Neil's Hillwalking Exploits

Green Lowther

2012-01-13T21:21:00.013Z

13 January 2012

Where - Green Lowther, 732m/2,403', Graham, Map 71, NS 900120
Participants - Neil and Ben

I always think that the Lowther hills provide good value walking for short winter days. Especially as there is a tarmaced road all of the way from start to summit thus avoiding any chance of muddy boots. Just right for today as my boots had not fully recovered from the mud bath on Grey Hill earlier in the week! For only the third time this winter, I had to scrape ice off the car, but it showed that a high pressure system had definately moved in and that a fine day was in prospect.

The other advantage of the Lowther hills is the high starting point- the village of Wanlockhead which claims to be the highest in Scotland.....

There is also ample parking and I got the car into a space right next to the building at the start of the private road that runs all the way to the summit. These are among the best known hills in Scotland because of the radar and radio stations on their tops and these installations do add a sense of the different to the walk, especially the "golf ball" on the top of Lowther Hill. There was a good view of the days objective from a point not far after the start.....

They may be industrialised hills but a lot of grouse shooting also takes place. Grouse were everywhere; Ben had a great time raising them! Evidence that this is prime shooting territory was the number of mink/stoat traps, although I have yet to see anything caught in one.....

The road winds up and across the hillside to the top of Lowther Hill but most of it can be avoided by diverting on to grassy tracks which though steeper, are also more direct as they cut out all of the corners. They are also easier on the feet. In no time at all, we were approaching the "golf ball", which I think is quite artistic and attractive.....

The sign restricting access to the site had disappeared and all of the gates were open although there was nobody about so we just followed the road through the compound. The main top of Green Lowther was about a mile away and despite the road, I find this a grand walk along a broad ridge with wide ranging views. This is Green Lowther from Lowther Hill.....

The area is becoming even more industrialised with the construction of the Clyde wind farm at the side of the M74; some of the turbines can be seen to the right of the summit in the picture above and in the next two pictures. I suppose that it is only the presence of the radar station that saves the Lowther Hills from the march of the turbines. This is approaching the summit of Green Lowther.....

and this is the trig set amongst the clutter of the radio station masts. Not artistic here at all, just an ugly mess. And not a place to hang around at but it was easy enough to move away from the installations to look at the views.....

I decided to stay high for as long as possible so retraced my steps along the ridge to Lowther Hill......

before descending by the service road. I got a good view of Wanlockhead on the descent; I guess that surrounded by hills it must be a very cold place in the winter time. Today, the frost never lifted from around the houses.....

I find the village a really interesting place; on previous visits I have wandered round the Museum of Lead Mining and had a look at some of the old mining areas. An interesting full day can be had combining the hill walk with visiting the various places of interest. But not at this time of year; today it was back in the car and a drive to the nearest place that sold a cup of hot chocolate!

Grey Hill

2012-01-09T20:45:00.003Z

9 January 2012

Participants - Steven, Ben and Neil
Where - Grey Hill, 297m/975', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 76, NX 164928

There has been a lot of weather in west central Scotland in the past weeks, rain, wind, a little snow, rain, wind. You get the picture. Even Ben was starting to get fat from lack of exercise. So when a good day eventually came along, there was only one thing to do....grab it.

The better weather was coming in from the west so it was into the car for a run down the Ayrshire coast. Grey Hill is a small lump just to the south of Girvan but it promised a good view of Ailsa Craig. I took the Newton-Stewart road out of Girvan and after a couple of miles, at Pinmore, turned on to a single track road that passed the east slopes of the hill. There was space to park a car just off the road near the farm of Knocklaugh from where a path started up towards the hill. There were two immediate problems; the entrance to the path was by a stile and Ben has so far proved unable to tackle these on his own. So he had to be lifted over. The second problem was that the "path" was a sea of mud; Ben was on his lead at this stage and was so excited and desperate to be off that I had to watch that I was not dragged face down into and then through the mud! Having survived that, we wandered up a very wet hillside for a bit before arriving at this sign and another fence and stile.....

Having lifted Ben over again, things improved after that. The hillside was much drier as we gained height and the only worry was that there were a lot of sheep about. However, they had obviously clocked us and they soon moved off. There was a 4wd track higher up but on the way up that was where the sheep were so we detoured towards the north ridge to avoid them.....

It was good firm going on short grass and we were soon at the trig; it was indeed a good viewpoint. This is Steven and Ben with Girvan in the background.....

me and Ben with Ailsa Craig in the background.....

and a zoomed shot of Ailsa Craig. It looks like an exciting Marilyn to do.....

It could have been a spring day, warm with only a gentle breeze. Going down, we had to repeat the dog lifting exercise but managed to avoid a lot of the wetter ground although not the mud. And going down through the trees....was that a midge....surely not! What was not in dispute was the snowdrops that were fully out in sheltered spots beside the burn. And sitting in the car preparing to leave we watched a treecreeper running up an old tree in front of us. Could spring really be on its way?

Meall nam Maigheach

2011-12-02T19:37:00.001Z

4 October 2009

Participants - Just me
Where - Meall nam Maigheach, 779m/2,558', Corbett, Map 51, NN 586436

Well I guess that that's just about it for the year. Can't see me getting out much until after the New Year now. Weather's just too dank and miserable. Time to start making plans for all the good weather we're going to get next year!

So to keep the blog going, here is a report of a walk I did in October 2009, a year when the October weather was benign and the autumn colours were at their best. Meall nam Maigheach is probably the least visited of the Lawers hills due to the rough nature of the ground and the fact that most folk head straight to the Munros. However they forget that you get good views of the Munros from nearby hills and I think that it is worth putting up with the rough terrain on Meall nam Maigheach for that alone.

The hill is best seen from the Lochan na Lairige on the Loch Tay to Glen Lyon road.......

The guide books say that the best way to climb it is from a roadside hut due west of the summit following a wall up but there is very little parking there and this route seems to provide only a very short day. So although I knew that I was letting myself in for some very rough terrain, I opted to follow the spine of the hill. I left the car at the north end of the loch where there is lots of parking; near here is the start point of a path that goes to the Munro of Meall a'Choire Leith. I followed the path for a short distance before taking to the hillside. It was rough but by following sheep tracks and sticking to the highest ground I was able to make reasonable progress.....

The starting height was over 500m so it was certainly not steep! The going got a bit easier as I approached the summit where there were two cairns. I reckoned that the most southerly one was higher but the other one, about 10 minutes further on, was the better viewpoint and that was where I stopped for my lunch. There were a number of small pools on the summit area which provided foreground for photographs. Here are some that I took. This is the summit cairn with the Ben Lawers hills in the background.....

The northerly cairn with the Carn Mairg group of hills on the other side of Glen Lyon beyond.....

Looking to Carn Gorm, the most westerly of the Carn Mairg hills.....

Looking to Stuchd an Lochain at the head of Glen Lyon.....

and a shot of a distant Ben More and Stobinian beyond the Glen Lochay hills.....

I spent a fair bit of time on the summit just lazing about and taking in the views before it was time to tackle the heather and bog again. The compensation was the good view that I got of the Lawers hills on the way down.....

I have walked this hill a few times; it is in a great situation and in my view it is well worth putting up with the rough going to reach a great viewpoint....but only in good weather of course!

Kirkland Hill

2011-11-22T22:08:00.001Z

22 November 2011.

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Kirkland Hill, 511m/1675', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 71, NS 731163

I had climbed Kirkland Hill once before. On that occasion, I approached it from the south, from Kirkland. An excellent track led from a car parking area to a farm and carried on through the farmyard to the old church of St Connel's; unfortunately, walkers were diverted away from the farm and the track through a couple of very muddy fields with cattle in them before rejoining the track further on. As there must be very few walkers in this neck of the woods, I thought that this was a tad unfriendly!

Not wanting to face mud and cattle today, especially as I had Ben with me, I decided to try a route from the east. The map showed a single track road leaving the B740 just before the junction with the A76 and going about 5 miles before ending at the buildings at Fingland. So I took this; it was a surprisingly good surface although there weren't many passing places. The hill came into view as I got closer....

About 4 miles in, after a big bend in the road, I reached a cattle grid at the start of a right of way to Kirkland and Kirkconnel. There was just enough room for a car at the entrance to the track.....

Kirkland Hill appears to be the highest point of the moors above Sanquhar and as I was already at 300m at the start point, there wasn't a lot of ascent. However although there wasn't much height gain it was pretty rough going mainly over tussocks until I got near to the summit.....

The weather on the drive down had been great but it clouded over as I approached the top, although it proved just to be some passing cloud and I was back with blue sky and sunshine before I reached the car again. The trig looked as though it wasn't exactly at the highest point but there wasn't much in it. The next picture is of the trig looking south east to the Lowther hills and the one after looking east towardsTinto.....

So not a long walk but an unexpected bonus to get such good weather in late November. Having done both routes, I reckon that the one from Kirkland is better, if you don't mind mud and cows!

Cairngorm

2011-11-09T11:47:00.001Z

7 November 2011

Participants - Neil, Steven and Ben
Where - Cairngorm, 1245m, Munro, Map 36

You don't get many days like this in November, or any other month in 2011 come to think of it! Clear blue skies and perfect visibility and hardly any wind. It was just a pity that daylight hours are getting short and as I had to drive home afterwards, the objective had to be a hill that we could be up and down in a few hours. Cairngorm and part of the Northern corries fitted the bill exactly.

We drove up to the Coire Cas car park and set off up the main track to the Ptarmigan. I had the notion to come back down on the railway so took a picture of the train going up.....

The main track is a bit boring so after passing the upper buildings, we headed for the Fiacall a'Choire Chais which was broad and stony and led up the west side of the corrie to its top at 1141m. This was a very easy way up but got us away from the ski area and provided ever widening views into and beyond Coire an t-Sneachda.....

We paused for a bit at the cairn at the top of the ridge. This is a favourite viewpoint of mine; coming up this way it provides a first view into the main range as well as the distant views to the north and west. Today we could easily make out Morven in Caithness and whole ranges of hills beyond Ben Wyvis; unfortunately they are so distant that my photographs don't do them justice.....

It was far too early in the day to go to the summit so we dropped down to the col for a wander along the top of Coire an t-Sneachda as far as the high point at 1176m. From here, we could glimpse the tops of Cairn Toul and the Angels Peak.....

look across the plateau to Ben Macdui (this one taken on a previous visit; the sun was in the wrong place today).....

look south over the top of Carn Etchachan to Loch Etchachan and Derry Cairngorm.....

and round to Beinn Mheadhoin.....

The latter brought back memories of days when I climbed Cairngorm, dropped down the back to Loch Avon to visit the Shelter Stone, climbed Beinn Mheadhoin and then came back either the same way or via the Saddle. Wouldn't be able to do that now! Today, we simply retraced our steps to the col and climbed the stony west slopes of Cairngorm.....

Here is a summit pic, looking down to Glenmore.....

Not far from the cairn is the weather station, I noted that it said that the wind speed here had reached 176 mph one February day.....

I suppose that the train ride down is a bit expensive- £7.50 for an adult and £1 for a dog- but it is a bit of an adventure and I think worth doing if only because it is a different and unique Scottish hill experience. Dogs had to travel in the standing only compartment at the back of the carriage (with their owners of course); I suppose you could say therefore that I ended up in the dog house! Here are a couple of views through the window; glad that that deer missed us!!!......

The sun was getting low in the sky as we drove back past Loch Morlich so I stopped and took a picture of where we had been, and also looking across the loch towards Glen Einich.....

They summed up the day perfectly.

Creag Bheag (Kingussie)

2011-11-08T15:48:00.002Z

6 November 2011

Participants - Neil, Steven and Ben
Where - Creag Bheag, 487m/1,597', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 35, NH 745017

All of the forecasts were agreed- it was going to be good weather. So a chance- last of the year I would imagine- to do something further away from home. As it would only be for a couple of days I didn't fancy driving too far so we booked into Aviemore which would let me do this for me new Marilyn on the way up and something more substantial the following day before driving home again.

Creag Bheag stands above Kingussie and is another one of these good wee hills to break up a journey. We started at the main car park behind the big hotel; again no problems with route finding on this one, it was well signposted.....

The path wound a way through birch woods, then pine trees before reaching the open hill. The summit area was a series of knolls, each with a cairn on it. It was a bit difficult to decide which was the highest point and the map showed two 487m spot heights. We concluded that the west top might be slightly higher but as we were traversing the hill anyway it didn't matter as we visited them all. Here I am with Ben at the west top with the Cairngorms in the background, it was a bit breezy so another bad hair day.....

Here's a selection of views from the ridge. This is looking to A'Chailleach in the Monadliath.....

back along the ridge with Creag Dhubh beyond.....

and over Kingussie to the Cairngorms.....

There was a substantial stone shelter just below the east top....

and the hill drops sharply and roughly to the north to the trench containing Loch Gynack.....

The east ridge was much steeper and the path rougher and also muddy and Ben was more brown than white by the time that we got down to lower ground. However the loch was close at hand and a few minutes swim cleaned the worst of the mud off. From the loch, the path, still signposted, went through a gate and into more woodland and we soon arrived at the edge of the golf course and then the public

roads that led back to the car park. And the forecast was promising even better weather tomorrow!

Barbay Hill, Great Cumbrae

2011-11-02T23:32:00.001Z

1 November 2011

Participants - Neil, Steven and Ben
Where - Barbay Hill, Island of Great Cumbrae, 127m/417', Island high point.

I keep meaning to visit more islands although to be fair, the poor weather this year has provided a decent excuse for failure. Islands need good weather to be appreciated properly and 2011 has not been good. However there is a wee island in the Firth of Clyde only 30-odd miles from home that always satisfies the craving for another few months- Great Cumbrae or Greater Cumbrae as the local tourist association says that it should be called. The 10 minute ferry trip from Largs transports you to another world- at least outwith the main tourist season! There are lots of walks to do and things to see so as well as the pictures that I took today, I have added a few more to give a better flavour of the Island.

Today, the normal luxurious ferry- the Loch Shira -seen here on a previous visit leaving Largs for Cumbrae slip.....

was having some work done to it and the route was being operated by one of CalMac's older vessels- the Isle of Cumbrae- here at Cumbrae slip looking back to Largs.....

We decided to visit the highest point of the island- Barbay Hill and the Glaidstone. This was a different sort of hill walk for Ben, the island is mostly farm land and the walk is on ordinary roads, although there is very little traffic. For some reason, the furry one was in a very excited state today and the least said about his behaviour the better. Let's leave it that his hearing seems to be a bit selective on occasions! However, he did settle down eventually and was quite calm on his first ride on a bus on the journey back to the pier.

Sitting slap bang in the middle of the Clyde estuary, Barbay Hill is a good viewpoint, despite its lack of height. There was a bit of a haze today so the mountains of the southern highlands were not as clear as I had seen them on previous visits and the Arran hills retained a cap of cloud all day. But the nearer views were excellent and for the first day of November it was not at all bad.....

After the summit, we carried on along the road and dropped down to Millport, the "capital" of the island. Most of the shops were shut; it was lunch time. We also had a bit to wait for the bus as the ferry takes a break in the early afternoon but it was actually very pleasant sitting in the bus shelter at the pier enjoying a bit of sunshine. I took a couple of photos of the harbour and the town.....

A "main" road, about 10 miles long, runs right round the island hugging the shore. I have walked it a few times and also cycled round. The west side of the island is more rugged than the east and there are glimpses of Goat Fell and the other high hills on Arran, with the southern tip of Bute in between.....

This is an island that I am sure that I will continue going back to again and again.

Dun Coillich

2011-10-26T23:09:00.001+01:00

26 October 2011.

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Dun Coillich, 572m/1,877', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 52, NN 762537

Although the cloud was well down on the Campsies when I left the house, MWIS was promising that it would lift as the day went on. I took the A9 and then cut across to Aberfeldy, the tops were still shrouded but lo and behold, as I drove along the Tay valley, Schiehallion appeared with only its higher reaches still capped. It looked like it was going to be a good day after all! Dun Coillich was a new Marilyn for me and as it sits in the shadow of Schiehallion I reckoned that it must be a good viewpoint for it. This is a view of Dun Coillich from Glengoulandie- taken on the way back when the cloud had completely cleared and the weather was much brighter.....

The few reports that I had read about this hill suggested an approach from the B846. I had a look at the approach from the Dun Coillich Community Woodland car park but it looked as though there were a number of fences to get over which might have posed problems for Ben so I carried on. An alternative approach was from White Bridge but construction traffic was everywhere and it looked as though the parking area was being used as a turning area for big vehicles to get in to one of the new tracks that had been built on the east side of the road. I presume that all this is for the Beauly- Denny power line; there were new roads everywhere that I hope will be removed once the pylons have been erected. So I decided to carry on again and go round to the north side of the hill and have a look at the approach from the Braes of Foss car park- the start of the track up Schiehallion. My objective looked a bit further away from here.....

The only possible problem was getting through the deer fence that separated the JMT land from the Community Woodland area but shortly after leaving the forest and almost at the point where the Schiehallion path started to climb I spied a gate which had pedestrian access. The only way I can describe the going is "rough". The community website says that all the sheep and deer have been removed from the area so there were no tracks of any description to follow. It looked as though it had been the intention to plant trees on this side of the hill as I came across a number of holes in the heather- however there was no sign of any saplings and the holes just served as booby traps. Thank goodness for trekking poles, saved me from falling into one! It got a bit easier as I got higher. Schiehallion dominated the view.....

My route led directly to the western of the two tops where the highest point was marked by a few stones.....

There was another top a few hundred yards away with a more substantial cairn which according to the map is the true summit. However there is not much between them so it's worth doing both......

Here are a couple of other views from the summit. This is looking over Loch Kinardochy towards a distant Beinn a'Ghlo.....

and due east to the Corbett, Meall Tairneachan.....

It seemed to be much easier going down than coming up. I found that the grassy areas were very wet- my boots are now well used and my feet were soon soaking- and it was better to stick to the heather. Low down, we raised a snipe. This is looking back to the car park (in the gap between the trees) from about the half way point.....

Despite the rough going, I enjoyed this walk. The bigger hills are often best viewed from something smaller and this was definitely the case today. I drove home by Aberfeldy and Crieff stopping to look at the Wade bridge in Aberfeldy.....

Goseland Hill

2011-10-20T16:12:00.001+01:00

19 October 2011.

Participants - Neil, Steven and Ben
Where - Goseland Hill, 435m/1,427', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 72, NT 071351

No decent summer and no decent autumn either so far in the central belt! The weather had been pretty grim since I returned from my few days in the North-East but it looked as though today was to be ok so it was into the car and off to the south of Lanark for a short walk on Goseland Hill, one of the sub-2,000' Marilyns in that area that I have not yet blogged.....

This is a heather covered hill in the middle of sheep country, although Ben does not appear to be interested in sheep I always try to keep him well away from them and today fortunately they were on a different part of the hill. I had climbed this hill a couple of times before and it provides some good views; today was the best weather conditions that I had had on my visits. I haven't checked exactly but the hill seems to sit on the watershed with the Tweed just a short distance to the east and the Clyde a short distance to the west. Minor roads circle the hill and there is a wee quarry like area at the east end of the track to Goseland house on the south side which can take a few cars. From the car parking area, it was straight up steeply about 200m in height over short cropped heather to the east top of the hill. As we climbed up, good views opened up to the west towards Tinto.....

From the east top it was only a short walk along a gently inclining plateau to the trig. Ben was first to get there as usual.....

Here he is again with Steven and then with me with Broughton Heights in the background.....

This is again looking towards Tinto......

The Culter hills are to the south.... in the wrong place at this time of day for photography, but I had better not complain too much about the sun or we'll be in for another few weeks of cloud and rain.....

It really was great weather today though as we reluctantly left the top and headed back down the way we had come.....

Ben Rinnes

2011-10-03T11:44:00.026+01:00

A short visit to the North-East, Day 4

30 September 2011.

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Ben Rinnes, 840m/2,756', Corbett, Map 28, NJ 255355

The cloud had moved on overnight and it was another gloriously sunny day. However, more cloud and rain was forecast to move in from the west later in the day so I made an early start. It was a short drive to the start point- a car park just off the Dufftown to Tomintoul road. I was the first car there although another arrived just as I was setting off up the hill and it was joined by a few others during the course of the morning. This is a popular hill, probably because it is the highest in the area and has a good path up it. It also has a well defined outline and can be seen and identified from many miles away. This was my third visit and in easily the best weather.

The initial part of the track to the top of Round Hill was steep. The whole route opened up from there.....

The track continued over Roy's Hill.....

and then steepened again as it climbed towards the tors that marked the summit.....

The summit is called Scurran of Lochterlandoch- I love these north-east names! Although it was warm and sunny it was also windy and I was glad to find shelter in the lee of the summit tor while Ben explored a bit of the summit plateau.....

There was a real feeling of height up here; this is looking down on the sub-2,000' Marilyns of Meikle Conval and Little Conval.....

Other folk were starting to arrive as we set off down. Here is another view of the Convals' from lower down with Ben Aigan to the left again....

And that was the last hill of my short visit to the North-East. Four new sub-2,000' Marilyns for my list plus another visit to a popular Corbett in perfect weather conditions was not bad going! I completed a circuit by driving back via Tomintoul and Braemar. It started to rain about a mile from home.

Ben Aigan

2011-10-03T11:27:00.001+01:00

A short trip to the North-East, Day 3.

29 September 2011

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Ben Aigan, 471m/1,546', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 28, NJ 310482

It was still warm but cloud had moved in overnight so there was not a lot of sunshine today. However the atmosphere was still clear so I would get the views. It was only a short drive- Ben Aigan stands above the town of Rothes and is deep in forestry country. However the top was outwith FC land so was clear.....

The forest area was part of the Monster Cycle Trails project and I drove to the car park for the start of these which was off the A95. Looking at the map this was a longer route than some others but after two very short days walking I reckoned that we could manage something a bit more lengthy. This route I estimated as being about 3 miles each way with about 250m of ascent. The track contoured round the hill with a number of changes of direction with the first objective being the mast at the top of Knock More.....

There was a firebreak that would have saved some distance and time by missing out Knock More but as we were in no hurry we didn't take it and stuck to the main track. The track was shown on the map as ending at the radio mast but I had checked in advance and found that it in fact continued to the edge of the forest at the start of the upper slopes of the hill. The trees had been cleared around the mast and I got my first view of the day's objective.....

Outwith the forest I was on private estate land and the track changed to a path.....

It was not far from there to the trig, here with Ben Rinnes in the background.....

and looking more or less in a southerly direction.....

We went back the same way and I visited Elgin Cathedral in the afternoon.....

Bin of Cullen

2011-10-02T11:37:00.001+01:00

A short visit to the North-East, Day 2 cont.

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Bin of Cullen, 320m/1,051', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 29, NJ 480643

Various minor roads through some nice countryside took me to the start of my second walk of the day- the Bin of Cullen. The harvest was in full swing and it looked like being a bumper crop.....

The start point for this one was near to a farm called Braidbog where there was some parking at the entrance to the track through the forest. It was mixed woodland and very pleasant to walk through as the leaves and ferns were starting to turn into their autumn colours.....

The track was marked on the map and although it changed direction a few times there was no problem. Higher up there was a short cut but it was a bit bouldery so I just stuck to the main track. The top of the hill was above the trees and as I had expected it was a very fine viewpoint, the best of the trip so far. This is looking south back to Knock Hill.....

and this is a slightly zoomed shot of that first hill of the day.....

There was a view indicator erected by the Rotary Club of Buckie to mark the Millennium; this is it with the town of Buckie in the background.....

and this is looking down on the town of Cullen....

and that is where we went after leaving the hill- to find a seat on the seafront and to do a bit of sun bathing!

Knock Hill

2011-10-02T11:36:00.001+01:00

A short visit to the North-East, Day 2

28 September 2011

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Knock Hill, 430m/1,412', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 29, NJ 537552

It was just as well that I only had a couple of small hills on the radar for today as the temperature soared; by mid-afternoon it was registering 26 C. I drove through Keith and took the A95 Banff road and after a few miles the first of the day's objectives came into view.....

The start point was at the end of a narrow road to a few houses at Swilebog where there was parking for a few cars. The route up the hill was obvious; I could see a narrow path heading straight as an arrow from the woods surrounding the car park car park to the summit.....

There was a fence just before arriving at the top but it had a gate for pedestrians. It was something of an unusual summit with a trig point, a cairn, a smaller, memorial cairn, and a modern stone circle. The trig was also unusual as it was square; I hadn't come across one like that before.....

Unfortunately, the distant views were a bit hazy but on the way back down, I did take a picture looking towards the Banffshire coast......

Although small, the hills in this area are really nice and looking to the north, I could see the next objective, the Bin of Cullen. As it was much closer to the coast, I was looking forward to an even better view.

Knock of Braemoray

2011-10-01T11:58:00.002+01:00

A short visit to the North-east, Day 1.

27 September 2011.

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Knock of Braemoray, 456m/1,495', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 27, NJ 011418

At long last the forecast promised a few days good weather so it was an opportunity to go further afield. The best of the weather was supposed to be in the Moray Firth area so I booked a few nights in Elgin. It was overcast when I left home, chucking it down at Drumochter (where have I said that before!), dry again by Aviemore and the sun was out when I reached Grantown. The Knock of Braemoray looked as though it would provide a good, short walk so from Grantown I headed up the A940 to Forres. The hill came into view when I reached Dava.....

I carried on to the highest point of the road where I turned the car and parked in a layby on the east side, which proved to be almost directly below the summit....
.

It was straight on to the hillside from the layby; the angle was easy and the heather mainly short so there was not much effort involved. The best of the view was behind me looking west to Lochindorb.....

So it wasn't long before I reached the top- here is Ben cooling off in a lochan with the trig behind and a rainbow providing a backdrop as the last of the rain disappeared into the east.....

According to the map, the highest point is a few yards south of the trig in a boggy area although it wasn't evident from looking around where exactly it was. So after a bit of wandering about and taking a final photograph looking towards Lochindorb it was back the same way to the car and on to Elgin.....

The actual walk was less than 2 miles with about 160m of ascent and only took an hour. A good way to break up a long journey.

Meikle Bin

2011-09-20T21:15:00.001+01:00

20 September 2011.

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Meikle Bin, 570m/1,870', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 57, NS 667822, c. 2 hours and 30 minutes.

The weather was not very promising so there was no point in driving far to do a hill. Meikle Bin is nice and handy and a good leg stretcher on mainly forest tracks and grassy slopes. Ben needed a decent run around so that's where we went. As I drove into the car park at the west end of the Carron Valley Reservoir the heavens opened, fortunately it didn't last so we got on our way. Although it remained mostly cloudy there was no more rain to speak of, just as well because I didn't have my waterproof trousers with me. I blogged this hill in March 2010 so I won't repeat the details that I gave then. The only thing of note was that the link path between the forestry track and the open hill was a sea of mud and required some not so nifty dodging under tree branches to get through. Apart from that, it was a decent walk, one I've done a few times in the past and will no doubt do again. This is a picture of Meikle Bin from the road on the other side of the Reservoir.....

and these are a few photos that I took on this visit, starting with a view back across the reservoir from a few hundred yards into the walk.....

looking towards Meikle Bin from a clearing in the trees....

approaching the summit....

the trig with the flat lands of the central belt beyond.....

a couple of pics looking back down to the Reservoir.....

and finally looking west to Ben Lomond and some of the other Southern Highland hills.....

Glas Maol and Creag Leacach

2011-09-16T12:11:00.001+01:00

15 September 2011

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Glas Maol, 1,068m/3,504', Munro/Marilyn and Creag Leacach, 987m, Munro, Map 43, NO 166765 (Glas Maol). A leisurely 4 and a bit hours.

I keep returning to the Glenshee hills, they provide good walking on easy terrain and although close to a main road and a major ski area they have a great feeling of remoteness. You do need good weather to appreciate them though, it would be a complete waste to be here when the cloud is down, unless its just navigation practice that you're after. Today, I decided to take the route that gave the highest starting point- from the Cairnwell car park. The first part of the climb was up an unsightly track past even more unsightly rusting ski tows and various buildings to the top of Meall Odhar. There are signs that work is being done to improve this area- several new buildings that are rather more sympathetic to the environment have sprung up since I was last here- but there is still lots to be done. From Meall Odhar, we could see our planned second Munro of the day- Creag Leacach- to the south.....

Before that however there was the little matter of the steep pull up the side of the big northern corrie of Glas Maol- the Fionn-choire. Snow lies here well into the spring. Here is Ben contemplating the route.....

An eroded path is now well established and we were soon up and strolling across the broad plateau to the cairn of Glas Maol.....

On a good day like this and with a high starting point it was difficult to appreciate that we were on top of one of the bigger of the Munros; I've been up here in winter and it is an entirely different story. We raised a Ptarmigan, it's coat already turning white, and a flock of over 20 Golden Plovers flew off as we approached the cairn. There were also a large number of hares, more than I have ever seen up here before. Visibility was A1; this is the view north towards the Cairngorms.....

We then turned our attention to Creag Leacach, the most shapely of this group of hills. We dropped down off Glas Maol to meet the narrowing ridge that links the two.....

This is quite a rocky hill nearer its top and the stones have been used to build a substantial wall along part of the ridge. This is the view from near the summit looking back towards Glas Maol.....

There were a number of other people about and I asked one of them to take a photo of Ben and me at the cairn with Glas Maol in the background.....

And this is the view looking west with the Beinn a'Ghlo group and Glas Tulaichean in the distance.....

Taking the Meall Odhar route meant that this was basically another "return the same way" walk so we retraced our steps back along the ridge. There was however a bypass path that meant we didn't have to re climb Glas Maol although Ben obviously thought that we should be doing that as he shot off uphill again, presumably on the scent of a hare. Fortunately he returned just as I was thinking that I would have to climb the slopes again to look for him. From Meall Odhar there was a good view of the Cairnwell across the road.....

and we took our time wandering down through the ski slopes back to the car.

Craigowl

2011-09-09T11:49:00.002+01:00

8 September 2011

Participants - Us again
Where - Craigowl, 455m/1,492', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 54, NO 377400

My earliest recollection of going to the hills was a school trip to the Sidlaws when I stayed in Dundee. I can't remember if we got to the top of anything or not but the trip must have had an effect on me because I have since developed a life long addiction to the hills. Craigowl is the highest in the range and I had passed it many times heading up the Dundee to Forfar road to Glen Esk and such places before I eventually got round to climbing it.....

So this was my second visit on a day when the weather just got better and better. I parked at the Balkello Community Woodland car park near to Auchterhouse. There were lots of paths and I chose one that seemed to be headed in the general direction of Auchterhouse Hill, the most westerly of the three tops that we aimed to climb. After leaving the woodland, we joined a path that headed up a wee glen between Auchterhouse Hill and Balluderon Hill. This is Auchterhouse Hill.....

and this is the type of scenery we were walking through.....

We came across the occasional fence, usually there was a gate and where there wasn't the fence was old enough to let Ben slip through without difficulty. It didn't take long till we were approaching the memorial to Syd Scroggie that has been erected on the top of Balluderon Hill. Syd was a legendary local mountaineer and poet- a real man of the hills. Shortly after the end of World War II, he stepped on a land mine as a result of which he was blinded and lost much of one leg. However that didn't stop him going to the hills and his obvious enjoyment of his trips shines through in his poetry. A real inspiration!

The memorial could not have been erected in a better place; I would say that the top of Balluderon hill is by a long way the finest view point in the group. The memorial incorporates a view indicator giving the distance of some of the more prominent hills. Definitely a place to linger! This is the view looking across the Tay to the Lomond hills....

But I had an impatient spaniel with me and Craigowl was now in view ahead.....

The views now included Strathmore and the Grampians.....

We passed a lone pine on the way up Craigowl.....

which is unfortunately crowned by lots of telecommunications equipment. The trig was situated on a small mound between the buildings and there was also a small cairn a few yards away. I took this picture looking north-west to some of the higher hills; you can spot Schiehallion if you look closely.....

Dundee was much closer.....

We could have descended by another path directly back to the car park but it was a day for staying high so it was back the same way and another stop at the top of Balluderon Hill. Rather than head back to Perth by the main dual carriageway, I decided on the scenic route and headed up to Meigle. I had a suspicion that there might be a coffee shop there and there was- a really good place at the road junction in the centre of the village. It was warm enough to sit outside. I must be getting old.....when once I would have used every last ounce of daylight to tick off Munros I am now taking leisurely strolls over smaller hills followed by visits to coffee shops....hmmmmm

Broughton Heights

2011-09-04T18:46:00.002+01:00

4 September 2011.

Participants - Us
Where - Broughton Heights, 571m/1,874', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 72, NT 122411

At last, a bright and sunny day, although the forecast said that cloud would spread in late afternoon. The only other time I have climbed Broughton Heights, it was a dull day and the cloud came down on the summit and I didn't get a view, so I had very few photographs of this area. So a good chance to rectify that today. There is a good walkers car park at Broughton Place, up a narrow road cum track from the village which saves about a mile in each direction. I was late setting off and didn't really expect to find a place in the car park but there were lots- everyone must have been away climbing higher hills. This is a beautiful wee glen, even more so today with the heather in full bloom. The area is also walker friendly and the route initially follows the John Buchan Way which runs from Broughton to Peebles......

The path followed the burn with Broomy Side, the most westerly of the Broughton Heights tops, ahead.....

It rose gently to a junction of paths at the Hammer Head pass- wonder how that got its name- from where there was a good view of the most southern 2,000' Marilyn of the group, Penvalla, best approached from Stobo.....

There were a lot of sheep about but as we started to ascend more steeply, we left them behind and Ben got off his lead. Maybe I'm just noticing these things now that I have a dog but there seem to be a lot more sheep about than there were even a couple of years ago. Anyway, we were now off the route of the Way and the path was much narrower as we headed up to the col between Clover Law and Broomy Side. We reached a fence but it had gaps in it and Ben had no problems; there was a style for me to cross. From there, it was a grassy hill path over a couple of subsidiary tops on a very pleasant narrowish ridge.....

and Ben as usual was first at the trig.....

It was a really fine viewpoint. This is looking east to the Pentlands.....

South were the hills above the Manor valley.....

and furher round, Broad Law.....

Approaching the summit, I saw something new that might have attracted Ben's interest, hang gliders.....

but he seemed to be more interested in an old sheep bone which got carried a fair way down the ridge on our return. He was so interested in the bone that he missed the fine view of Tinto in the distance.....

The border hills generally are quiet and I find that the Broughton Hills are especially so. But it is a fine bit of country and I will be back; I didn't get much of a day on Trahenna Hill when I climbed it the first time either. I could have added it on today but it was starting to cloud over when I got back to Hammerhead so I decided to leave it. At least that's my excuse!

Creag nan Gabhar

2011-08-23T17:59:00.002+01:00

22 August 2011

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Creag nan Gabhar, 834m/2,736', Corbett, Map 43, NO 154841, time taken, 3 hours and 45 minutes

According to the forecast, this was going to be the best day of the week so off we went again, this time heading north to get in a highland hill before the deer stalking season started in earnest. Carn nan Gabhar rises steeply from Glenshee; it can be approached from the south using a path that goes over to Lochcallater Lodge. I've done this route once- it is the short way up but I think that that is its only merit. The route is shut in for most of the way, the hillside is rough and there is a boggy area just before the final rise to the summit. I much prefer the route from the north from the car park opposite Auchallater farm and that's the way that we went today. The parking area had been improved since my last visit and there is now a fee of £2.50 which a sign said went to path upkeep; however, the machine was not working today!

There was a good view of the hill from the main track, the summit, as is usually the case, is at the furthest away point.....

and from around the same spot, there was a view of the Munro, Carn an Tuirc to the south.....

We left the main Glen Callater track after about a mile to take another track that zig-zaggged up Sron Dubh, the northern top of the Corbett. This actually continued well up the ridge, turned into a path higher up and continued to the summit. It would be difficult to get lost on this hill! It was really easy walking over dry ground with some stones higher up.....

You really are in the middle of the hills here- Munros and Corbetts are all around- and there is nothing like a good ridge walk to take in all the views. And this is a good ridge walk. This is looking back down the ridge from near the top with two of the Cairngorm 4,000'ers- Beinn a' Bhuird and Beinn Avon on the horizon.....

There were a few cairns at the top, the biggest of these appeared to be the true summit. This is it with the Cairnwell Munros in the background.....

and another look to Beinn a'Bhuird and Beinn Avon......

and down to Loch Callater with the lodge and the bothy at its west end and the Lochnagar hills beyond....

It was a pity that the sky was cloudy but at least the summits were clear! I now had a choice, go back the way we had come or drop down to the bothy and walk back along the main track in Glen Callater. There seemed to be a lot of estate activity down at the lodge and a few vehicles on the track- no doubt preparations were in full swing for the shooting season which apparently starts on 1 September in this area. So I decided that it was a day to stay high and we went back the same way. The estate workers were out replenishing the grit boxes for the grouse and I watched this ATV for a bit. It seems to be able to cope with all sorts of rough ground, something to save up for when I'm too old to get up a hill under my own steam maybe!

There were certainly a lot of grouse about and I don't remember seeing the stone shooting shelters on the hillside the last time that I was here either. Back down the hill, Ben went for a dip in the Callater Burn......

I preferred a dip into the Cairnwell cafe before the main drive home!

Minch Moor

2011-08-16T14:18:00.001+01:00

15 August 2011

Where - Minch Moor, 567m/1,859', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 73, NT 359330
Participants - Neil and Ben

It was back to the border hills today for a walk along the Minchmoor road which is part of the Southern Upland Way, and a visit to the hill of the same name. I have done this a couple of times before; it is a pleasant, easy walk with fine views once the forestry section is left behind. As usual, I left the car in the car park at Traquair village hall which is just off the Way. Initially, after a short forest section, the track passes between fields and the hill comes into view for the first time- it is between the two forest areas in this picture.....

The route was full of interest. The first thing of note was modern- an unusual environmental scheme/sculpture down to the left of the track (heading east).....

There was an information board that explained what it was all about.....

I don't really get a lot of the modern sculptures- for example, the giant figure outside Cumbernauld seems completely pointless and a waste of money but small projects like this one especially if they build in another theme such as the environment I find interesting. But maybe in hundreds of years time they will attract the same level of interest as do the buildings and legends of our past. And shortly after the sculpture we stopped to have a look at one of these.

The Minchmoor road is an ancient drove road that was frequented by bandits in days gone by. Nearing the first high point of the track, there is a spring named the Cheese Well, marked by a couple of inscribed stones. Apparently if someone passing it left an offering, usually cheese, for the fairies who were supposed to haunt the area then this would ensure a safe and successful journey. Here is Ben unsuccessfully looking for some cheese at one of the two stones that mark the spring.....

So no cheese, but plenty people obviously believe the legend and leave a modern offering- a coin- instead.....

Not long after passing the well, we reached a signpost pointing up a side track to the summit of the Minch Moor. Unfortunately, the early sunshine had faded, and the rain came on just as we reached the cairn. It was a short lived shower however so I hung around for the blue sky and sunshine to come back in order to take the obligatory summit photo.....

That was the last rain of the day, the sun came out again and the walk back was excellent with great views of the Dun Rig hills ahead and, when lower down, a view looking west along the Tweed valley.....

Innerdouny Hill

2011-08-14T22:02:00.001+01:00

14 August 2011.

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Innerdouny Hill, 497m/1,630', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 58, NS 687918

I hadn't planned on going walking today but the weather turned out better than was forecast. So having decided to go, the next question was where? I am fast running out of local-ish Marilyns that are suitable for Ben and that I have not blogged; the fact that the forecast was much better for the east of the country narrowed the choice even further. In the event, I opted for Innerdouny Hill, the most eastern of the Marilyns in the Ochil hills. I had done it before and it provided a nice short day mostly on a forest track which was an advantage after all the recent rain. Although the map shows the hill covered in trees, the actual summit area is in fact clear and there is no problem getting to the top and there is a bit of a view.

I drove through the Hillfoot villages and took the Dunning road at Yetts o'Muckhart. There was space for a few cars at the entrance to the forest at Littlerig; mine was the only one parked there today so it looked like we would have the hill to ourselves. There was a lot of forestry work taking place in the lower reaches of the forest; you can see the summit that we were aiming for peaking out above the trees in the following two pictures.....

Like a number of these forested hills, the track sloped gently up across the hillside so that you actually approach the top from the opposite direction that you started from. The first part of the forest had been cleared but higher up it remained as I remembered it....

At the highest point of the track just before it started to go downhill again, there was a good gap in the trees; the ground wasn't too rough and there were traces of a path.....

We crossed an old wall (a few stones were missing so no problem for Ben) and just beyond that could see the trig.....

The cloud had been building up and an obvious shower passed to the south but it remained dry for us. There was a reasonable view from here to Loch Leven and the Lomond hills.....

The sun came out again on the way back, this is looking to the hills on the other side of Glen Devon including Ben Cleuch (distance right). There are lots of wind turbines in the Ochil hills now, together with the forestry this is getting to be quite an industrialised landscape.....

By the time we got back to the lower reaches of the track, it was a perfect summers day.....

We enjoyed our 5 mile walk.

Meall a'Mhuic

2011-08-09T20:18:00.001+01:00

9 August 2011.

Where - Meall a'Mhuic, 745m/2,444', Graham, Map 51, NN 579508
Participants - Neil and Ben

The weather forecast for the rest of the week was dire so it was today or not at all if I wanted a walk this week. I climbed Meall a'Mhuic a couple of years ago and enjoyed it and as far as I could remember there were no fences to cross or sheep to worry about so Ben would be able to run about freely. The Meggernie Estate seem to be particularly walker friendly and have provided a good car park with picnic benches and toilet facilities at Innerwick in Glen Lyon, the start of the walk. Here is a view of the hill that I took from close to the car park last time that I was here; all the other photographs were taken today.....

There are a lot of tracks hereabouts including an old one that zig zags up the hill to about the 530m height so its easy going. Just about where the track ends there are faint traces of some old shielings; this one certainly had a view! The jaggy ridge in the distance is Meall nam Tarmachan.....

There was a lot of short cropped heather higher up and it was really only a gradual slope and the cairn soon came into view. Here's an unusual picture- Ben not moving! The Alder group of hills are in the background.....

Looking further round to the east I could make out the hills at Drumochter with Loch Rannoch closer at hand.....

Schiehallion is always visible from around here.....

and the Corbett of Beinn Dearg and the Munro of Carn Gorm, the most westerly of the 4 Munros on the north side of Glen Lyon, were quite close. However, what you can't see is the glen of the Lairig Ghallabhaich between the hill that we were on and Beinn Dearg and as my days of belting on to get as many ticks in a day as possible are now over- I'm older and wiser as well as being more decrepit- I didn't bother......

This must be one of the few hills from where you can see all 7 Munros of the Lawers group.....

So after a rest at the cairn it was back the same way with the pleasant knowledge that there is an excellent tea room just a mile into the journey home. I couldn't resist.

North Berwick Law

2011-08-06T19:16:00.001+01:00

5 August 2011

Where - North Berwick Law, 187m/613', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 66, NT 556842
Participants - Neil and Ben

The sub-2,000' Marilyns include some small, but really distinctive, hills and North Berwick Law is one of these. It makes a good trip by train for me on a short winter day but I quite fancied doing it in summer for a change and combining the walk with a visit to Tantallon castle which is only a couple of miles further on. Although one of the smallest of the Marilyns, on a clear day the Law can be seen from miles around; this is the view from closer at hand, near to Tantallon.....

There's a car park at the foot so this is a really short walk. There was a good path all of the way that weaved between the rocky outcrops. Being an isolated hill, it was no surprise to find that the slopes of the hill had been used both as a settlement and for military purposes down the ages. There is evidence of hut circles and a stone settlement on the south slopes. It was a bit cluttered near and on the top. There was a concrete building that was used as an observation post during both world wars.....

a stone building that was erected in 1803 as a watch house during the Napoleonic wars.....

and of course the whale jawbone- a fibreglass replica nowadays but previously the genuine article. Apparently the first jawbone was placed at the summit of the Law in 1709.....

On a clear day like today, it is a great viewpoint. This is looking west across the Lothians towards Edinburgh.....

through the watch house to North Berwick with the island of Craigleith in the background......

to the Bass rock.....

a zoomed shot of the Rock which shows clearly the amount of white gannet droppings.....

I have never been on the Rock although I have done the sail round it. Even from a distance the smell from the gannet droppings was overpowering; you must need a clothes peg on your nose when actually on the Rock! I would like to go to the top of it though.

There was a regatta on and the town was crowded so I didn't bother with a harbour visit and just drove down the coast a couple of miles to Tantallon castle.....

Tantallon was a stronghold of the Douglases and was built in the 14th century. There's not much remaining now of the interior but enough to show that it must have been a massive structure in its day. There was an even better view of the Bass Rock from its grounds.....

Auchnafree Hill

2011-07-30T21:12:00.013+01:00

30 July 2011.

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Auchnafree Hill, 789m/2,589', Corbett, Map 52, NN 809308

A refusal at the first fence! There is a three step style over the fence at the Loch Turret dam and Ben couldn't get over it. As usual, he was in very excitable mode at the start of a walk and it was clear that I was not going to be able to hold him still long enough to get him over. So it was back to the car park, over the cattle grid, through a hole in the fence and a contour over some rough ground to reach the track along the north shore of the loch. Fortunately it represented a diversion of only a couple of hundred yards.

The tops of the hills were in cloud but it was one of these days when you knew that it was going to clear. It's a really nice walk along the loch side with Ben Chonzie in the distance; and the heather was in bloom- autumn must be on its way!

While Ben Chonzie is always in view, Auchnafree Hill keeps itself hidden and we were well along the loch side before we got a view of it (the rounded bump in the middle).....

This is a very easy walk in the sense that there is a good track all of the way. After passing the head of the loch, the path splits and the right hand branch contours up and across the east slopes of Auchnafree Hill. There is a good view back to the loch from here.....

Nearing the top of the track, Ben shot off up the heather in pursuit of a hare. The hare won.....by several lengths. Grouse were next to have a go, they won as well. I spotted a Ring Ouzel.

Where the track started to level off, we reached another junction and turned left; this took us all the way to the top. There were two cairns, the smaller eastern one seems to mark the summit but the bigger, western cairn is the better viewpoint.....

There were other people on the track along the loch side but they must all have been heading for Ben Chonzie and we had the Corbett to ourselves. The earlier cloud had by now lifted off the tops and the views on the way back were much clearer.....

Auchnafree Hill is not the most exciting of the Corbetts but I rather like it, especially in winter when a bit of snow gives it more character. The walk back along the loch side always seems a bit interminable though!

To finish, here's a pic of Ben and me taken earlier in the year from the other side of Loch Turret. Auchnafree Hill is the third bump from the right and you can just see the track slanting up its ridge. Gives a bit of an idea of the length of this walk.....

Craiglee (Loch Doon)

2011-07-23T20:16:00.001+01:00

23 July 2011

Where - Craiglee (Loch Doon), 523m/1,716', Map 77, NX 470962
Participants - Same as yesterday.

Well that was a good one! It was helped by having a glorious sunny day, excellent visibility and a slight breeze that kept the midges and flies away. I had decided to venture south again to another bit of the Galloway Forest Park that I had not been to before- Loch Doon, south of Dalmellington. After stopping in that now terribly rundown village for a paper and a bottle of water, I turned off down a single track road and soon left the old industrial area behind. This was my first view of today's objective- Craiglee.....

With the hills forming a background to the loch, I could have been in the highlands. There was a big car park at the old castle- more of that later- and we were soon on our way up a grassy track that left the road immediately south of the building. The Merrick and its surrounding hills soon came into view.....

Where the path split, I chose to go right, only because that branch seemed to be gaining more height. This took me well up the Wee Hill of Craigmulloch and when I was level with the col between it and Craiglee I contoured round and tackled the mostly grassy slopes head on.....

It was a steady pull up, mostly on grass but with some heather and a few boulders to cross. We reached a cairn and the summit was then only a few hundred yards further on.....

It was a brilliant viewpoint. This is looking back to Loch Doon with Cairnsmore of Carsphairn background.....

Further round on the far side of the loch were the Rinns of Kells and Corserine.....

And round still further the Merrick and the hills to its north as far as Shalloch on Minnoch.....

There are lots of lochs in this area; immediately to the north of Craiglee was Loch Finlas.....

I hung about at the summit for a while before returning by the same route. Then it was time to have a look at the castle.....

This is all that's left of the inside.....

The castle was originally built on an island in the loch. However when the water level was raised in the 1930's for hydro purposes, the castle was removed and rebuilt stone by stone to its present location near the shore line. The water level was low enough today to see the original site out in the loch.....

The castle was built in the early 14th century and it played a role in the Wars of Independence.

The Forestry Commission have provided a forest drive linking the Loch Doon road to the road that goes from Straiton to Newton Stewart so rather than go back the same way I took that. The surface was better than a number of classified roads that I can think of! I had thought that I would be deep in the forest for most of the drive but the route was surprisingly open. The road passed a number of lochs including this one- Loch Bradan, with views to the Merrick hills.....

and to Shalloch on Minnoch.....

An excellent trip- one that I can recommend.

Cairn Table

2011-07-22T19:02:00.001+01:00

22 July 2011

Where - Cairn Table, 593m/1945', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 71, NS 724242
Participants - Neil and Ben

Industrial East Ayrshire is not a part of the country that you would think of for hill walking but Cairn Table is a gem. I have climbed it a few times now and enjoyed it every time. There is a walkers car park at Kames, just south of Muirkirk and a couple of routes go on to the hill from there. There is a more or less direct path across rough moorland that turns into a good track higher up the north ridge and a more circuitous route following the Garpel water for a bit before striking up towards the west ridge. Although duck boards and bridges have been put down in the worst places, the direct route tends to be wet and muddy in its initial stages so after all the rain that we have had recently I decided to give it a miss and take the slightly longer west ridge route.

The Muirkirk area is rich in industrial heritage and there are a number of information boards scattered about.....

We had only walked a short distance before we came across a memorial to John Loudon Macadam who was born in Ayr and who owned tar kilns in the area and who pioneered a type of road construction in the period around 1820. Modern road construction still follows the principles that he set down....

We continued along the land rover track as far as the Sanquhar bridge over the Garpel Water where a rough path branched off and crossed the moor. This is the view of Cairn Table from the bridge.....

I suspect that this is now quite a popular way up as the path quickly improved and is a lot more distinct than I remembered it. There were good views back to Muirkirk when we reached the ridge. The hill behind the village is Middlefield Law, another Sub-2,000' Marilyn, and one of the roughest hills that I have been on.....

In no time at all, we were approaching the cairn. From industrial Scotland, we had been transported back to pre-historic Scotland. There are two prehistoric cairns on the summit, one of which is largely intact. The stones from the other cairn, however, have been used to build a memorial to the folk from Muirkirk who fought in the 1914-18 war. This cairn is massive and can be seen from many miles away.

Cairn Table is a wonderful viewpoint on a good day and although there was a lack of sunshine today, the air was very clear and I could see everything that was mentioned on the view indicator- the hills of the Lake District, Arran, Ailsa Craig etc. Too far away for a good photograph though. Apart from the cairns and the view indicator, there is a trig point so here is Ben getting in the picture.....

We returned by the same route. An interesting day!

Ward Law

2011-07-14T10:28:00.002+01:00

13 July 2011

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Ward Law, 594m/1,950', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 79, NT 262159

I decided on another trip to the borders- to climb one of the few Marilyns in the Ettrick area that I had not yet attempted. So after a short stop in Innerleithen which was draped in blue and white bunting for its annual gala celebrations, I took the narrow roads heading south to the Ettrick valley- a nice piece of countryside. In the hamlet of Ettrick, I had a look at the monument marking where the cottage in which James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd had been born, had stood. Hogg is buried in the churchyard here.

Shortly beyond that I was able to pull off the road beside the war memorial at the start of a right of way that went through the hills to Riskinhope Hope and St Mary's Loch. The path was a bit faint in places but it contoured up the hillside above the glen of the Kirk burn with a view of my objective across the burn.....

After crossing the burn, it was simply a case of climbing the easy grassy slopes until the cairn came into view. There are a number of distinctive and well built cairns on the hills around here but this one was the daddy of them all- a cairn built to mark the jubilee of Queen Victoria apparently. So who is the £$%!£ who has decided to build a high fence across the moor and which now almost encloses the cairn, completely spoiling its situation? Land management is important but this is just a bit on the excessive side.....

I returned by the same route making detours where necessary to avoid sheep so that Ben could run about as much as possible; I guess that the fact that this is sheep country might explain the need for a fence but they might have kept it a bit further away from the cairn! The view on the way down was to the hills at the head of the Ettrick valley.....

It would be possible to do a few Sub-2,000'ers in a day around here with little driving between them but I was feeling lazy and had climbed them already so we just went to Peebles and had a stroll along the Tweed instead.

Craigenreoch

2011-07-02T22:19:00.001+01:00

2 July 2011.

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Craigenreoch, 565m/1,854', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 76, NX 335910

A change of scenery today and a new bit of the country for me. Craigenreoch is on the western edge of the Galloway Forest Park; all of my previous visits to the area have involved the Galloway Corbetts, further to the east and south. So it was an enjoyable drive once I'd passed Ayr- on to Maybole, then Crosshill and then a narrow winding road further south. This was my first sight of today's objective.....

The road actually has a name or at least part of it has, Nick of the Balloch. More importantly, there was a large lay-by at its highest point- very handy! A rough track started a few yards further back the road and this continued all of the way to the summit, although we left it for a bit to avoid bumping into some sheep. The first section was steep but it got us quickly up on to the moor above and that was virtually all of the ascent done. You can see the summit in the distance in this pic....

The first bump we came to is named Rowantree Hill on the map and it's top was marked by a few stones.....

Even off the path, the going was easy on shortish grass and in no time at all (well, about an hour after leaving the car) we were at the trig.....

It was a fine viewpoint. This is looking to The Merrick.....

and to Shalloch on Minnoch.....

and south-west where there seem to be an awful lot of wind farms.....

It was a bit hazy out to the Clyde estuary but I managed this zoomed shot of Ailsa Craig.....

This was a hill that only came on to my radar recently and I was glad that it had. I was aware that it was on the Marilyn list but I wasn't sure exactly where it was in relation to a road as I don't have that particular OS map. Although in appearance and terrain it was more "Ochil" than "Galloway" it was in a nice bit of country that I would not have visited had I not been doing some of the sub-2,000's. And it was a short day so on the way back I stopped at Prestwick beach and had a couple of hours in the sun looking over at Arran, an island that I have been meaning to go back to if we ever get a few good weather days on the trot.

Ben Ledi

2011-06-24T19:41:00.090+01:00

24 June 2011

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Ben Ledi, 879m/2,883', Corbett, Map 57, NN 562098

"A weak ridge of high pressure will move in calming down the showers temporarily before another front moves up from the south-west this evening". Well, that's as good as it seems to get this dreadful May/June in this part of Scotland so Ben and I headed out to take advantage. To whet the appetite, I had a look first at the picture of Ben Ledi that I took earlier on in the year.....

I parked in the car park over the River Leny at the start of the road to the forest cabins; for a Friday, there were quite a few cars there already. The path through the forest is like a well maintained motorway compared to what used to be the route years' ago when I climbed this hill fairly regularly. All the boggy patches have been eliminated so boulder hopping is no longer required to make progress. Past the forest, the views started to open up behind us, this is looking back to Callander with the Ochils in the distance.....

The "classic view" from early on in the walk is of Loch Lubnaig with Stuc a'Chroin behind it and the Ben Lawers hills in the "V".....

I put Ben on his lead temporarily in case there were any sheep lurking where we turned on to the south ridge but it was all clear today and he was soon running about freely again. I remember this as being a good winter hill- broad and easy angled so not too much to go wrong in snow conditions. The summit was in sight most of the way up the ridge so it was head down for me while Ben charged up and down!

Getting near the top, my attention was caught by a smallish bird which looked like a type of wader with a pronounced eye stripe. There were obviously chicks about as well; I could hear them in the grass and the adult didn't fly away any distance. I wasn't sure what it was but checking the bird book when I got home it seems most likely to have been a dotterel. The markings certainly looked like the picture in the book. I didn't think that they were found so far south.

As has been the case for weeks now (with only a very few days' exceptions) there was a lot of cloud about although visibility was excellent. This is looking west over Glen Finglas Reservoir to Ben Lomond and the hills around Arrochar.....

and north to Ben More and Stobinian.....

One advantage of doing a hill like this as against a sub-2,000 where I usually don't meet anyone else is that I can ask someone to take a pic of me and Ben. Normally it is just Ben in the summit pic. Here we are at the trig with the Ben Lawers hills behind.....

Cruach nam Mult

2011-06-15T10:38:00.001+01:00

14 June 2011

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Cruach nam Mult, 611m/2005', Graham, Map 56, NN 169056

The morning was bright and sunny but I had something else that needed doing so it was early afternoon before I was driving up Loch Lomondside on my way to climb this Graham on the west side of Hell's Glen. Of course by that time it was clouding over; however, the clouds were high and visibility was excellent. I parked just before the high point of the road where two forest tracks strike off, one to the east which is the route to the neighbouring Graham of Stob an Eas and one to the west for Cruach nam Mult. Everything looked very green.....

The hill is one of those that is guarded by conifers. I had decided on this route as the south side of the hill is very steep and rough with an area of crags higher up, a route that didn't look at all inviting. From reading other folks reports, the key to my route was finding a rough path through the trees from where the forestry track ended; in the event, the start of the path was obvious and in its initial stages, easy to follow. There were a lot of deer tracks on the path so Ben stayed on his lead until we exited the forest. As we continued up, the path got rougher and less obvious and I was beginning to wonder if we were heading in the right direction.....

However we were and it didn't take too long until we reached the open hillside. This is looking back with Ben Cruachan on the horizon.....

We headed generally towards the col between Cruach nam Mult and Cruach nan Capull and then took the easy angled west ridge. Walking was good on short grass and we were soon at the top. There were a number of bumps and knolls but the highest one was fairly obvious. Here is Ben looking across Hell's Glen to Stob an Eas.....

There was a fine view of some of the main Arrochar Alps from here; Beinn an Lochain, Beinn Ime, Ben Narnain and the Cobbler.....

and to the south the hills above Loch Goil.....

Looking down to Hell's Glen and Loch Fyne- spot the car!.....

The way to ensure an anxiety free day on a hill like this is to make sure that you know exactly where to re-enter the forest. I don't have a GPS but on the ascent I had carefully noted in my mind the trees that I would need to aim for to find the start of the path. Of course I headed to the wrong bit and had to traverse the hillside at the edge of the forest until I spotted something that was familiar. Ben was back on his lead which was more than a bit of a pain as it is not easy being pulled down a rough and muddy path by an excited spaniel! But we made it ok and completed an excellent half days walk not all that far from home and got another tick in the Graham's list into the bargain.

Carn Aosda and The Cairnwell

2011-06-08T10:20:00.001+01:00

5 June 2011

Participants - still us
Where - Carn Aosda, 917m, Munro and The Cairnwell, 933m, Munro, Map 43

Oh well, summer only lasted a couple of days so we were on our way home again. I have climbed these two hills on lots of occasions along with Carn a'Gheoidh and the three together provide a fine round with excellent views. Today, as the skies were grey again and I was only looking for a leg stretcher to break up the journey home I only did the two. Not many photographs today as the light was a bit flat but these show the key points in the route.

I did Carn Aosda first, a straightforward and easy walk up one of the tracks.....

to the large cairn at the summit (Carn a'Gheoidh background).....

with a good view back down to the ski centre (The Cairnwell on the right).....

We kept following the tracks to the col between the two hills and from there up to the mess of buildings and ski equipment that decorates the summit of The Cairnwell. I managed to avoid including most of this in this shot looking south down Glenshee.....

And this is a view of the hill from Glenshee taken on the way home.....

Although the skies were grey the tops were clear; this is looking over Carn nan Sac to Carn a'Gheoidh with Beinn a'Ghlo in the far distance......

The grouse population seems to have had a good year, there were a few about here which interested The Furry One, fortunately, he didn't spot a Ptarmigan that scuttled away from us near the top of The Cairnwell as I think it may have had young chicks.
There have been a lot of improvements to the buildings at the ski centre and I was tempted into the cafe after I finished the walk!

Ben Newe

2011-06-07T11:28:00.001+01:00

4 June 2011

Participants - us again
Where - Ben Newe, 565m/1,854', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 37, NJ 382143

When I got back to the car after climbing Mona Gowan, the temperature gauge registered 28 C. When I set off this morning it was registering 9 C. The temperature reached the dizzy heights of 13 C during the day which remained cloudy with bits of drizzle at times. Ahhh, the Scottish weather! I was staying at Aboyne and drove the short distance to Strathdon for this Marilyn. I had read a report that there was a route up through the trees on a marked trail that started at a car park just off the A97 at 395139. This is Ben Newe from the south which shows the extensive forestry on this side of the hill.....

The car park was easy to find because I knew it was there; there was a directional sign on the main road but it wasn't particularly obvious. I followed the yellow route through the forest which was a mix of different types of trees.

I suspected that there might be deer about and sure enough, not long after setting off, the Furry One careered off into the trees and raised a small deer. I thought that he must be gone this time but no, he returned after a few minutes and we resumed our walk with Ben now on the lead until we cleared the trees. The marked trail continued through the forest but a path had formed at the edge of the trees so we took that with the summit now in view ahead.....

It is obviously a popular walk, there was a large cairn and a wooden bench.....

Unfortunately it had remained cloudy but most of the tops were clear so there was a view; this is looking north with The Buck the pointed hill in the far distance.....

I was nervous about encountering more deer so we went back by the same route, when we got to the bit where we had encountered the deer on the way up Ben went back on his lead. And sure enough, I spotted the deer again in among the trees although Ben didn't notice it on this occasion. It was an easy short walk and the views are pretty good when you get past the trees.

Mona Gowan

2011-06-06T21:47:00.001+01:00

3 June 2011
Participants - Same as yesterday
Where - Mona Gowan, 749m/2,456', Graham, Map 37, NJ 336058

I had had my eye on Mona Gowan, one of the highest Grahams but one of the easiest to climb, for a while. It is on the fringes of the Cairngorms, a part of the country that I like. It was even hotter than the day before, already above 20C when we started walking. I had checked the map beforehand that we would be passing a number of streams so that Ben could cool down. There was a big lay-by beside a green painted fence over the Allt Glas- choille, a few hundred yards south of the start of the track which passed the a ruined cottage at Glenfenzie. From here, Mona Gowan looked a long way off- the bump in the far distance.....

After about a mile, we came to a junction of tracks and a decision needed to be made- up Cairnagour Hill and across the plateau or follow the main track for a bit more to a col immediately south of Mona Gowan. With the heat there was only one decision that could be made- take the shortest route, so it was on to the high col. Mona Gowan looked a bit closer now.....

The area was obviously managed grouse moor and there were a lot of grouse about. Ben raised a few and chased them for a bit but fortunately soon returned. It is a bit nerve racking walking with an excitable springer spaniel, never knowing when he will dash off after something of interest and wondering if he will be sensible enough to stop the chase before he forgets where I am. However, despite several times when he was away and out of sight for two or three minutes he always came charging back. There was a newish fence on the south ridge and we followed that to the summit over mostly short cropped heather.....

Although we were well past the streams by now Ben found a few pools in which to cool off.....

There was a huge cairn on the summit, apparently built for Queen Victoria's Jubilee.....

This is looking north.....

and south to a distant Lochnagar.....

and east to Morven.....

I sat in the sun at the cairn for a bit then we simply reversed the route. On a cooler day I would have traversed west over Cairnagour Hill and Scraulac to meet another track heading south to the A939 but today it was so hot that I wanted to get Ben down to the burns again so he could cool off. While he was playing in the water, I noticed this trap over the burn and similar traps at frequent intervals. To trap stoats or rats maybe to protect the grouse?

Back at the car the temperature gauge said 28 C. A long time since we've had that!

Morrone

2011-06-06T13:12:00.001+01:00

2 June 2011.

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Morrone, 859m/2,819', Corbett, Map 43, NO 132886

After a month of poor weather, it had suddenly turned fine so it was a chance to do some hills further away from home. So I headed to the north-east for a few days where I still had some new Marilyns to visit. I wasn't sure what to do on the way up- something around Braemar that would not take too long- and as visibility was excellent I wanted a good summit view point. Driving down Glen Clunie, Morrone caught my eye as one that would fulfill the criteria.

On previous occasions I had used the Braemar approach so for a change I decided to use the tracks up the south side of the hill. There was plenty of room to park the car at the start of the track just off the old road to Braemar in Glen Clunie (almost opposite Achallater). This picture is from the track near the start with the summit of Morrone over to the right.....

The views soon started to open up- this is looking back down Glen Clunie to a distant Carn Aosda which I was to climb a few days later in much different weather conditions.....

It was certainly hot today but the track made for easy walking; there are now so many tracks on these hills that they are becoming just part of the landscape and whatever you think of them, they do make the climbs easier, particularly if, like me, you are not as fit as you used to be! The track contoured across the hillside at a fairly gentle angle and the summit soon came into sight.....

As well as the phone mast and buildings, there was a substantial cairn.....

The views to the Cairngorms were excellent today; this is looking to the bigees of Cairn Toul, Braeriach and Ben Macdui......

with Beinn a'Bhuird further to the east.....

The ugly buildings served one useful purpose today- they provided some shade in which to sit and take in the views. But I still had a bit of driving to do so after about 15 minutes, we set off down again. Although it was the same route in reverse, the perspective was different; this is looking to the hills around Glen Ey- some remote stuff there.....

and then when the track swung to the east there was a good view to Lochnagar.....

Scaw'd Fell

2011-05-20T13:35:00.002+01:00

19 May 2011

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Scaw'd Fell, 550m/1,805', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 78, NT 149028

I suppose that Scaw'd Fell must be the western outlier of the Ettrick Hills in southern Scotland. I approached it from Moffat, parking the car in a large parking area off the A708 immediately opposite the start of a minor road that goes down to Craigbeck. This is a part of the country that is firmly in conifer central; this is the view from the start of the minor road looking into the area where we would be walking.....

We followed the road for a short distance- as far as the bridge over the Moffat Water- before joining the route of the Southern Upland Way. Initially, the track went through a number of fields. There were cattle but they were at the opposite side of the fields to us so there was no problem. I don't like walking near cattle and I was certainly nervous having Ben with me. More about the cattle later! The path climbed steadily up hill and entered the forest, passing the house at Craigbeck Hope after about a couple of miles. The house seemed to be occupied, there was a vehicle parked at it when we were coming back and the gardens looked well tended. There were occasional breaks in the trees.....

but generally it was simply another forest walk. About a mile after the house, the track started to descend steeply; this was where the map said we should take another track that led off steeply right. This seemed to be newly surfaced and there was a large turning area at its end; maybe this stretch of the forest is to be felled soon. From the turning area, an old track led off left and very soon we were emerging from the trees and getting our first sight of the day's objective.....

There were faint tracks across the moor and it didn't take long to reach the summit. The highest point seemed to be one of the old fence posts that cross the hill at this point.....

There was a cairn a few yards away and about 1m lower; presumably it has been built where it is because it is the viewpoint looking to Dumfries and surrounding area. Here is the cairn, Criffel is the hill on the horizon.....

Views to the north west were of the distant variety.....

but there was a good view of some of the other Ettrick Hills including Croft Head as we went back down the path.....

Then it was back into the forest.....

Just as we were approaching the farm land again, I heard the noise of cows and saw with more than a little dismay that they were coming along the track in our direction. Ben was back on his lead by this time but I didn't fancy getting close to them. However, a saviour was at hand. The car that had been parked at the house sped past, the cows took fright, turned tail and went off at speed in the opposite direction leaving the track clear for us. Only one more field to cross but it also contained cows with calves which were lying quite close to the track as well as some sheep and a llama! However Ben behaved impeccably taking absolutely no notice of any of the livestock which fortunately also decided not to take a close look at us.

I doubt if Scaw'd Fell gets many visitors and if it wasn't on the Marilyn list it would get even fewer. Nevertheless, it was a good leg stretcher and gave me another tick in the book. I reckon that the walk was about 8 miles car to car.

Birnam Hill

2011-05-15T17:57:00.002+01:00

14 May 2011

Participants - Neil and Ben
Where - Birnam Hill, 404m/1,324', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 52, NO 032402

Made famous by Shakespeare in Macbeth, Birnam Hill is a pleasant short walk, best appreciated by doing the full circuit which is about 3 miles. I have climbed this one a few times, always in winter which I would say is the best season to do it as the views are a bit obscured by the foliage at other times of the year. I parked in the station car park and did an anti-clockwise circuit which meant that most of the steep stuff was on the ascent. There had been a lot of path reconstruction work since I was last here; in my view it is a bit excessive as the new paths are at least twice the width that they need to be and spoil the hill a bit. Still, they have eliminated all the boggy bits.

The walk is a bit shut in initially but there are breaks in the trees from time to time so there are some views down to Birnam and Dunkeld.....

The best of the views in this direction are from a large rock at the start of a flat area just before the final climb to the summit; the foliage obscured things a bit today so here are a couple of pictures taken from there on a previous early spring visit, firstly a zoom shot of Dunkeld and the river Tay and then a view to the Loch of the Lowes.....

There is a large cairn at the top and plenty of handy boulders for sitting on to admire the view.....

Schiehallion dominates the western horizon (zoom shot).....

There was a steep section not long after leaving the top but the path improver's have put in a wooden staircase here. This shot gives an indication of the type of path that they have built.....

I made a slight diversion to a viewpoint on an old bridge- the Stair bridge- so I could see the view to the south-east; I wonder why that particular bit of track was so important in years' gone by as to justify the building of a substantial stone bridge?

Lower down still, the path swung east and we were facing the even more heavily wooded slopes of Newtyle Hill which we had climbed earlier in the year. The thick vegetation would have been a more daunting proposition today.....

Birnam Hill is handily placed for a stop if travelling on the A9 and is well worth the little effort required. A quick up and down the northern slopes from the station would take les than an hour.

Binnein Shuas

2011-05-02T20:02:00.001+01:00

Participants - Neil, Steven and Ben

Where - Binnein Shuas, 746m/2,447', Graham, OS map 42

We were staying at Laggan for a couple of nights so I had a big choice of hills to do. Binnein Shuas looked to be a good one; in my Munro bagging days I must have passed it a number of times and not paid it much attention! Time to rectify that! It was a glorious sunny day- here is a view of the hill from Loch Laggan.....

The starting point was the lay-by at Luiblea and it was full! Fortunately there was another lay-by a couple of hundred yards further on and I got parked there. A lady that we met on the hill told us that it was someone in her clubs' final Munro that day so that explained why it was so busy. The first mile or so was along an excellent track; the same one that's used if doing Beinn a'Chlachair and its neighbouring Munros. The hillside when we took to it was quite rough lower down, lots of tufted grass but at least it was dry underfoot.....

The walking got much better when the angle started to increase and the views opened out behind us. The next pictures are looking back with the Grey Corries in the distance......

The view of Loch Laggan got more impressive as height was gained; this is a view down to it with the Munro of Beinn a'Chaorainn beyond.....

High up there were lots of rocky areas but these were easily by-passed. Ben went on to his lead at this point; it was no place for an over active spaniel to be running about. I wandered about taking a few photographs; when I got back to the cairn and we were ready to start down, Ben was let off his lead. He is very inquisitive and immediately shot off to where I had been which just happened to be at the edge of a cliff! Fortunately, on this occasion he responded to shouted commands so no harm done but he went back on the lead until we had left the rocky area behind. Must send him on a mountain walking course!! Anyway, here are some of the pictures. The summit looking west.....

Loch Laggan and Beinn a'Chaorainn.....

Loch Laggan and Creag Megaidh.....

To the neighbouring Graham of Binnein Shios between Loch Laggan and Lochan na h-Earba.....

We went back the same way. There was a good view to Beinn a'Chaorainn just before reaching the track.....

And here I am with Ben at the bridge over the River Spean with our hill in the background.....

It had been a hot day and I think that Ben was glad to get back into his temporary home in the car.....

I can highly recommend this walk.

Ord Ban

2011-05-02T13:06:00.001+01:00

29 April 2011

Participants - Neil and Ben

Where - Ord Ban, 428m/1,404', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 36, NH 892085

Ord Ban sits immediately above the car park at Loch an Eilein, south of Aviemore. I had walked round the loch in the past but that was before I was climbing the Sub-2,000' Marilyns so I had never got round to climbing the hill. There was a stile over the fence at the back of the visitor centre/toilet block but Ben was never going to get over that. Fortunately, the fence was loose enough to enable us to get him through it at its foot. A path headed off to the right but we just went straight up the grassy slopes through some nice birch trees.....

Higher up, the grass gave way to heather but by that time we had located the path again and the going was easy. This next picture is looking to the Corbett, Meall a'Buachaille and the one after is looking towards the Glen Einich hills.....

I think that it only took about 20 minutes to reach the trig; here is Ben getting his now traditional summit picture taken with Cairngorm in the background.....

On the way down, there was a nice view across Loch an Eilein......

and Ben enjoyed a dip in it when we got back down.....

Meall Tairbh

2011-04-27T12:25:00.001+01:00

26 April 2011

Participants - Neil and Ben

Where - Bridge of Orchy, the round of Coir' Orain - Meall Tairbh, 664m/2,181', Graham, and Ben Inverveigh, 636m, HuMP, OS 50.

This was one that I had had on the radar for some time; these hills are situated in the middle of a big group of Munros and Corbetts and were bound to have good views. All I needed was the weather, it would be pointless doing this one on a day when the cloud was down! Today was the day- good forecast, bright sunshine. This is a view of Meall Tairbh from the road between Bridge of Orchy and Inveroran.....

I had decided to do the round in an anti-clockwise direction so as to get the rough and boggy part over at the start and also so that the longest and steepest drop into Coir' Orain would be tackled in a downhill direction. In fact, the ground near the start was not too bad.....

I was not disappointed by the views. The Inveroran hotel buildings and Loch Tulla were receding into the distance.....

but the views to the surrounding hills were opening up; Stob Ghabhar and Stob a'Choire Odhair.....

the Etive Munros (long time since I've been on these).....

and the Corbett of Beinn Mhic-Mhonaidh with the Cruachan hills beyond.....

On the way up, I spotted a small herd of hinds in front of us- about a dozen or so. Luckily, Ben didn't seem to see them- a disadvantage of having short legs and being so close to the ground in rough heather and grass- but I made sure that they spotted us and dispersed across the hillside. I am not sure if he would have been interested or not but I didn't fancy having to try to get him back from a mile or more away if he chased them! The ridge of Meall Tairbh is a long one and of course the top was at the furthest away end but we got there eventually. This is looking west to Beinn Mhic-Mhonaidh and the Cruachan hills....

Ben Lui to the south was a nice pointy peak from here.....

I stopped at the cairn to try to get something to eat- a bit difficult when you have a (wet) dog with you that likes to sit on the same rock that you choose and wants to play rather than look at the views!! So it was a brief stop before we set off again to descend to Lochan Coir' Orain at the head of the glen between the two hills.....

Ben Inverveigh almost makes it into the Graham tables, it is ok for height but does not have the required amount of relative drop from Meall Tairbh, it fails by about 8m or so. We reached the ridge of Ben Inverveigh close to its southern end so there was a bit of a hike before we reached the top.....

However, it was excellent walking on short cropped heather and grass and the views this time were best to the east, to the Bridge of Orchy Munros.....

and to the Corbetts around Auch.....

although the Etive hills remained in view to the west.....

and just past the summit, there was a good view across the glen to Meall Tairbh where we had been earlier.....

We meandered on along the ridge past the summit until we arrived at some construction- a small phone mast or something- I didn't look closely- where a track started that went more steeply downhill joining the West Highland Way lower down. And then eventually we were approaching the car.....

Although not a particularly taxing round, I found this quite tiring, it was a hot day. I think that Ben was tired as well, he jumped into the car as soon as I opened the boot and curled up on his mat. I reckon that the round was about 8 miles with about 700m of ascent and it took us just over 5 hours.

Cnoc Coinnich

2011-04-18T22:36:00.001+01:00

18 April 2011

Participants - Us again
Where - Cnoc Coinnich, 761m/2497', Graham, Map 56, NN 233008

Cnoc Coinnich- the equal highest of the Grahams- was one of a handful of hills that I thought that I had climbed before but could not be certain and had not therefore included it in my Marilyn total. So it was high up my list of hills to do. This is a view of it that I took last year from Ben Donich, its Corbett neighbour to the north.....

It was still warm although hazier than yesterday and as the best of the sunshine was forecast to be in the morning we set off fairly early from home. It was very handy being able to drive a couple of miles past Ardgartan to the large car park at Coilessan; the Forestry had even been working on the road filling in the potholes. No chance of getting lost at the start of this hill, the route up the glen was well signposted.....

After about a mile the track was replaced by a path that climbed steeply to the top of the forest.....

There was a fence at the top with a stile but also an old, semi broken gate which I was thankfully able to open to let Ben through. A few hundred yards after leaving the forest we came across a cairn from where there was a good view of the rest of the walk.....

The path we had been following was part of the Cowal Way and we continued on it to the highest point on the plateau before heading for the north-west ridge of Cnoc Coinnich- the ridge on the right of the photo above. It was typical of the hills around here- quite a bit of rock higher up but the ridge was grassy and we therefore avoided any potential problems. Ben hasn't learned yet to watch what he is jumping off and I didn't want him disappearing over a cliff! For that reason we didn't spend much time at the summit when we got there as the cairn is perched close to a considerable drop. In fact, I only stopped long enough to take the obligatory summit photo......

before moving away slightly from the summit to take a picture looking down towards the Clyde although the view in that direction was a bit disappointing- a combination of the haze and the sun being in the wrong place.....

Just below the summit there was a wee lochan in which Ben splashed happily (Ben Lomond in the background).....

We stopped on the way back down where there was an excellent view towards the Brack with Beinn Luibheinn, Beinn Ime and the Cobbler to its left.....

Back on the Cowal Way we caught up with a large group of people who were walking the entire route. I had a look at the map when I got home and it looks like a good route through some really rough country. But Cnoc Coinnich was enough for us today- all in all it took about 4 hours.

Beinn Dubh (Loch Chon)

2011-04-17T19:28:00.001+01:00

17 April 2011

Participants - Us
Where - Beinn Dubh (Loch Chon), 511m/1,675', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 56, NN 404045

It was only a short drive today- up to Aberfoyle and then along Loch Ard to a parking place at the start of the track to Comer, which sits at the foot of the east face of Ben Lomond. I climbed Ben Lomond from this side once, a long time ago, but remember it as being a long way. The parking place was at the side of Loch Dhu, which with its surrounding conifers looked a bit Canadian.....

The track in was perfectly surfaced and put East Dunbartonshire roads to shame. After the initial mile or so, the walk was dominated by the view of Ben Lomond ahead.....

This would be a lovely glen were it not for the conifers and the electricity pylons but I suppose that the track is the compensation. Quite a bit of the forest on the Beinn Dubh side had been cleared, although I noticed that replanting with more conifers had begun. Shame. Shortly after the power lines crossed the track, another track branched off to the right traversing steeply up the hillside so I took it. Higher up, it turned into a path composed of brash, which was a bit tiring to walk on.....

and then after a bit seemed to carry on round the hill rather than up so at that point I took to the cleared hillside. It was a bit awkward underfoot but the felled area only lasted for a short distance. However, I had spotted a more serious obstacle ahead- a fence. I am now studying maps before I set out to ensure that there are as few obstacles for Ben as possible on the walks; however, this fence was not marked on the map. And it was no broken down specimen this. It was solid and there didn't seem to be any gates. I tried a bit of gardening below the fence where it crossed a small gully but there was no way that Ben was getting through that. So only one thing for it- I had to lift him over. Fortunately, it was a low fence; I am afraid that a deer fence would have seen us having to retreat. Beyond the fence we were on to rough moorland and were soon passing a wee loch on the ridge (the Crianlarich hills distant).....

It was not far from there to the summit and a small cairn which probably reflects the number of visitors that this hill gets.....

Moorland dominated the scene, this is looking north-west with the Arrochar Alps distant.....

It was a hot day now and Ben found a pool in a rock close to the summit in which to cool off....

We wandered about a wee bit to see if there was any way of avoiding the fence on the descent. There wasn't but we got a better view of Ben Lomond across Glen Dubh from one of the knolls we visited.....

So it was back the same way with Ben visiting lots of pools at the side of the track. Needless to say, we had this one to ourselves!

The Lomond Hills

2011-04-12T20:59:00.001+01:00

12 April 2011

Participants - Me and Ben
Where - West Lomond, 522m/1713', Sub-2000' Marilyn, Map 58, NO 197066 and East Lomond, 448m/1471', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 58, NO 244062.

Well, the hot weather didn't last very long! Today it was back to being a typical April day- bright and breezy with a few showers blasting through. Most showers were forecast for the west so we went east, a good choice as it remained dry all day. It was windy though so walking on the higher hills would have been a problem; on days like this, the Lomond Hills in Fife are ideal. They are another well known and distinctive range of hills, seen from great distances on a clear day. Like Arthur's Seat, they are of volcanic origin. This is a view of West Lomond from near Milnathort.....

I parked at Craigmead car park on the hill road between Leslie and Falkland; it provided a high starting point and is situated between the two hills. As usual, I tackled the higher West Lomond first. I was pleased to see that all the sheep had been moved off the high ground which meant that Ben could run about freely all day. The track across the moor to West Lomond is excellent with the objective always directly ahead.....

As always, Ben was first to the summit, despite the fact that he covered enough ground to have climbed the hill about three times.....

There were a few other walkers about so I asked one of them to take a picture of me sitting at the trig with The Furry One with Loch Leven in the background.....

We didn't linger for long as the wind was strong up here but simply retraced the outward route with East Lomond now being in sight all of the way.....

It must be hot work rushing around all the time; Ben certainly seemed to enjoy going into this wee pool.....

We stopped briefly at the car before crossing the road and picking up the track to East Lomond. This was a shorter walk but also steeper and looking back from near the top, there was a good view of West Lomond and the ground that we had already covered.....

There was a view indicator on the summit of this one (for some reason the trig is situated some 70m lower on the south slopes of the hill); here is the ritual picture of Ben at the summit with the eastern part of Fife in the background.....

and the view west to West Lomond.....

and looking down at the village of Falkland.....

Just before the final steep pull up to the summit, the Regional Park authorities have set out a short trail around an old lime kiln. Limestone quarrying was once a thriving industry in the Lomond Hills. The stone was cut from rocks around the kiln and processed on site. There were lots of information boards around and the short detour to see the site was really interesting.....

I suppose that the walk totalled about 7-8 miles; it is one that I have done a few times now but one that really requires a good day to be appreciated fully. Today was just such a day!

Arthur's Seat

2011-04-10T10:22:00.001+01:00

9 April 2011.

Participants - Me, Roddy and Ben
Where - Arthur's Seat, 251m/823', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, in the centre of Edinburgh.

A number of very recognisable hills have a sufficient amount of relative height to qualify as a Marilyn; Arthur's Seat must be the most recognisable and is almost certainly the most visited. It is the remains of a volcano which would have been active about 340 million years ago and it dominates the Edinburgh skyline. One of the best views is obtained from nearby Calton Hill.....

It was a warm sunny day and the tourists were out in force so we were lucky to find spaces to park in the St Margaret's Loch car park. It was a bit hazy however so I have added a few pictures that I took on a previous visit to some of the ones that I took today. There are lots of different routes on the hill, some of the paths have been improved although the more rocky areas are worn and quite slippery, especially if you are wearing trainers- which we weren't. On this occasion we decided to walk up the road as far as Dunsapie Loch and then take the short walk up to the summit.....

This is the view from above Dunsapie Loch down the Forth estuary to the distant North Berwick Law, taken on an earlier visit.....

and this is looking north over the city to the river.....

It was very busy on top but we managed to find a moment when the trig area was relatively clear to take a picture to record that Ben had climbed another Marilyn.....

As I said, it was a bit hazy and the sun was in the wrong place for a good picture looking over the city to the Pentlands so here is another one from a previous visit.....

Ben was on his lead so the descent of the rocky bit at the top was a bit tricky as he pulls a lot and he is getting strong. On this evidence, he won't be going along Collies Ledge, or the Aonach Eagach, or over the pinnacles on Liathach; mind you, I won't be going to these places again either as my nerves when in high narrow places were never very good and are a lot worse now.

We descended in a southerly direction and took an improved path down steeply to the start of Hunter's Bog. This is looking back at the summit from the start of the path.....

and on the path with Salisbury Crags in the background.....

and another view back to the summit from lower down.....

Crock and Meall Mor

2011-04-09T10:03:00.002+01:00

8 April 2011.

Participants - Neil and The Furry One
Where - Crock, 554m/1,820', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 44, NO 226633: Meall Mor, 551m/1808', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 43, NO 173602

Although Angus is one of my favourite areas, Crock was not a Marilyn that was on my radar. It is one of these hills that has been taken over by thousands of conifers although the summit area is clear.....

From the map, I could not see any way of getting through the forests without a battle so I was pleasantly surprised to read someone else's account of the hill that gave a route from the south that was without difficulties. And so it was that The Furry One and I arrived in the car park at the houses at Freuchies on what was the warmest day of the year so far. (The car park is not marked on the maps either.).....

The forest track had an excellent surface and rose at a gentle gradient through the trees. First point of interest was Loch Shandra which seems to be a private fishing loch, it was a nice spot to sit for a while.....

After the loch, the track rose more steeply past the house at Tulloch and we arrived at an area where the forest had been cleared allowing a good view to Badandun Hill.....

and to Mount Blair.....

and to Badandun Hill again.....

but more importantly allowing access at its north end to another, rougher track that went up on to the north ridge of Crock. Then it was back into the forest again but an area where the Forestry Commission had kindly left an avenue between the trees that was carpeted in pine needles and great to walk on. It was very dark however and Ben stuck close to me as we walked through!

Soon we emerged back onto the open hillside.....

and it was then only a 10 minute walk on short cropped heather to the cairn and a fine open view over the hills of the lower Grampians.....

So Crock had provided a good walk after all with no difficulties; it took us about 3 hours car to car.

I decided to make the most of my day and vary the route home so I took the hill road at Brewlands Bridge which took me from Glen Isla to Glen Shee. I had it half in mind to stop at the highest point in the road and climb Meall Mor; the last time I had passed this way the locals were out in force shooting pheasants and I just carried on to wherever it was I was headed. I wondered about taking Ben up; as well as the pheasants there seemed to be a lot of fences and dyke's on the hill and there is no way that I can lift him over any obstacle like that. And this is another hill with lots of trees! Anyway, we stopped at the high point of the road at the entrance to a track and after having something to eat, I decided to take a look. (This is Meall Mor from further down the road- from Drumore Loch.....

We had only gone up the track for a couple of minutes when we arrived at a gap in the trees- again not shown on the map. So we followed this up some rough ground at the side of a dyke (following in fact what used to be the county boundary between Angus and Perthshire- which is marked on the map).....

and lo and behold this went all the way to the summit area; the pheasants thought better than appear in front of Ben, the fences were all old and broken and the only dyke we had to cross had a gap in it. So nothing to stop Ben earning his "tick". Mount Blair stands immediately across the glen from Meall Mor.....

and there was a good view down to Drumore Loch with Schiehallion, Ben Vrackie and Beinn a'Ghlo beyond......

From the cairn.....

there was also a good view east to the hills we had been in earlier with the Angus Munro's beyond.....

This one only took an hour up and down.

Meall Buidhe (Glen Ogle)

2011-03-28T09:27:00.001+01:00

27 March 2011.

Participants - the usual suspects
Where - Meall Buidhe (Glen Ogle), 719m/2,359', Graham, Map 51, 578277

It was very misty when I looked out but with a poor forecast for much of the coming week, I was banking on today turning out ok so I could get my walk. So I put my trust in the MWIS and put The Furry One in the boot and turned the car north. By the time I got to the highest point of the Crow road- which resembles more of a track in places with enormous potholes- blue sky was appearing over the hills ahead and it was looking good. I didn't have any definite objective in mind. Ben Ledi was looking good so I stopped for a look but the car park was full. So I pressed on through Strathyre and Lochearnhead and this view of Meall Buidhe from just outside the latter made my mind up.....

I parked at the picnic area at the head of Glen Ogle. This would be a rough hill to climb were it not for a track that gently ascends from the car park to a phone mast at about the 550m height.....

The forest area was contained on the lower slopes and I was soon clear of that and the views were opening up behind me (pity about the unsightly mast but there is a price to pay for everything and the useful track makes up for it).....

The going was rough after leaving the track and I kept to the higher ground as much as possible aiming for the foot of the north ridge of Meall Buidhe. I spied a few sheep on the slopes of Beinn Leabhainn, the more northerly top, but the large flocks encountered on the last two walks were thankfully absent and Ben was off his lead all day. Since he discovered that he likes water, he is in to every pool that he passes.....

I was congratulating myself that I would be taking a nice clean dog back home when he decided to investigate a particularly juicy peat hag!

With Meall Buidhe being in the centre of the hills of the southern highlands, it is a really good viewpoint. This is looking to the Glen Dochart Munros- Ben Challum, Sgiath Chuil etc as we approached the top.....

The top was marked by three cairns, the most northerly one appears to be the highest point......

Meall nam Tarmachan and some of the Ben Lawers group are to the north.....

But I think that the best view is from the other cairns looking down Glen Ogle to Loch Earn with Ben Vorlich and Stuc a'Chroin beyond. It was worth climbing just for this view alone.....

although the view to Ben More and Stobinian ran it close.....

Judging by the number of cars parked in lay-bys, the Munros and Corbetts were hotching with folk; Ben and I had this lowly Graham to ourselves.

The Wiss

2011-03-24T11:48:00.000Z

23 March 2011.

Participants - Me and Ben
Where - The Wiss, 589m/1,933', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 73, NT 264206

I had wanted to climb The Wiss for a long time, mostly because of its intriguing name, but also because it was situated in some pleasant country overlooking St Mary's Loch. Today I finally got round to it. Once out of the industrialised area of the central belt, it was a nice trip. I took the hill road that goes over the shoulder of Broad Law past the Megget Stane and stopped at the top of the steep bit to take this photo looking back down to Talla Reservoir.....

It was a day for reservoirs-the road then passed Megget Reservoir, which an information board told me was completed in 1983 to provide the main water supply for Edinburgh. It apparently holds 64 million tons of water and it's dam is the largest earth dam in Scotland. It took 6 years to construct using over 3 million tonnes of gravel dug from the floor of the valley.....

I was now not far away from the start point for The Wiss; a car park and picnic area close to Tibbie Shiels Inn- one of the oldest hostelry's in Scotland apparently- on a narrow strip of land between St Mary's Loch and Loch of the Lowes; the lower slopes of The Wiss are in the background in this picture.....

I followed the route of the Southern Upland Way for a bit before taking to the hill. It was sheep country so Ben had to remain on his lead until we got higher up and clear of the wooly beasts. The slopes were mainly grassy although there was an area of heather higher up.....

I like the Southern Upland views- this is looking west with the Corbett of White Coombe in the distance in some cloud.....

and this is looking back over the start point towards Broad Law where some heather burning was taking place on the neighbouring Cramalt Craig.....

There was a trig.....

So I perched the camera on it and tried the delayed timer function to get this shot of me and the Furry One with St Mary's Loch in the background.....

I had considered carrying on along the ridge and dropping down to the lochside but it looked heavy going through the heather so I took the lazy option and just returned by the same route. There was a rather grand statue of James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd and Borders writer and poet across the road from the car park.....

There was also a small cafe so I nipped in there for a plate of soup, a good ending to an enjoyable walk with some additional things of general interest thrown in. And I still don't know why it's called The Wiss......

Broomy Law

2011-03-20T11:49:00.001Z

19 March.
Participants - Me and Ben
Where - Broomy Law, 426m/1,399', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 72, 085429

Broomy Law was one of the few Marilyn's that I had not climbed that was within range of a short half day trip. I had passed it on umpteen occasions but had never stopped and with another dry but cloudy day forecast and with fresh snow still covering the highland hills, the time had arrived to add it to the list. The minor road to the village of Candy Mill had a very broad entrance so I parked there and walked back along the main road for a couple of hundred yards to the start of the track to Brownsbank farm which continued as the access track to the phone masts on top of the hill.....

There were lots of sheep about so Ben had to stay on his lead for most of the way. There was no cairn or trig, just a collection of unsightly phone masts. I doubt if Broomy Law would get many visitors were it not for the fact that it is on the Marilyn list....

It wasn't obvious which was the actual highest point; here is Ben looking for it with Tinto, the hill that we climbed earlier in the week, in the background.....

There were no sheep at the top of the hill and the top field was also clear so I was able to let Ben off the lead. To extend the walk, we continued on to the slightly lower east top. There are a number of sub-2,000' Marilyns about here; this is looking to Black Mount.....

Then it was back on the lead for The Furry One and a return by the same route with expansive views to the west......

Tinto

2011-03-18T09:23:00.002Z

17 March.

Participants - Me and Ben
Where - Tinto, 711m/2,334', Graham, Map 72, NS 953344

Rain and low cloud in the morning had given way to something a bit more hopeful so I gathered up the Furry One and set off around lunch time for Tinto. This is a good hill for me as it is quite a short drive, is an easy walk with a path all of the way and, on a good day, has very good views. I took this photo of it on some distant summers day.....

It was certainly not like that today as I pulled in to a brand spanking new car park at Fallburn, there was some fresh snow higher up and it was a bit grey overhead but looked as though it might improve as the afternoon went on.....

It is a real motorway of a track and considering the weather we have had and the amount of usage it gets, it was not too muddy. Higher up, it improves enormously and amazingly, so did the weather. This is looking east to the Pentlands from a point just before the final rise to the summit.

There were still showers about and we reached the top just as a heavy one passed close by.....

Is the cairn on Tinto the biggest in Scotland? It apparently dates back to the Bronze Age.....

As usual Ben was there first.....

There used to be a view indicator but over the years it has got vandalised and is now in a sorry state.....

Two more views; another looking east down to the start and one looking south to the Culter hills and beyond to Broad Law.....

So not too bad a day after all. I have been up Tinto many times but never on a really good day; such days tend to see me heading north to something a bit more rugged and "highland" which is a shame really as Tinto is an excellent wee hill. On the way down, Ben was interested in the call of a grouse but turned tail when it suddenly exploded out of the heather. Hope he stays like that; I don't fancy having to try to get him back if he runs off on a grouse moor!

Mendick Hill

2011-03-06T16:55:00.002Z

6 March 2011.

Participants - Me and Ben
Where - Mendick Hill, 451m/1,481', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 72, NT 121505

Early yesterday afternoon, MWIS was forecasting that today would be good in the south east of Scotland with some sunshine plus an 80% chance of cloud free summits, when I looked at their forecast again before going to bed it had changed to more cloudy and 40% and when I got up this morning it was saying that there would be hardly any brightness and with only a 20% chance of cloud free summits. Oh well! It still looked as though the best weather might be in the east so I headed that way without really knowing which hill I would be doing! And so I found myself parking close to West Linton golf club and heading along the track that runs to Dolphinton en route for an ascent of Mendick Hill, a south-western outlier of the Pentland Hills. It was indeed cloudy although it looked at times as though it might break up but in fact it never did. However the tops were clear. This is Mendick Hill from the start of the walk.....

An information board near the start explained that the route that I was following ran roughly in line with a road built by the Romans nearly 2,000 years ago. This road linked their garrison at Biggar with one at Elginhaugh, a bridge-head fort guarding the crossin of the river North Esk near Dalkeith. In the 18th century, part of this route was used as a turnpike; it included an arched bridge built in 1620 over the West Water where no doubt the fees were collected.....

No fee was necessary to cross the bridge today but I stopped on it anyway to take another photo of Mendick Hill.....

There were lots of sheep about and Ben was on and off his lead constantly. Further on, just past a renovated house, I came across a sign saying "Mendick Hill" so took to the hill, contouring west across the slopes to avoid the steepest parts (as well as a few sheep that had wandered out of the fields and on to the hill). It was a bit wet lower down but firm and grassy higher up.....

It was not a great day for photography; this is looking towards Scald Law and the Kips.....

and this is what the same view looks like on a good day.....

The sun was doing its best to come out but this was all that it managed; a view south-west towards the Broughton Heights.....

We went back the same way, dodging some more sheep.

Cruach Tairbeirt

2011-02-28T20:31:00.007Z

Participants- Me and Ben
Where- Cruach Tairbeirt, 415m/1,362', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 56, NN 312058

28 February. The weather in February had been dismal with day after day of grey sky, mist and sometimes rain. However, as the month drew to a close it finally cleared; it's true what they say, your spirits rise when there is blue sky and sunshine overhead- at least, mine do. Cruach Tairbeirt is a favourite sub-2,000' Marilyn of mine. It is only a small hill but the views are out of all proportion to its size; it's not a hill to go up on a day of limited visibility. As its name implies, it rises above the village of Tarbet on the west side of Loch Lomond. It provides a grandstand seat for the Arrochar Alps immediately to the north west. This is a view of it from Firkin Point to the south with A'Chrois and Ben Vorlich rising behind.....

I parked at Arrochar station from where an underpass leads onto the lower slopes of the hill and a number of waymarked walks. The red route almost immediately climbed steeply through the forest, a bit of a pech for me but the Furry One set off as if he was doing the flat 100 metre sprint. Fortunately, he only goes a short distance at a time before racing back to find out what is keeping me. I left the main path shortly after crossing a stream and followed its true left bank before cutting through the trees on an obvious sloping line. Once out of the forest, the views soon opened up; this is looking back across Loch Lomond to Ben Lomond.....

Although not one of the official routes on the hill, the path went all the way to the trig, which was situated on a bit of a plateau with fine views of the higher hills immediately across Glen Loin.....

This is Ben at the summit with the Cobbler and Beinn Narnain in the background.....

"Well I've made it to the top, where are my treats then".....

There was a good view of the Loch Sloy dam from here with the loch squeezed between the hills of A'Chrois, Ben Vane and Ben Vorlich. This was the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Boards first project (1945-50) and it was built to supply electricity to Glasgow. I have a copy of "The Hydro Boys" by Emma Wood and the fascinating story of the building of the Loch Sloy scheme is told in that .....

You can see lots of lochs from Cruach Tairbeirt; this picture is looking down Loch Long towards eventually the Firth of Clyde; the Brack is the pointed hill on the right.....

And this is looking across Loch Lomond to Cruinn a'Bheinn and Ben Lomond; the former is on my list of hills to do and I reckon that you must get a great view of the Ben from it.....

Rather than return the same way, we dropped down another and much steeper path due east of the summit. It turned out to be not so good however as the forest section was very wet and muddy and there were also some fallen trees to negotiate before the "path" eventually rejoined the route of ascent. A good short days outing and we stopped at the Firkin Point car park on the way back to sit in the warm sunshine and to let Ben dry out a bit.

Black Hill (Pentlands)

2011-02-09T09:52:00.001Z

8 February 2011.

Participants - Me and Ben
Where - Black Hill (Pentlands), 501m/1,645', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 65/66, NT 188632

The forecast promised a bright day with plenty of sunny periods especially in the east so I headed for the Pentlands. I could see blue sky in front of me as I drove along the motorway but it never seemed to get any closer and I reckon that I would have had to carry on well into the North Sea before I got any of the forecast conditions! However it was dry and the conditions were quite atmospheric for photography.

On previous visits to the Black Hill I have always approached it from Balerno. I fancied a change so today I drove round to Flotterstone and parked at the Ranger Centre. Although the route from here is initially along a tarmac road, it follows a fold in the hills past a couple of reservoirs and is probably more scenic. The Black Hill is tucked out of sight from this approach and I only got my first view of it when I reached the far end of Glencorse reservoir.....

A newish track seems to start around here before winding across the south side of Black Hill before ending close to the summit. It must be for the grouse shooting. However, there were a lot of sheep on the hillside about here and as the lambing season is fast approaching and I wasn't sure how Ben would react to sheep- he hasn't met one of these funny wooly things at close quarters yet- I decided to carry on up the road and try to find another route up the hill. Black Hill is a name usually given to hills with lots of heather on them and I was resigning myself to a plod through the stuff when, almost at the west end of Loganlea reservoir, I spotted an old and partially overgrown track heading up the hill. So we took that. The sun was trying its best to come out but never made much progress; this is looking to Scald Law from the track.....

There is a small cairn on the plateau although I am not sure if it actually marks the highest point; with the aid of treats I managed to get Ben to stay still long enough at it for the obligatory summit picture. This is with Scald Law in the background.....

and this one is with the Kips beyond.....

We just followed the same route back. There was a good view of Loganlea reservoir from lower down with Carnethy Hill beyond.....

and we were soon back on the road, passing Glencorse reservoir again (Castlelaw Hill beyond).....

I reckon that this route was about 7 miles or so and it took just short of 4 hours.

Benarty Hill

2011-02-02T12:24:00.002Z

1 February.

Participants - me and Ben
Where - Benarty Hill, 356m/1,168, Sub-2,000 Marilyn, OS map 58, NT 153979.

The weather wasn't particularly great but the forecast for the rest of the week was worse so out we went. Benarty Hill rises above the south shore of Loch Leven and was ideal for a short day.....

On a previous occasion that I did this one I approached from Vane Farm to the north; not a good route with lots of tangled grass and heather. So this time I took the easy option, a route from the south from an unclassified road that goes to Ballingry. There was parking space for a couple of cars at the start of a signed track that goes up through the forest. Here is Ben encouraging me to get a move on.....

The track is excellent and goes almost to the top of the forest.....

This is obviously a popular route as a path has been formed across the moorland above......

The sky was getting darker and sure enough the rain came on but fortunately the worst of it passed to the north and we pressed on to the trig.....

The trig is only a few yards from the edge of the steep northern slopes and there was a good view of Loch Leven from there with Bishop Hill and the Lomonds' in the background.....

Sgorach Mor

2011-01-28T09:05:00.014Z

26 January.

Participants - Me and Ben
Where - Sgorach Mor, 601m/1,972', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 56, NS 097850

The forecast said that the best weather would be around the western coastal fringes so I headed to Cowal, an area with a number of Marilyns. It is also an area of the country with lots of trees so there is always a danger that an intended route might be closed due to forestry activities. I feared the worst when I arrived at the track end to find stacks of newly cut logs and lots of warning notices. However, none of them said "keep out" so Ben and I set off up the forestry road.....

We soon encountered a lorry piled high with logs coming down the track and soon after were passed by a couple of logging machines going up but all their occupants gave a smile and a wave; it was good to find one company that did not impose a blanket ban on pedestrian access whenever work was taking place. After about a mile and just after passing a picnic bench, a rougher track branched off to the right and we took this. It was marked on the 1:25 000 map but not on the 1: 50 000. Looking back down the path there were glimpses of Cruach Neuran across Glen Lean- it is another Marilyn that I haven't done but looks a much more testing prospect than Sgorach Mor being completely surrounded by forest.....

There were also glimpses of Loch Tarsan where there seemed to be a lot of work going on at the dam....

Higher up, where the path made a sharp right turn, we left it to go up a short, steep fire break which took us out of the trees and onto the hill. The going was quite good- grass mainly- and after passing the top called Sgorach Beag, the main top of Sgorach Mor came into view.....

Face on it was quite rocky but much grassier on its northern side and it didn't take long to get to the top where I almost got Ben to stay still long enough to get his photo taken (Isle of Arran in the background distant).....

The weather was calm so I decided on a break for some food. Oh dear! Ben is very nosey and also loves food; the concept of a rucksac that contained both interesting and edible things was too much for him and it was clear that I was not going to get any peace. So I had to pack everything away again and prepare to head down; further training required! Meantime, if you see us on the hill, secure your rucksac!

Although the sun had disappeared by this time and a veil of cloud had moved in the atmosphere was very clear and I could see the hills of Jura and Mull on the western horizon. This is a zoom shot of the Paps of Jura.....

I wasn't sure what all the hills were in this part of the country although I eventually realised that the right hand one of this pair had to be Beinn Mhor which I had climbed a couple of times from Glen Masson.....

On the way down there was a good view of Loch Tarsan.....

The walk took around 3 hours 30 minutes and after a quick visit to a cafe in Dunoon for a hot chocolate and a slice of apple pie to make up for my missed lunch on the hill it was back to the ferry. There was a bit of a sunset over the Cowal hills on the trip back.....

Newtyle Hill

2011-01-18T22:05:00.004Z

18 January.

Participants - Me and Ben
Where - Newtyle Hill, 317m/1,041', Sub-2,000 Marilyn, Map 52/52, NO 050419.

I had read a number of reports about Newtyle Hill, a Marilyn outside Dunkeld. They all spoke about a hill cloaked in thick bracken and heather and one to be avoided in the summer months. A day in January after one of the longest freezes for years and when the vegetation would be at its most benign seemed, therefore, to be the ideal time to tackle it. I parked in the Scottish Wildlife Trust car park at Loch of Lowes and walked along the loch side for a few hundred yards to the start of a track that went round the hill and apparently down to Dunkeld.....

Where the path split I took a left hand branch which wound its way round and up the hill ending at a telecommunications mast. There was a good view of the loch, still frozen, from here.....

It was a nice walk through mostly birch woodland.....

and there was a good view of Birnam and the bridge over the Tay from higher up.....

The track ended at the mast and it was then a case of continuing uphill behind the mast initially through rough grass and bracken. There were a number of tops ahead, all seemingly roughly the same height (the actual summit is the pointy one on the left).....

As I approached it, the grass and bracken was replaced by heather which even at this time of year was thigh deep in places. Goodness knows what it is like in August! Ben struggled gamely through it.....

and soon we were at the top, which surprisingly boasted a cairn.....

The views were of the distant variety; this is looking north towards Drumochter.....

So it turned out to be a much better hill than I had anticipated providing a good short days outing. It was not nearly as bad as others I have been on. It is also definitely worth following the track to the telecommunications mast as this leaves only a short section of bracken/heather to climb; the approach from any other direction looks as though it involves crossing rough ground all of the way.

Into 2011.....Allermuir Hill

2011-01-02T19:55:00.005Z

Participants - Me, Steven, Roddy and Ben
Where - Allermuir Hill, 493m/1,618', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 66, NT 227662.

2011 had arrived and my hillwalking year started with a trip to Edinburgh to meet Roddy, who was continuing to have problems with a toe and could only manage a small hill. But that was OK as all of the weather forecasts had failed us for once and there was no sign of the promised blue sky and sunshine. The choice for the first hill of the year was Allermuir Hill which, together with Caerketton Hill, overlooked the Hillend ski centre and Edinburgh from the east end of the Pentland's. The sky was a uniform grey so only a few photographs were taken to record the occasion- which I have to confess is probably just as well as I had forgotten to change the batteries in the camera and it refused to co-operate soon after reaching the trig!. We decided to avoid the steep slope up onto Caerketton Hill opting instead to follow a lower path which went up alongside Lothianburn golf club and joined the ridge at the col east of Allermuir. Most of the snow of recent weeks had gone; only patches of mostly ice remained. Here we are leaving the ski centre with Caerketton ahead.....

This was a very gentle ascent and we were at the trig in no time; here are Roddy, Steven and Ben arriving (Ben is the brown and white streak of lightening heading straight for the camera, anxious to claim his fourth Marilyn).....

and here I am with Ben on his lead, the only way he would stay still to get his picture taken!.....

The view over Edinburgh was grey and uninspiring today but there was a reasonable view west to some of the other Pentland hills including Scald Law.....

We returned by the same route, a walk of just over an hour. The Pentlands are my old stomping ground and as a number of them are classed as Marilyns, I am looking forward to a few more return visits in the months ahead to be able to add them to the blog.

So that was 2010.....

2011-01-01T13:29:00.000Z

Well, that's 2010 over and an enjoyable year it was for hill-walking. I would say that the weather was better than average, despite the long periods at the start and end of the year when thick snow blanketed everything. I climbed 69 hills-13 Munros, 3 Corbetts, 10 Grahams and 42 sub-2,000 Marilyns (I climbed Conic Hill twice.) 18 of these hills were new ones for me and it enabled me to push my Marilyn total beyond 600 and gain access to the Hall of Fame. Can't see me making the upper Hall though! Nonetheless, there are still plenty of new hills to do and lots of repeats that I want to do so I hope that the weather is kind again in 2011.

I'll close the 2010 entries with this picture of the hills of Mull- Beinn Talaidh and Dun da Gaoithe- taken from Oban in April.....

Common Hill

2010-11-25T10:32:00.001Z

24 November.

Participants - Me and Ben
Where - Common Hill, 488m/1,600', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 71, NS 792308.

The best of the weather was in the west so I headed down the motorway for a walk with Ben on Common Hill, a Marilyn outside Douglas. I drove as far as the houses at Douglas West where there was lots of parking. This is Common Hill from the Douglas West road.....

For some reason, each of the tops of this hill has a different name- Common Hill, Broomerside Hill, Henry's Hill, Hagshaw Hill, etc. It contains one of Scotland's earliest wind farms which was extended a few years ago.....

One advantage of the wind farm is the track that meanders all the way to the summit at a gentle gradient. Ben barked at the turbines when he first spotted them but soon stopped when he saw that I was not bothering about them. Here he is approaching the first of the turbines.....

All of the snow of the previous week had melted. I could see last week's hill, Dungavel Hill, just to the left of the trig in this photo, with the Culter hills beyond......

Tinto was prominent.....

as was Cairn Table to the west.....

There was also a good view of Tinto from the track on the way back.....

It was a walk of about 4 miles with about 240m of ascent, a fairly gentle leg-stretcher and just right for a young dog. Hope that this good weather continues!

Dungavel Hill- first taste of winter

2010-11-15T20:10:00.005Z

15 November.

Participants - Me and Ben
Where - Dungavel Hill, 510m/1,673'. Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 71/72, NS 942305

The weather was great when I got up and looked like staying that way for a few hours before the next rain came in from the west. So there was just time to do a Marilyn! I got a surprise though as I drove south- everything south of Lanark was covered in snow and it had obviously snowed down to road level before mostly melting low down. I wondered how Ben would take to the snow but I needn't have worried, he loved it. This is Dungavel Hill from Newton; we went up by the long west ridge having found a parking spot beside a cattle grid on a narrow road that goes to Roberton.....

Although grass and heather poked up through the snow, in places it was surprisingly deep, more than 6 inches. Not thinking ahead as usual, I hadn't bothered to bring my gaiters so my feet were soon wet. Ben sort of bounced uphill through the snow and we made good progress. The trig had seen better days.....

Fortunately there was a fence at the top so I was able to tie Ben's lead to it so that I could get some photographs. This is Ben at the top with the Culter hills in the background.....

another view of the Culter hills from slightly down the east ridge.....

and looking up the Clyde valley towards Biggar with the Pentlands in the distance.....

Tinto is very close to the north but there was a cap of cloud on it all day....

The journey down had been a bit slow as there were roadworks in Lanark so I went back by the motorway. This is a last view of the hill from the A73.....

Moncreiffe Hill, Ben's first Marilyn

2010-11-10T22:01:00.002Z

10 November 2010.

Participants - Me, Steven and Ben
Where - Moncreiffe Hill, 223m/732', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 58, NO 136199

The beginning of November until the shortest day is my least favourite time of year; daylight hours getting shorter, grey skies, lots of rain- depressing really. But occasionally a good weather day comes along and today was one. Ben is now 4 months old and has lots of energy; he has been going for walks in the country parks near to home and I reckoned that it was now time to take him on his first hill walk! I chose Moncreiffe Hill just to the south of Perth. Although it is a Marilyn, it is more like a woodland walk than a true hill- it has wide tracks and gentle inclines so is just right for a wee dog. And it's summit is an excellent viewpoint for human companions. This is a view that I took of it from near to Bridge of Earn on a previous visit.....

We parked at the car park on the south side of the hill; here are Steven and Ben setting off on the walk.....

Unfortunately, there has been a bit of timber harvesting recently and the tracks were well churned up. There were also some new tracks going in. The woodland was a mix of conifers and deciduous trees and although the best of the autumn foliage was past, I was pleased to see that there was still some colour left on what leaves remained.....

A steeper uphill section on a new track led to the summit- Moredun Top- which is clear of the trees. Apparently it contains the remains of an Iron Age fort; logical for one to be built here I suppose as the top looks down on all of the low ground for miles around. Here I am with Ben at the cairn with Stuc a'Chroin and Ben Vorlich in the far distance. All of the higher hills had some snow on them.....

And here is Ben topping out on his first Marilyn (Perth in the background). Isn't he a good dog sitting patiently to have his photo taken? Hmmm, not quite, what you can't see is Steven behind the cairn holding him in position.....

Moredun Top is a great viewpoint for such a small hill, particularly on a day like this. This is looking to the Lomond Hills in Fife.....

down the Tay towards the estuary; Norman's Law is the hill in the distance.....

and across the Friarton bridge to Perth with the Glenshee hills distant.....

We carried on following the track in an easterly direction and in places the mud got worse. Even so, it was a nice walk through the forest and it took us just over two hours....

Ben slept in the car on the way home, but was full of life again as soon as he got out.

Wisp Hill

2010-10-26T09:18:00.002+01:00

24 October.

Participants - Just me
Where - Wisp Hill, 595m/1953', Sub-2,000' Marilyn, Map 79, NY 386993.

I had been at a weekend of MBA meetings including the AGM at Greenhead in Northern England and just had enough time for a short walk on the way home. There are a small group of Marilyn's just north of Langholm that I had never visited so I made a small diversion up the A7 to tackle one of these. Wisp Hill was the closest to the road so that was the one that I chose. This is a view of Whin Fell, its southern top, from the A7.....

The eastern slopes were steep sided so I drove as far as Mosspaul hotel before parking so that I could tackle the more gentle north-east slopes. Wisp Hill turned out to be a grassy hill and it was a bit tussocky in places but generally the going was OK. I paused on the way up to take this picture of the road with the hotel and the hills in the direction of Hawick.....

The trig soon came into view.....

It had been frosty the previous night and the atmosphere was very clear so the views were excellent. I could see some of the Lake District hills on the southern horizon.....

and to the north I could make out the distinctive shape of the Eildon hills (right of trig) with Rubers Law, another hill that is on my list to climb in this area, further right.....

Not having been in this area before, I was a bit puzzled as to what the highest land across the valley was but eventually decided that it was Caldcleuch Head, which I climbed from the Hawick side many years ago.....

There was another Marilyn, Pikethaw Hill, just to the south of Wisp Hill but it involved a fair bit of descent and reascent and the sun was already starting to get quite low in the sky so no time to do it today. There is a third Marilyn, Ellson Fell across the A7 but it was surrounded by trees and looked as if it might take a bit of planning to find a way up. So there is plenty to do here and it is a nice area so I must make the effort to come back sometime. Anyway, I had snatched a new Marilyn for my list from an otherwise busy weekend so I was content!