free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
A couple of weeks off the hills for Allison - this weekend was interrupted by a gig in Edinburgh, so I built the hills around that. Thursday night we headed through to my mother's which would make for an early start on the Ochils on Friday. We had a nice evening and a warm bed, in contrast to what would have been the case in the tent.
824E4977-2D86-497C-8930-5A97368C8FF9_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr\
For Friday, a cold but sunny day was forecast. We set off from Grangemouth just before 9 and arrived at Alva soon after. Sadly, we weren't leaving from Alva - we were supposed to be beginning from Tillicoultry. So we had to drive along there. My plan was to head up Kingseat Hill, cross Andrew Gannel to Ben Cleuch and down over Ben Ever. That was the plan anyway...sadly we missed the turn off for Kingseat and were heading towards The Law by the time we noticed. Some discussion was had, we ended up settling for Tarmangie and Whitewisp Hill in addition to Kingseat.
A stiff climb up to The Law, very frosty underfoot, the bogs all frozen solid.Sky was blue with streaks of white cloud, a lovely day to be out. On to Ben Cleuch then a turn around to Andrew Gannel from where we followed the fence line towards Skythorn and Tarmangie. Quite quick going over the frozen ground. Out and back to White Wisp - if we had had more time we'd have continued on to Innerdownie, but we had to get to the campsite in Edinburgh. So that one will, as usual, be left to do on its own.
8A4292D6-AED0-4989-B1EE-74DCD4C2B077_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
8AA3B025-F0EC-456D-A8CA-C118EE1DB16C_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
38F4A356-DB1F-42DD-BE98-D1E053A11895_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
12370333-5430-48AF-BC77-AEBAC0E6DEA9_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
86EF74C4-33C6-413A-A8A6-EC5CFD35400F_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
95052CD0-D10C-4B31-ABF9-B9E1F3C30D57_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
A big drop towards Kingseat then a nice easy decent back to the glen. A fine day out on these hills. We headed for Edinburgh, arriving at Mortonhall after dark had fallen, maybe 5pm. The usual tent field had been deemed too boggy, so we were directed to an area for small camper vans. Not ideal, one of our neighbours had their heater on all night, but otherwise quiet. It was certainly cold overnight, I was regretting not bringing the cold weather gear, although it was nice to have the big tent for a change - ages since we've used that.
For Saturday I wanted something quick that would leave us time to spend in Edinburgh in the afternoon before the gig. Whitehope Law and Windlestraw Law would do - I'd glanced at one of my previous times - 2.5 hours - so that would be fine...(that didn't involve th Donald Top of Bareback Knowe and was me solo when I was a young and fit thing) It did take a fair time to drive to the start at Glentress Cottage as the roads were icy and there was a mix of rain and snow heading towards us. And we'd left before the sun came up, so everything was in the mirk. Cloud was down when we came to a stop - quite different to the forecast we'd been expecting, of another day like yesterday. The cottage looked deserted so no problems parking outside. We'd opted to do Windlestraw first, via Bareback Knowe. Route taken was up along the fence line just south of the cottage - although there is actually a clear ATV route that runs more or less alongside this and could be taken if you wished.
E4444C3C-D144-4773-AA97-C50E56EEE74E_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
Clag and frosty ground, but a fence line to follow. Over the Donald Top and onwards to the trig column on Windlestraw, then down using the ATV track that serves the gross-butts further down the hill. The ground must have been really saturated recently as there were numerous frozen puddles (which proved hazardous to walk on) over the track. We dropped back to the road and decided to have our lunch at the car before we headed up Whitehope. I was anticipating a quick up and down on Whitehope but it turned out to be far from this. First I ripped the knee of my Paramo trousers on barbed wire getting over the gate. Then it was all tussocks and heather- I don't remember the terrain being as bad as this from the twice I've done it before. Allison was not enjoying this one bit, as her back's been twingy anyway. She was lagging way behind. We got back to the car later than Id hoped for, almost 2pm. I knew it would be the best part of an hour back to the campsite and then we'd have to get into town.
FDADB9A5-6DCF-4236-9095-AEE695C077A1_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
C1B8C417-CDD0-40FA-B633-9B800F542A12_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
824EF0B5-5992-4229-8433-FDD6A4D61021_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
5CB54B5B-4234-4B3D-B5E0-B65531C5935E_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
F62CF2E1-1EBD-4EC9-A657-580F9F82BCD3_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
We left the campsite after 3, decided to get a bus into town. On the way the rain starts. Rain and snow in fact. Allison was not really dressed for the weather, wearing jeans, whereas I'd left my waterproof stuff on. We got off the bus in Chambers St to have a gander at the Museum there. I used to spend hours there when I was at Uni, although it has changed considerably over the years. Still good for a wander around. We left about 4.50 to walk down to where we were planning to have our meal, in the pouring rain. Great... We did manage to warm up a bit while we were having our meal before heading back out into the wet weather. Just a couple of miles back up to the Queens Hall for Callum Easter - what was, I felt, a little bit disappointing gig, perhaps a bit under rehearsed? Callum's a really lovely guy and his short solo set at the start of proceedings was better (IMO) than the band set later on. At least the rain had stopped for our 4 mile walk back to the campsite before midnight.
DC7601E0-5A30-4E4E-9080-33A532DAE6A2_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
F62D67EB-4FE9-4B1A-BAFA-17190F83BC58_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
3F59C4C1-57B7-48A8-8BAE-1D91CA0F5AC7_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
FA26AC56-651F-4AC3-8721-A4B6C73F2A1D_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
6C731821-4899-402A-A431-812E023FA57D_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
About an inch of new snow on the tent when we got back, another cold night in prospect as the moon was attempting to break through. We could hear intermittent rain and snow falling through the night. No early start today - we waited til it was light before getting up into a cold and snowy morning. I thought we might manage the other Moorfoot Hills today and set off for Gladhouse Reservoir on snowy roads. Temperature was around -3 and a lot of snow had fallen outside the city - all the trees were frosted with white. I got to about 3 miles from the start when I opted to turn around - the road to the farm hadn't been cleared and the snow on the road was thicker than I felt comfortable driving on. Added to which, it looked like there was between 6-12 inches of snow on the hills which would make the going somewhat heavy...time for a Plan B. The most convenient option would be Tinto from here - which would at least be an easy and quick ascent. So we headed cross country and arrived at the parking area for Tinto about 11.30. A few cars there and lots of footprints going up the hill.
04703B7C-A241-48EA-AA92-80ADA5EFF263_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
Crampons? Well maybe in case it's icy. It was quite beautiful now, with blue skies and crisp new snow under foot. We paused about halfway up for our lunch, enjoying the bright sunshine. A pack of three dogs tried diversional techniques to nab our lunch, but we were able to foil them. We managed, by some quirk of timing, to be on our own at the top, although as were were coming down there were lots of folk heading up, maybe for the sunset. It was still -4 in the car park, although the temperature rose significantly as we drove back to Glasgow - as the snow diminished, not a hint of it in Inverclyde
BE0BCA92-7609-4EC5-ABE4-0789FF1D8235_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
EE54724C-9A07-44AF-B3DC-C18DA8C02BC5_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
92CC6759-70D2-4FBF-B31E-3FA6A43D3551_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
4F76CD1E-3599-47F6-93AC-7B157518D515_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
3FF43420-B8E4-4260-8F57-B34D14CC83C3_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
3696601A-698D-4810-A97D-E17631D62F79_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
6C9659D8-5B92-4FFA-8E11-19BA83EFC86A_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
533A86BB-C5A2-4A42-A58F-E0B1033485FA_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
7AA19430-7419-42FE-AAC6-8FB56D5B220E by
Al, on Flickr
1B49BA97-B930-413F-88BA-D2584714F4FB_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
