free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
A short notice day out to make the most of the dry spell, before the weather changes, as it no doubt will
No Munro's on the agenda until Knoydart, so I looked to see where I could head off to. I didn't fancy driving too far and a couple of Donalds were attracting my attention as the most northerly ones still to be visited. Decision made, a bit of research and a couple of routes downloaded I advertised the fact that I was heading out and Hugh popped up out of the woodwork and wanted a half day in the hills and these 2 kind of fitted the bill.
We arranged to meet at the Park & Ride near the Forth Road Bridge at 7.45am, the forecast was to be overcast with the sun appearing about midday so the plan was complete.
I was early yet again and arrived to find Hugh was extracting his gear from his 'tidy' car
Gear dumped in the boot and off we went, following my satnav
I managed to get the satnav co-ordinates for Glen Artney Church from the tinternet where the car park is and input them into the satnav. I was a bit dubious about the co-ordinates and my concern was vindicated later in the journey, so Hugh took over navigational duties. We planned to join the M9 before Linlithgow and head towards Stirling, however that plan was scuppered as the slip road was closed
A quick about turn and we headed west through Linlithgow and we arrived at Glen Artney shortly after 8.30 and were met by the local population of midges who were looking for their breakfast. We weren't keen to be on the menu so it was a quick kitting up and off we went.
When we set off we decided against taking/putting on sun cream as it was overcast and the forecast was for the sun to appear at about midday
Set off on a good track, note the low cloud
Looking back
The way ahead
A brief pose on the ascent
We were following a couple of WH user routes (loosely), initially we headed south on a really good track, after about 2km we left the track and followed a burn uphill, there was an intermittent path which eventually petered out so we just headed uphill. The going was tough on soft dry spongy grass and as we neared the top of the horizon, we appeared out of the cloud. Now it was time to stop and take quite a few photo's, this was Hugh's first 'inversion' experience and we had to be quite quick as the sun was quickly burning it's way through the thin layer of cloud
Ben Vorlich & Stuc a'Chroin peeking out
Looking east
Proof that the sun was winning
Peat hags and there will be lots of them
Once we reached the horizon we then scanned the horizon for a/the summit and there was no sign of a cairn and we reckoned the high point was a fence post
Not the most exciting summit
As you can see from the summit shot, there was something lurking in the background that would encroach on all the photo's to the south. As there was not even a gentle breeze the big machines were not producing any electricity at all, however they were still making that annoying whirring noise
Update on Vorlich & co
With hindsight I should have taken lots more photo's of the terrain as peat hags dominate most of the walk, especially on the higher ground. We were very grateful that the ground was exceptionally dry and the peat hags were easily negotiated.
Typical hag, the only one we found with any water in it
Quite a few of them
Summit of Uamh Bheag
As above
Follow the fence
This carving is at the end of the fence
Final shot of Vorlich and co
Now to the descent, we north towards Am Beannan and the plan was to descend to the east, however when we looked at the descent to the east, it was almost vertical so we 'binned' that idea and went down the obvious shouder to the north. It was still steep but it was an easy descent as the grass was dry and we could see where we were heading for.
Looking back to Am Beannan, you can see the rather steep side
Once we reached the lower ground below Am Beannan, we were heading for the single track road that would take us back to the car and it wasn't long before we reached it and then it was just a matter of following the road back to the car
Glen Artney Church hiding in the trees
After plotting our route Naismith would only manage it in 4hrs 11mins so our time was rather pleasing, it's not often anyone gets to beat Naismith
Thanks to Hugh for his great company, hope the fresh Perthshire air was just the tonic you needed
Sorry about my poor navigational skills whilst driving, I should have listened to the satnav this time
Next is probably another visit to the Borders to say hello to some more Donald's
