual, but also that there’s a world of difference between wild and informal campers.
More about the trip at www.petesy.co.uk/loch-lomond-trossachs-national-park-wild-camping-trip
