Stravaiging by night in the dark heart of the Ochils
Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 11:33 pmWith the Kintail meet fast approaching at the end of the month, I needed to get out to get my hill fitness up to speed. The problem was that the last few weeks had been hectic with one thing and another, and opportunities had been limited. I had not been out for a "real" walk since doing Meal na Letter and Monamenach on the 21st of January - nearly two months ago! Myself and a couple of colleagues are also scheduled to do a WGL Assessment at the end of April as we now require National Governing Body awards to lead Duke of Edinburgh groups, so I wanted to brush up on my walking in the hours of darkness techniques. That and the fact that the school had invested in a couple of GPS units for us to play around with and I wanted to put it through its paces.
So, with my wife not working today and therefore me not having to rush home after work to relieve my mother-in-law from childcare duties, or to my parents to relieve them from the same duty, I took the opportunity to head to the Ochils and do something about my paltry Donald count!
I made a sharp exit from the Lubyanka building on Oakbank Road in Perth and was parked at the big roadside parking area alongside Castlehill Reservoir by 4.20pm. To me, this area around Glendevon and the Tormaukin Hotel is the real heart of the Ochil Hills.
I was away from the car by 4.30 in the warm glow of the late afternoon springtime sunshine. I chose to head north along the main A823 road and access the hills via the minor road which leads up to the houses at Glenfoot above Glendevon.
My first destination was the 611 metre summit of Innerdownie. Ultimately,I intended to head from there across to Whitewisp Hill and then on to Tarmangie Hill. Then I would have options - either continue to King's Seat Hill and then descend down to Castle Campbell near Dollar and back along the Public Right of Way past Glenquey Reservoir towards Glendevon; descend from Tarmangie into the Glen of Sorrow below the steep flanks of King's Seat Hill and pick up the path at Castle Campbell; or return to Whitewisp Hill and descend south east from there towards the path between Castle Campbell and Glenquey Reservoir.
I had read a couple of reports on other sites about routes around these hills so I knew I was in for a lung bursting ascent up the long, steep, tapering ridge of Innerdownie and that is exactly what I got! Good preparation for the ascent up onto the Five Sisters Ridge????
The reward for the steep haul was the views that opened up to reveal a huge swathe of east central Scotland laid out below me. Various bodies of water sprung into view - Glenquey Reservoir immediately down to my left, Castlehill Reservoir beyond the A823, and Loch Leven surrounded by the Lomond Hills and Benarty Hill away to the east. Northwest up Gleneagles towards the hotel and Crieff, gateway to the Highlands. Across to the Forth Valley, Knockhill and the poisonous flares of Grangemouth. And I was absolutely delighted to see Lendrick Hill standing out proud behind me - that most unassuming little hill that I had once nipped up and down in little over an hour and which I had always thought had no character at all. Tonight it stood out proudly, bathed in sunshine and looking like a very fine little hill indeed.
Not surprisingly for a Tuesday evening, I had the place to myself apart from one fell runner who flew past me in a blur and on a downward trajectory not far from the summit. At about the same time, it suddenly got very chilly and I had to tog up with warm jacket, hat and gloves.
The GPS seemed to be giving me some weird readings in terms of the line it had me on but the altitude readings were spot on with my own readings of the OS map. I took a few shots of the encroaching nightime from the summit before heading for Whitewisp and Tarmangie, but not before spotting a handy looking wee howff just below the summit which afforded total shelter from the stiffening breeze and where I had my dinner of hoisin duck wraps and a chocolate bar!
It always seems to me that at this time of year, somewhere midway between the long dark nights of winter and the long light days of summer, walking into the approaching night is a magical and mystical thing. The transistion from day to night just seems to happen in fast forward right before your eyes. And so it was, as I approached Whitewisp Hill, that day just slipped away and suddenly it was unmistakably night.
I kept the headtorch off at this stage and allowed my eyes to become accustomed to the dark. It was a straightforward tramp over to Tarmangie Hill, with King's Seat Hill looking like a very fine hill across the Glen of Sorrow to my left. However, it also looked like another very steep line of ascent from this side and time was slipping away.
At the summit of Tarmangie Hill, I decided to give King's Seat Hill a miss tonight but did set off in a south westerly direction intending to head down into the Glen Of Sorrow and take the long way home. However, after only a couple of hundred metres, I had a change of heart and decided to take the short option of heading back out over Whitewisp Hill and down to the path from there.
The descent down off Whitewisp Hill was straightforward enough apart from at the very bottom where i encountered the small crags which I had noted on the map but in the dark and in real life they posed a few awkward moments before I found myself safely on the flat and narrow! I tried switching my headtorch off at this stage to see what vision I had but it was as dark as the grave down there in the narrow defile of the Glenquey Burn. It was also at this stage that I realised that I had no spare batteries - just as well the set I had in were still burning strongly and showing no signs of fading fast!
From here it was a long, straightforward, tiring but highly satisfying headtorch yomp on a good path which then became a good track, along the side of the Glenquey Reservoir and onto the tarmac road beyond the houses at the far end which eventually led back out to the car at the side of Castlehill Reservoir.
So, with my wife not working today and therefore me not having to rush home after work to relieve my mother-in-law from childcare duties, or to my parents to relieve them from the same duty, I took the opportunity to head to the Ochils and do something about my paltry Donald count!
I made a sharp exit from the Lubyanka building on Oakbank Road in Perth and was parked at the big roadside parking area alongside Castlehill Reservoir by 4.20pm. To me, this area around Glendevon and the Tormaukin Hotel is the real heart of the Ochil Hills.
- South east along Castlehill reservoir towards the dam wall
- Looking the other way down the reservoir
I was away from the car by 4.30 in the warm glow of the late afternoon springtime sunshine. I chose to head north along the main A823 road and access the hills via the minor road which leads up to the houses at Glenfoot above Glendevon.
- Onto the minor road to Glenfoot - not sure what this grand building across the River Devon is
- Glendevon from near Glenfoot
My first destination was the 611 metre summit of Innerdownie. Ultimately,I intended to head from there across to Whitewisp Hill and then on to Tarmangie Hill. Then I would have options - either continue to King's Seat Hill and then descend down to Castle Campbell near Dollar and back along the Public Right of Way past Glenquey Reservoir towards Glendevon; descend from Tarmangie into the Glen of Sorrow below the steep flanks of King's Seat Hill and pick up the path at Castle Campbell; or return to Whitewisp Hill and descend south east from there towards the path between Castle Campbell and Glenquey Reservoir.
- Start of the steep ascent of Innerdownie
I had read a couple of reports on other sites about routes around these hills so I knew I was in for a lung bursting ascent up the long, steep, tapering ridge of Innerdownie and that is exactly what I got! Good preparation for the ascent up onto the Five Sisters Ridge????
The reward for the steep haul was the views that opened up to reveal a huge swathe of east central Scotland laid out below me. Various bodies of water sprung into view - Glenquey Reservoir immediately down to my left, Castlehill Reservoir beyond the A823, and Loch Leven surrounded by the Lomond Hills and Benarty Hill away to the east. Northwest up Gleneagles towards the hotel and Crieff, gateway to the Highlands. Across to the Forth Valley, Knockhill and the poisonous flares of Grangemouth. And I was absolutely delighted to see Lendrick Hill standing out proud behind me - that most unassuming little hill that I had once nipped up and down in little over an hour and which I had always thought had no character at all. Tonight it stood out proudly, bathed in sunshine and looking like a very fine little hill indeed.
- Glenquey Reservoir and Auchlinsky Hill
- Castlehill Reservoir and Lendrick Hill
- Sun sinking behind Innerdownie
- Innerdownie ascent ridge
- Loch Leven and Benarty Hill beyond Castlehill Reservoir
Not surprisingly for a Tuesday evening, I had the place to myself apart from one fell runner who flew past me in a blur and on a downward trajectory not far from the summit. At about the same time, it suddenly got very chilly and I had to tog up with warm jacket, hat and gloves.
- Back down Innerdownie with the steel giants of Steele's Knowe in the distance
- Lomonds now coming into view
The GPS seemed to be giving me some weird readings in terms of the line it had me on but the altitude readings were spot on with my own readings of the OS map. I took a few shots of the encroaching nightime from the summit before heading for Whitewisp and Tarmangie, but not before spotting a handy looking wee howff just below the summit which afforded total shelter from the stiffening breeze and where I had my dinner of hoisin duck wraps and a chocolate bar!
- Lomonds from Innerdownie summit
- To Steele's Knowe
- Distant Tarmangie Hill
It always seems to me that at this time of year, somewhere midway between the long dark nights of winter and the long light days of summer, walking into the approaching night is a magical and mystical thing. The transistion from day to night just seems to happen in fast forward right before your eyes. And so it was, as I approached Whitewisp Hill, that day just slipped away and suddenly it was unmistakably night.
- North up Gleneagles
- Ahead towards Tarmangie
- Back to Innerdownie
- Innerdownie and Glenquey Reservoir
- Forth Valley from summit of Whitewisp Hill
- Whitewisp summit
I kept the headtorch off at this stage and allowed my eyes to become accustomed to the dark. It was a straightforward tramp over to Tarmangie Hill, with King's Seat Hill looking like a very fine hill across the Glen of Sorrow to my left. However, it also looked like another very steep line of ascent from this side and time was slipping away.
- Darkness descending on Tarmangie
At the summit of Tarmangie Hill, I decided to give King's Seat Hill a miss tonight but did set off in a south westerly direction intending to head down into the Glen Of Sorrow and take the long way home. However, after only a couple of hundred metres, I had a change of heart and decided to take the short option of heading back out over Whitewisp Hill and down to the path from there.
The descent down off Whitewisp Hill was straightforward enough apart from at the very bottom where i encountered the small crags which I had noted on the map but in the dark and in real life they posed a few awkward moments before I found myself safely on the flat and narrow! I tried switching my headtorch off at this stage to see what vision I had but it was as dark as the grave down there in the narrow defile of the Glenquey Burn. It was also at this stage that I realised that I had no spare batteries - just as well the set I had in were still burning strongly and showing no signs of fading fast!
- Back down beside the Glenquey Burn
From here it was a long, straightforward, tiring but highly satisfying headtorch yomp on a good path which then became a good track, along the side of the Glenquey Reservoir and onto the tarmac road beyond the houses at the far end which eventually led back out to the car at the side of Castlehill Reservoir.
- Arriving at Glenquey Reservoir
Beautiful photos, cracking narrative and no feeling of impending death whatsoever!!! Cannae be from Kintail then!!!! 
out there......all alone......in the dark 
