Saturday 20 May 2017

Knockour Hill- Mount Misery

18 May 2017

Participants: Neil and Ben
Where: Knockour Hill- Mount Misery, 176m/577', Hump, Map 56, NS 398853 and Whinney Hill, 164m/538', Tump, Map 56, NS 399842
 
With a name like that, I just had to climb it! The weather was the opposite of miserable, it was a glorious sunny day and the spring colours were at their best. I left the car in the Balloch Country Park car park and wandered uphill past the castle, now sadly closed and shuttered, before following a narrow path along side a burn before crossing a road that went to Boturich and entering the land owned by the Woodland Trust. The first part of the route was the same as that for Whinney Hill which I had visited earlier in the year.....
 
 
The bluebells were out.....
 
 
There are a great variety of trees here, thanks to the work of the Trust, which is well worth supporting.....
 
 
The gorse at the top of Whinney Hill was a blaze of colour......
 
 
The excellent path dropped downhill from Whinney Hill with Knockour Hill ahead.....
 
 
A left turn and then a right at the foot of Whinney Hill brought me into a lovely old meadow.....
 
 
There were a few individual seats if a rest was needed.....
 
 
And then it was back into the trees and a short walk to the top of Knockour Hill where there was a bench beside a cleared area....
 
 
I'm not sure where exactly the highest point was but it was a nice view anyway over Loch Lomond to the Luss Hills.....
 
 
 
 
It would have been rude not to have sat on the bench for a while before heading back. This is Whinney Hill from where I exited the forest.....
 
 
Using the furthest away car park from the hills gave me a walk of about 5 miles, one that I'll do again.

1 comment:

blueskyscotland said...

Nice walk that. A lot of folk don't realise how extensive Balloch Country Park is when you add in the back country areas you can access from it.