Myreton Hill , Craig Elsie , Mid Cairn , Bengengie & Colsnaur Hill

Set out for the second time to climb Blairdenon Hill and for the second time had to reconsider the strategy as it was just a step too far. On the way did this circular route and climbed 5 hills and , according to Ian's app we burned 2,800 calories and walked 8.5 miles and all in blazing sunshine - a great day.

We set out from Menstrie to climb Myreton Hill and then move in to the rest of the hills ( took a good 10 mins to find the right place to start). Like many of the starts in the Ochils we set off on a road which zig zagged up in to the hills. On the way there were great views of Dumyat and as I had climbed it last week I took this photo to show the hill from the other side.

We walked up the road until a gate where the path to Myreton turns right at a small fence post. This was a fairly easy climb and we soon reached the top which is fairly unexciting. This picture shows Ian contemplating the next stage which involved descending to the bottom of the valley and then climbing up again - easy when you are the top but much more of a challenge when you have dropped to the bottom and the only way is up!

Found the remains of a sheep - skull only - and couldn't resist a quick pose on the way!

On the journey down we wandered slightly off course - map and directions taking us to a small reservoir which we couldn't see . Just as Ian was beginning to think we had gone completely off course it materialised before our eyes and we knew we were on the right course. I had been keeping to a slightly higher path but the photo gives you a sense of the climb on the other side which was a "lung buster"

Once we had conquered the steep slope , which came with no path , we reached Craig Elsie and were on the ridge - all plain sailing from now on! Stretching out behind me in this photo are Mid Cairn and Bengengie. I had done this ridge recently , climbing up from Alva Glen - the map notes say this ridge is not climbed frequently and I now know this is because there is no easy way to get on to it! When you do , however , the views are great.

At Bengengie , we crossed over the moss to pick up the beginning of Colsnaur Hill and effectively double back on ourselves . This view shows the ridge from the walk up Colsnaur with Bengengie (left) to Craig Elsie (right)

 We now followed the wall which is in the foreground all the way to the top of Colsnaur which stretched out in front of us in an inviting way

At the top , we scrambled down the hill to pick up the path (and gate) where we had turned for Myreton and then followed it back down to Menstrie.

All in all , an excellent walk - I think I'll try Blairdenon from Sherifmuir to see if it any easier to get there!

Castle Law & Dumyat

Sun splitting the sky and it was the kind of day I couldn't stay in the house so after lunch I took a quick run to Bridge of Allan with the intention of climbing Castle Law and Dumyat. In all the times I have climbed Dumyat I have always kept to the path and never deviated to go up the smaller hill of Castle Law so didn't really know where it was. Initially I climbed the small hill which is on the Dumyat path from the university and this picture of Wallace Monument was taken from it                        

Continued up the path to Dumyat and at the top met an old worthy sitting in the shade who had already climbed all the Ochil hills. Because the weather was so clear he named the hills we could see including ( from left to right as I looked) Ben Lomond , The Cobbler , Ben Ledi , Ben Lawyers , Stuc a croine. I have climbed all of these hills but hadn't realised you could see them all from the top of Dumyat. The photo is not very clear and the hills actually look like clouds

At the top of Dumyat I got a clear picture of Castle Law and realised I had not actually climbed it so I headed over and did it on the way home.

Glenquey Hill/ Innerdownie / Bentie Knowe / Whitewisp Hill

After a week of horrendous weather I am joined by Ian and Jonathan on an absolutely picture perfect Saturday. Here they are at the base of Glenquey Hill after we had parked the car at the Tormaukin Hotel 

Once we got to the top of Glenquey Hill we got our first sight of Innerdownie stretching ahead of us and at this stage we were pretty clear of snow although wouldn't be long before that changed

On the way to the top we were able to follow in the tracks of what looked like a quad bike which had gone before us                                                                                      

The benefit of going with others is that you can compile photographic evidence so for the record this is me at the top of Innerdownie     

                                     

Having conquered Innerdownie the plan was to head on to Bentie Knowe to complete the hat-trick but to be fair it was hard to recognise when we had done it so this is us looking back with , I think , with Bentie Knowe in the background. By this time we were walking in in relatively deep snow but with the sun blazing overhead conditions were great. 

                           

As we walked along the ridge we had a clear view of Glenquey Reservoir down below and we would eventually walk back alongside it on the way back to the car      

We had made pretty good progress by this point so we pressed on towards Whitewisp Hill and here are Jonathon and Ian pictured at the top with Tarmangie Hill pictured in the background 

From the top we had a good view of King's Seat Hill which I had done last month and this is it

We walked down off Whitewisp without sticking to any real path (and the boys tracking overhead planes on their I phones) to join the Dollar to Glendevon path and walked the final 5 miles back to the Hotel where we stopped for an excellent bowl of soup. All in all a good wee walk which may even have inspired the boys to join me again

 A few days later Jonathan presented me with the challenge of uploading a couple of his photos on to the blog and to my surprise this was a lot easier than I thought. These are taken at the top of Innerdownie as we stopped to admire the view - blue sky was amazing

The Nebit & The Growls

Snow widespread in the UK but all clear in Stirling although Ochils have a coating so a perfect day to take a walk. Took car to Alva Glen and cut across to Silverburn and walked in to the valley . I always like this view of the waterfall just as you leave the car park. No snow here but it wasn't long before I was in it.    

                        

This is the view of Craighorn as I walked along the west side of Ben Ever. As I got deeper in to the valley the cloud descended and it began to look as if I wouldn't get a view from the top so I turned around and decided instead to climb The Nebit which was at the back of me and bathed in sunshine. One of the benefits of being retired - I can just go back another day !     

As I headed back down towards The Nebit this is the view of Craig Elsie and Mid Cairn which I had climbed earlier but not taken any photos          

       

This is the view of The Nebit as I headed back down - felt like one of the wise men following the light!

This is me looking back up the valley ( from whence I had come) from the top of The Nebit with Craighorn on the left and Ben Ever on the right       

                                                                  

At the top the skies cleared and there was clear blue sky all around with absolutely stunning views - would have probably been ok heading for Ben Buck but at the top of Nebit took a call from Carol looking for me to pick her up from work so everything turned out ok

King's Seat Hill incorporating Bank Hill and Banks of Dollar

Festive period over and with good weather forecast , a perfect opportunity to get back on the Ochils journey. Took car to Castle Campbell , Dollar and set off to conquer Kings Seat Hill ( one of the seven Donald's) in the Ochils.

Set off from main entrance to Castle and headed up into the hills with great views of the castle wherever you looked.

Took a very brief detour to climb Bank Hill (355) and then rejoined path on way to King's Seat. Bank Hill is the hill on the right as you look at the photo of the castle

Near to the top I found the second memorial I've seen in the hills - the last one was on Mid Cairn - this one was to remember three spitfires which flew from RAF Grangemouth and crashed near this hill.

Reached top of King's Seat with blue sky and checked out Tarmangie and Whitewisp which look as if they can be reached from KS although it would be sensible to do the Saddle when doing them and I couldn't see a path as I came down

Climbed Banks of Dollar on the way back down but to be fair it was pretty uninspiring and really just let me say I had done it

Arrived back at car to find a deer playing near the car but just couldn't get close enough for a photo without disturbing it

Bengengie 18th December

Took advantage of a spell of pre Christmas mild weather
and climbed Midcairn and Bengengie - not a soul in site and a truly peaceful day.

The week before I did the circular walk I climbed Ben Ever but came back down the same way as the clouds descended and I couldn't see . This is the Nebit as seen from the climb up Ben Ever