Cruach Tairbeirt

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)

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

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

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

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

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.....

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

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!