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With, a not entirely unexpected, 3-4 hours of freedom after dropping the kids of with my mother and sisters for lunch and ice skating at the local rink, my brother-in-law and I headed for the Ochil Hills. It was a cold but bright, pleasant day and what snow there had been appeared to have pretty much thawed. We were quickly at Tillicoultry and, pausing only for a change of footwear, made haste for the hills.
Following the steep and narrow track up Tillicoultry Glen, the hill was fairly busy. It was mid-afternoon and everyone else seemed to be on the way down. We made good time and were soon crossing the burn at the foot of The Law, the descent towards the burn a welcome relief from the steep start and time enough to gather breath for the stiff trudge up The Law. It was still warm and a few people on the way down had remarked on how could it was up top, so we marched on safe in the knowledge that we had gear in the bag should we need it.
It's a testing wee hill and it dawned on me on the way up that I'd only ever previously come down The Law in the past...I wasn't quite at the stage of wishing that were the case today but it didn't help! Nearing the summit the wind got up so jackets were donned and we completed the final push to the top of The Law.
We opted to stop for coffee and cake, sheltering on the other side of the fence/summit from the stiff wind and taking in the clear views East and South along the Forth to Berwick Law.
There was a bit more cloud around to the North and West.
Re-fuelled, we got going again quickly for the short wander over to Ben Cleuch. Tempting though it was to take in any number of alternative routes back, that would have been a bit selfish, and decided to eschew Andrew Gannel, Skythorn, King's Seat et al, in favour of Ben Ever and Silver Glen and a wander through the woods between Alva and Tillicoultry.
So, nice little bonus there and an opportunity to stretch the legs a bit more before a planned bike / hike a fortnight later (of which more later).
As many have attested to on here, the Ochils are a great place to roam and are often taken for granted by those who live in their shadow...myself included. I've been up there 3 times in the last 12 months...after a 15-20 year break!...and shall be back soon.
