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Hi all - my 1 st walk , Sunday 14 / 3 / 10.
Up early with the lark on a beautiful sunny morning, met my mate (also Steven) near his home in Tillicoultry & we were off at 7am with our 2 dogs in tow - Oskar my 18 month standard schnauzer & Tara his ridgeback bitch.We went up Tillicoultry Glen over the footbridges that cross the burn -which i thought was very noisy considering how much water was in it. I think there were 6 bridges , after the last i decided that it was easier not to talk whilst going up hill ! Steven , being much fitter & a regular walker/climber had no trouble in doing both at the same time.
We then turned left/back on our selves and headed towards the top of the disused quarry face keeping a safe distance behind the danger fence.We climbed steadily upwards towards the top of Wood Hill towards Rough Knowles-stopping when needed for me to get my breath back. i put Oskar back on his lead as there were a few sheep about now , not so Tara being older and wiser she knew the score.I found this part the hardest untill we reached the top and could see it levelling / plateauing out on towards Ben Ever , this felt a marvellous achievement for me. I hope that doesn`t sound too lame -it was my 1st walk i was chuffed i`d made it this far. So , on to Ben Ever,( as i`d read on this site -if you want to go round it why bother having a day out ?........do yourself a favour and stay in the car park !) We made our way along with the fence posts on our R/H side i was amazed to see so much snow lying around.On the top of Ben Ever the wind picked up a wee bit , no time to stop though - down the other side over the style and we went up the snow bank on the R/H side of the fence ,occasionally my foot broke through the hard snow and you were up to your knee in it.Stopped halfway up for a breather and to admire the view below us , then onto the top.I`ve hopefully mamnaged to post a foto of me & Oskar approaching the top.We spent around 20 mins at the top having a s/wich & the best cup of coffee i`d had for ages ! Took some fotos , sorry for repeating myself but i WAS amazed at the views & it wasn`t exactly totally clear , but you could easily see the Bass Rock & Firth of Forth , Pentlands , Alloa (obviously ) & the views to the north & west were to me fab.
Down now towards The Law with the fence on our L/H side this was a wee bit boggy/wet in places ,but the sun was out.On down The Law i now appreciated how steep it was , as we went up over on the other side we`d seen a lone walker/climber going up The Law - slowly , i now knew why he/she had been so slow-it is STEEP.We passed quite a few folk heading up The Law as we came down , hardy souls,although i`d like to try it in route reversal one day.Towards the bottom there was a wee dodgy bit at the waterfalls which surprised me,then rather than go straight down we headed left/east towards the bottom of Kirk Craigs & made our way down .
We were off the hill at 12.05. I felt great !! Although the following day ,Monday , my leg muscles gave me a hard time.
I`m sure with more mileage /hills under my belt i`ll be fine.I hope you can see from reading this my enthusiasm , i cant believe i`ve waited 44 years to climb a hill !
Since this walk i`ve bought new kit , trousers/gaitors/jacket/proper waterproofs/walking poles(my boots are fine) so i won`t be wearing the jeans/jacket in the fotos again on the hills.
PS Oskar enjoyed it too