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I'm sure we're all agreed that Second Lockdown was worse than First Lockdown

- the weather was worse, it went on longer and we were all well and truly Fed Up by that point. Also, there was that Groundhog Day feel to it all - what'll we do this weekend? Cinema, a slap-up meal and then clubbing 'til 3 a.m. - not

... or perhaps a jigsaw, followed by a carry-out for two with a bottle of wine

?
To further reinforce the Groundhog Day vibe, I thought I might as well blow some cobwebs away in early January 2021, by climbing Duncolm from my front door - again. Since this would now be the third time that I'd done this, I had a look at my OS Landranger Sheet 64 ("Glasgow, Motherwell and Airdrie") - absolutely pristine for most of the last decade, but now showing definite signs of wear! - to see if it might be possible to come up with a slightly different approach.
Well, right enough, it looked as though it might actually be possible to start off on the surprisingly attractive first stretch of the West Highland Way, from Milngavie Station as far as Craigallian Loch, and then cut across west to the A809 to pick up the John Muir Way at the Auchineden Farm track, and then maybe follow forestry tracks to emerge somewhere in the vicinity of Cochno Loch...?
Somewhat to my surprise, this route worked out very much as expected, and was a pleasant approach as far as Cochno Loch. After that, however...

- well, more on that later.
It was a crisp, clear winter's day but there had been a hard frost overnight after rain the previous day, so there was a lot of sheet ice around, making the first section of the West Highland Way unexpectedly treacherous!
I managed to avoid landing on my hind end until the very last section just before Greenside Reservoir, where I slipped spectacularly and landed on my bahookie, much to the amusement of a passing couple of dog-walkers: thankfully no harm done except to my pride!
Craigallian Loch itself was looking very scenic in the early morning sunshine, with a grand view of Dumgoyne to the north:
Now, the map shows a footpath branching left from the West Highland Way at around NS534777, but I struggled to find this (or at least to find the start of it) on the ground, and instead I ended up heading along a faint path between two lines of fencing just along the southern end of the patch of forestry just to the west of the WHW at this point.
This was straightforward enough, and once I was clear of the western corner of the forestry, it was fairly easy to pick my way down the grassy slopes to pick up the far end of the footpath that I couldn't find further east, to reach the A809.
At the Auchineden Farm track, I followed the John Muir Way signs until a bit past the farm, and then branched off left (southwest) on a new-looking forestry track that appeared to be heading in the direction that I wanted, and that eventually emerged at the eastern corner of Kilmannan Reservoir. From here, I got a brief view northwards to (I think) The Whangie:
I followed another new forestry track round the eastern end of the reservoir, and then headed southwestwards again, hoping that I was heading in the right general direction for Cochno Loch as the forestry track branched and branched again ... Thankfully my sense of direction was holding out better than usual, because suddenly I glimpsed a body of water a bit to the west, checked my GPS and ... it was actually Cochno Loch

!
I crossed the forestry fence to emerge on the rough and tussocky grass beside the loch, with Duncolm suddenly visible in the distance.
There was a pleasingly wintry vista south across the loch:
Now, however, the real "fun" started. Every time that I do this walking-Dumcolm-from-my-front-door thing, I seem to completely forget just how unpleasant this last section is (i.e. the pathless link across west from Cochno Loch to finally approach to the Marilyn from just to its south, where it's possible to pick up a path that comes up from Hardgate via Greenside Reservoir). It must be post-traumatic amnesia, I think.
The tussocky, swampy ground between Cochno Loch and Duncolm, however, has to be some of the most unpleasant terrain in Scotland. Today, it had a good couple of inches of snow on top just to add to the fun

. It doesn't look far on the map, but it took me ages and I actually started to get worried that I might run out of daylight! By the time I finally reached the stone wall just short of Duncolm, on the other side of which the path up from Greenside Reservoir can finally be picked up, I was well and truly knackered and dispirited, and I really had to restrain myself from stooping to kiss the path in gratitude...
If anyone has ever indulged in idle speculation as to where Hell is physically located, I can now reveal that it's at approximately NS478768 on OS Landranger 64. Who knew

?
A Vision of Hell, from the path just to the south of Duncolm. If you squint a bit, you may well see Beelzebub leering at you.
Anyway, from here on it was relatively plain sailing - there's a good path all the way to Duncolm's summit trig point.
Even although some care was needed today, given all the ice around, it didn't take me much longer to reach the top. Thankfully, the views were probably worth the effort!
The classic vista northwards to the Bonny Banks and the Arrochar Alps:
A slightly zoomed shot of the same:
Me at the summit, only looking slightly frazzled:
The view south over Glasgow, with Greenside Reservoir in the distance:
I picked my way gingerly back down the path on the southern flanks of the hill, and headed off southwards in the direction of Greenside Reservoir:
After following a rough ongoing path around the eastern side of the reservoir, I picked up the track at its southeastern corner that eventually leads all the way back to Hardgate. I masked up to pick up some provisions at the Tesco Metro at the roundabout, and then headed off on the long and somewhat boring but straightforward road walk all the way to Milngavie (thereby fulfilling the Scottish Government's requirement that any walks had to start and finish in one's own council area

).
Well, at least I got much better weather than the first time that I did Duncolm in the winter, and given that once again this hill had become the Only Show In Town for me, it was a fine enough outing I daresay

.