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I set out at around 1130, an hour later than planned after a chaotic rush for my train to Alloa. This was my first hill walk in two years, and I picked a hell of a route to return with.
I set off without pacing myself properly, and the directions are excellent - the enormous forestry trees for the first two and a half kilometres towering over me. Comforting, somehow. Just before the firebreak (which has some boggy sections, and some steep sections, and some steep boggy sections, oh joy) I met a couple of other walkers and we climbed the firebreak together.
Having not done hillwalking for a couple of years, I had forgotten just how quickly a good climb winds me, and my pace dropped pretty severely on the climb to Innerdownie. I took a couple of short breaks before the summit, and was rewarded with some great views.
I pushed on from here, along the ridge heading south-west before turning WSW. The deer fence is in pretty poor shape along here, and I spotted at least one cervine friend (utterly failed at pictures, though.) Keeping the fence on my right and pushing onwards, the ladder stile before the summit of Whitewisp provided a great resting point with some views east over the forestry.
At the summit, squinting south over the Forth I tried to pick out familiar landmarks, but the wind picking up and my own impatience meant I didn't linger too long before turning south. The path is pretty well defined and even where there's bog, there's usually a well-trodden route around them.
The climb up to the summit to Tarmangie is short and sharp, and the promised views of hazy Cairngorms are worth every step. The descent starts gently but quickly turns steep, and I was glad to reach the deer fence and the end - for now - of the descent.
Up towards Scad Hill it was great to see the woodland turn from scarce shin-high shrubs to trees taller than I am; I hope to return every few years to see the progression here towards taller woodland (and more cover from the wind!). Views down towards the reservoirs on the left and right open up beautifully as you descend beyond Scad Hill.
Hurting at this point, I opted not to try to summit Ben Shee, and instead stuck with the path skirting it. A word to the weary - there are still lovely views but the path is reasonably level (and definitely easier than the climb up to Ben Shee.)
The long slow descent past Ben Shee switches between rocky and muddy as you wind your way down. As I approached the stile pictured in the picture, I noticed sheep both side of it - be prepared for a short, sharp descent to the road.
Crossing the dam - the most obviously human structure in the course of the walk - was a gentle return to civilisation. A scrabbly ascent on the far side (which I think has a longer, gentler alternative) and I was back on the starting path. A final twenty minutes - where I saw more people than for the rest of the walk combined - and I was back at the carpark.
