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Cairnie Hill from Woodmill Mains4.6km 2.9 miles; 1hr 15min; Summit 228m 748ft; Ascent GPS 140m 472ft
Left early and parked by the telecomms mast at NO272155 by 8:50am. Overcast but dry and headed off aiming to follow the route marked by superstar_tradesman on his run up Cairnie Hill last summer. After the initial steep rise....
- Initial ascent
Its an easy walk to the top of hill and I got to the summit rock after ducking through a few trees;
- Summit rock with no views
I do think the gorse bush looks higher but wasn’t going to stand on that.
Just after leaving here I surprised a deer of some kind that went off in a hurry through the trees, not waiting long enough to give me a good look.
- Lindores Loch
After this view I crossed over to go Eastwards downhill and made the poor choice of entering a field of heifers. They looked uninterested at first but once I was in their field they were intensely curious and I detoured over a nearby gate in what probably counted as indecent haste, before going round the field boundary on the more peaceful side of the fence. A farm track led back to road and the car parked at the side. It took me longer than 35min [75min in fact] and I never tried running, even when being pursued by the cattle!
Then on to the next stop for a walk to the Hope Monument.
Mount Hill from NO339159 3.5km 2.2 miles; 45min; Summit 221m 725ft; Ascent GPS 110m 350ft
Parked the car as suggested by McMole, April this year, then I pretty much followed the very straightforward and signposted track.
Easy woodland walking all the way up, sheep and lambs all around at one point.
- After the sheep had moved off
Slightly odd was the echoing voice in the background from the PA system at a Vintage car rally outside Cupar, odd snatches of sentences kept drifting over on the wind.
I did have to go halfway round the top as expected to enter through the gate in the deer fence.
- Hopetoun Monument
Although there was low cloud at least I could see the whole of the Monument and its solid looking doorway. Then quickly back down the same route to the start and the end of the morning’s exercise.