Walkers sick after drinking river water on the West Highland Way

A mountain rescue team is warning about the risks of drinking water from streams after two walkers on the West Highland Way became so ill they vomited through the night. Lomond Mountain Rescue say they were called out by Police Scotland to two separate incidents in the space of a week on the popular long-distance walk. One of them, a German man, was taken to hospital last week and on Tuesday the team was called out to help an American walker. Both are believed to have drunk water from a stream near Conic Hill and became ill despite using portable water filters. Visitors are being advised to drink only bottled water or from safe sources such as Scottish Water drinking fountains. The first incident happened on Wednesday last week when the team evacuated a German man who was described as "incapacitated" near the remote Rowchoish Bothy. He had been vomiting since the previous evening and was taken to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley. Then on Tuesday this week, volunteers from Lomond MRT were called out again, this time to an American man north of Rowardennan, by Loch Lomond, who had also spent the evening being sick and was unable to walk. The team leader of Lomond Mountain Resc

May 21, 2026 → May 21, 2026