Seven Fife Marilyns for the Last Time

[Sgurr]

Since I was 77 I have climbed all 7 Fife Marilyns in a day most years except in 2022 when due to a bad hip, I could only manage 5. I have been getting slower and slower, so thought that at 85, I would call it a day, and if I have the energy, will do something new, or something less taxing. I set out to do them this June, and with another bad hip had to stop after 2, so thought I would have one final attempt and then pack it in while I was ahead. I got up at 5 a.m. as the light hours are getting fewer, and arrived at the Kelty side of Benarty in time to catch the end of the sunrise which got me an Editor's Pick and a showing on the Weather Forecast via BBC Weather Watchers where my nick-name is my old Scottishhills.co nickname of Squiz



Benarty

When I visit Benarty again, it will be from the RSPB Centre the other side, which although longer, is far less eroded. This has become bad since tree felling/Covid. I have never seen cows up here before, but I was polite, and they moved aside


Summit. You will have to believe this was the top, as I put my camera on the trig.

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I get grumpy when I see locks somewhere they shouldn't be, but this is unlike the bridges where they have had to be removed in case of collapse.



West Lomond

The road from Leslie has been resurfaced, and I drove up that to the Craigmead car park. The now charge you £2 if you are going to be there longer than 2 hours.

Looks quite a distance



I decided to climb up the front, as there are footprints that help, and it is shorter.



, Like the Lake District sheep, these are not at all scared of walkers as they must see so many



A fit looking guy popped up behind me and took my photo at the summit



I got another Editors' Pick here with a gloomy shower cloud approaching, but it came to nothing



I drove round to the higher car park the other side of the Lomonds. I didn't pay, as I couldn't believe it would take me 2 hours.

Below, from the car park



West Lomond from the summit
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There were plenty of people at the summit to take my photos, also a small girl, distraught that she had stepped in sheep's poo with her pretty new boots. Hope it doesn't put her off hill walking.



Below, Falkland from near the summit



This hill took me 1 hour 4 minutes


Cairnie Hill

I drove towards Lindores and parked in what looked like someone's wide drive, just before the road goes over the railway.

Almost opposite is the path



I used to go along this until it turned at a hedge, then complete the rest of the rectangle following the path left to the summit, but recently (until last year when Matt and Sabine refused to do it), I had been taking a short-cut through the wood.) Today it was a rather rough short cut. I used to count 8 poles along the wood edge, but they have mostly been swallowed by jungle, so I waited until I could see light through the pines and went through there, thence uphill to follow a pebbled track a short way then it became grass uphill again to the summit.

Short cut


Summit rock



Selfie


I drove to Newburgh and then along the road by the Tay towards Luthrie, where I found a space in a wide gate at the bottom of Norman's Law

Norman's Law

I walked up the path, below, looking back to the Tay



Then turned right onto the Coastal Path. This leads to a stile where you can get over into a meadow and see the hill.

r

The summit has both a view finder and a trig ( and many many nettles where people have peed). No selfe, as it was blowing too hard.


Coming down, I extended my time by chatting to a hill runner who owned a farm near here and a guy testing out a large rucksack for potential wild camping.

This hill took 1 hour 20 mins (Too much chatting).

Mount Hill

I drove towards Cupar, turning right along the unclassified road to Mount Farm. Instead of taking my normal short cut through the barred gate in the wood, I went on the labelled path as I thought the short cut was rather overgrown. It turned out not to be so bad when I completed the circuit after visiting the monument . The trees have grown so fast that there is now no landscape view from the summit, so you have to make do with the monument




This hilll took 1 hour 15 minutes
Largo Law

My satnav broke on a Ramblers' holiday in the Lake district, so one of the Ramblers downloaded Waze for me, complete with Glaswegian Jim, so I used him to take me to Lower Largo. I must say, he is very useful, even though I sometimes get irritated with his introductions
" Well Chief, I've had a wee shufti at the map, so we're guid tae go. "

Largo Law

I parked by the cemetery and took the footpath to the farm. The hill in the pic. doesn't look as steep as it was.


View of Lower Largo from half way up


The path is very eroded and it feels as if you are walking on tiny dusty ball bearings, much worse coming down that going up


Summit


Summit selfie


Back at the car I still hadn't managed to eat the second of my cheese and marmalade sandwiches, but the coffee had long gone

This hill took 1 hour 52 minutes

My times in 2016 when I was 77 were as follows, a rather alarming reduction in pace in 8 years.
Benarty 1 hour 45, but had to do it from the RSPB Centre as the road was closed
West Lomond 2 hours 15 minutes
East Lomond 40 minutes
Cairney Hill 40 minutes
Norman's Law 30 minutes
Mount Hill 50 minutes
Largo Law (in part snow) 1 hour 30 mins

[Fife Flyer]

Well done you are an inspiration.
I did a similar thing a couple of weeks ago, did the 5 easterly hills & was going to head up West Lomond but it was a bit too windy so called it a day at 3pm.
I am going to try & do the same thing every year as I have now reached 70.

[Sgurr]

Well done you are an inspiration.
I did a similar thing a couple of weeks ago, did the 5 easterly hills & was going to head up West Lomond but it was a bit too windy so called it a day at 3pm.
I am going to try & do the same thing every year as I have now reached 70.

There was a guy reported in The Courier who did these plus Knock Hill, Saline Hill and Lumbennie i.e. the 10 highest. I have done Knock and Lumbennie, so went to see if I could join Knock and Saline, and apart from a GOML woman farmer who said I couldn't walk straight up Knock, I found that I would somehow have to climb a bank with barbed wire angled against me to do Saline, so would have had to drive round. . Anyway, then I got older and thought I just couldn't hack it.

[Fife Flyer]

There was a guy reported in The Courier who did these plus Knock Hill, Saline Hill and Lumbennie i.e. the 10 highest. I have done Knock and Lumbennie, so went to see if I could join Knock and Saline, and apart from a GOML woman farmer who said I couldn't walk straight up Knock, I found that I would somehow have to climb a bank with barbed wire angled against me to do Saline, so would have had to drive round. . Anyway, then I got older and thought I just couldn't hack it.

We did all the Fife Tumps (during lockdown) which include Saline Hill & Knockhill and yes we did climb over the barbed wire fence. We have one outstanding - Isle of May & hope to get across on a nice calm day, maybe next year.

I meant to say, parking for Cairnie Hill is a nightmare, I parked in the same place as you. My last visit we went up through the wooded area, last time I followed the track for the majority of the way.

[Sgurr]

Good luck with the Isle of May. I had such a cracking time there with R, I don't know I want to repeat it, though I have sort of been monitoring the weather (Haha.). It may just get wetter and windier as we globally warm, so maybe better take a chance on a "better" day, unless you are hugely seasick in anything but calm, which R was.

[Plug]

As ever, brilliant. Really pleased you were able to complete the round as you wished.

Cheese and marmalade is not a sandwich combination I have thought of before, but I'm ready to give them a go if this is the type of hill day they can help you with!

[Sgurr]

As ever, brilliant. Really pleased you were able to complete the round as you wished.

Cheese and marmalade is not a sandwich combination I have thought of before, but I'm ready to give them a go if this is the type of hill day they can help you with!

I thought that protein (cheese) was good. Also marmalade (fast acting ) was good. The fact that I didn't actually finish the two rounds that I had made says a lot. Also, I had just come back from a holiday with sister in Derbyshire (non-walking, she doesn't like hills) and hadn't really restocked, so not a lot of choice. The second loaf I thought I had in the deep freeze turned out not to be there, so I was down to 2 crusts for one, so that could also explain not finishing. Go ahead, but take a plan B, like energy bars. Remember, you keep darting back to the car, so don't need to carry all supplies.

[rockhopper]

Well done Might try these hills some day....if I ever get back to the hills - cheers

[goth_angel]

Great report. If I can do half as much as that when I get to my 80's I'll be very grateful for it. Already slowing down from where I was even 5 years ago.

[Sunset tripper]

Great stuff Squiz. You are an inspiration.

Bolt cutters can be quite heavy but great for removing locks like that....and if you get enough of them there is usually a fair bit of brass in them and good money for scrap brass.

All the best.

[iangpark]

Very well done indeed - incidentally I spotted those cows on Benarty from my spare bedroom window for the first time a few days ago. I don't think they'd been there long when you spotted them (not at that end anyway!)

[Anne C]

Terrific stuff and great going too.
Interesting that you’ve kept these comparison times.Something I’m always interested in as the years pass (past mid 60s) though I think I get too focused on trying to keep up the pace to book times/Naismith’s rule and often end up feeling exhausted!
I need to look up a previous post you made where you listed your ever changing pace over the years compared to ‘book times’- I thought it was excellent and very true.
Cheese and marmalade sandwiches were always my brother’s favourite! None of our family had ever heard of the combination, thought it was just a wee fad of his but it makes sense, as cheese is often served with a sweetish /fruity relish etc.

[Sgurr]

I've probably said before that our relationship to Naismith baffled us originally as he was always behind, a fact that we put down to it originally being for soldiers who carried huge packs. Later we walked along with him in companiable silence, but before R got ill, he was over the horizon. Goodness knows how far ahead he was towards the end. Nowadays, I have walked so slowly for so long. Of course, he is useless on the Cuillin.

[dogplodder]

I felt tired just reading that and I'm younger than you. What an achievement!

[Anne C]

I've probably said before that our relationship to Naismith baffled us originally as he was always behind, a fact that we put down to it originally being for soldiers who carried huge packs. Later we walked along with him in companiable silence, but before R got ill, he was over the horizon. Goodness knows how far ahead he was towards the end. Nowadays, I have walked so slowly for so long. Of course, he is useless on the Cuillin.

Thanks for that Sgurr….was relating those stages to my husband this afternoon on a Pollok Country Park stroll! Those Marilyns sound a lovely round.