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Breezy October day so we opted to do a slightly lower level walk than the one we had originally planned - didn't want our dogs to turn into kites! We chose to walk across the Ochil Hills from south to north with the wind behind us!
Parked one car at Blackford and then drove back to Tilicoultry via the scenic Glen Eagles. We left our car at the Mill Glen car park and headed up the steep path into the Ochils. Weather was very windy, but the Autumn colours were spectacular. As we climbed we passed a dramatic old quarry and got great views south across the central belt, including the Pentland Hills.
The trees in the glen were very dramatic, and we wished we had started at Alva instead which would have given us a bit more time walking in the forest.
The main path heads up to Ben Cleugh and we initially missed the faint right turn which would take us up the other side of the glen and on to the plateau. A bit of scrambling up a steep bracken bank quickly fixed this! We contoured along the north-east slopes of Elistoun Hill, and crossed the Gannel Burn at the watershed, passing by the hill of the same name. Quick stop for lunch in a (relatively!) sheltered spot near the top of the Glenach Burn before heading on across the rolling hills. The paths were pretty hit and miss, but the views were great.
We made our way down towards the Upper Glendevon reservoir which looks almost empty at the moment. There is meant to be a public right of way running round to the west of the reservoir but it was very indistinct and we found ourselves crossing plenty of fences without the aid of stiles.
The going got much easier once we had crossed the River Devon, and headed up Glen Bee. Lots of interesting ruins on view on the way, some of which were recently under the waters of the reservoir.
We picked up a track heading down the Glen of Kinpauch for an easy stroll back to Blackford. Rounded off the day with a quick pint in the hotel at Glendevon - perfect!
