SNT (day 5) - Winchburgh to Kirkintilloch

Whole day spent hiking along the Union Canal and Forth and Clyde Canal but this time it was far more interesting!

It was the first day of rain though, but I'll take it since it's day five, one may say that the rain was overdue at this point. I've got to a huge Tesco at Brightons fairly quickly, did a little resupply and had a nice breakfast with coffee. There was a lot of cyclists on the trail, a big group from Ireland cycling from Dublin to Copenhagen for some reason. 

Few miles later a first surprise awaited, the Falkirk Tunnel a 630 metre long underground passage build with pickaxes and gunpowder through which the canal was flowing, it had a surreal and spooky but I really enjoyed it.

Not far from here was the main attraction of the day, the Falkirk Wheel, an amazing contraption moving barges between the Union and Forth and Clyde Canal. Since both canals were at a different levels (and they had to be level to function properly) the wheel was simply lowering and lifting the ships to their desired canal, it was ingenious and very entertaining to watch!

After enjoying the show I moved along Forth and Clyde Canal which was wider and much more lively than the Union Canal (both with people and wildlife). At one point I was reading an information board about abundance of pike in the canal and just as I turned my back I saw a guy fishing out a big, foot and a half long pike out of the water, the man clearly wasn't a skilled fisherman as he didn't know how to handle the pike and I felt sorry for the poor fish.

It was raining at this point and I decided to find somewhere to camp fairly quickly, after few failed attempts I managed to find a very nice sheltered meadow just by the trail and I set my tent up by an old oak tree.

I should reach Glasgow tomorrow and start my progress through West Highland Way portion of the trail.

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