free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
Paul and Helen picked me up in their van at 9:00am. Started the walk in car park just outside Alva. The path is shown on a map at the car park. Headed west and climbed up the hill side to reach a gate and through it onto a good track. This took us up to another gate and a path heading up the slopes of Ben Keen. A third of the way up this path we went into cloud and stayed there till we dropped down the Gannell Burn on the other side of Ben Cleuch. The path is fairly clear and it would be hard to get lost here unless you took a wrong turning. I did get map and compass out just to be sure though.
![CleuchTop.jpg]()
- Ben Cleuch top
Windy and cold on Cleuch, but isn't it always. We had our lunch in the lee of the dyke around the trig point. Just cleared away a bit a few times but never threatened to go away. Indeed, going down the Gannell Burn as we dropped below the cloud it started to drizzle. Thankfully it stopped by the time we got to Tillicoultry. Walked over to the old quarry then along the road till a sign for Alva and followed that track back to car park.
It was a good stretch of the legs and I had my new boots on and they performed really well, only a slight rubbing on one wee toe. Dry snug feet, unlike yesterday, same view though.
