free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
Really enjoyed this one as my first real distance hike with actual proper hills involved!
The weather was wonderful and the initial ascent was a great start to the walk. However it does get a little challenging towards the top due to incline, the road was still tarmac. Once at the top though, and recovered, the view behind you is stunning and the view ahead enthralling.
Past the small loch, the going starts to get boggy - our first real experience of proper Scottish bog, we learned to just enjoy solving the puzzle of not getting our feet wet. The Duncolms then come in to view, one by one, with the final Duncolm a testing, if not brief, climb to the summit.
Post-summit lunch, we could see the trig point at the top of the slacks, which was a really enticing target for the next part of the walk. We decided to tackle middle Duncolm on the way back, which involved climbing the steep 'decent' on the northside, which was a challenge. Then retracing our steps back until the little grass path just under the power cables. The terrain here is slightly different, especially once you leave the trig point (which must have the best view of Glasgow available) and start to make the epic decent back down towards Kilpatrick. However once you get back to the road, all is plain sailing down to the village, back on the train. All in all, a thouroughly challenging and rewarding climb for this hiking newbie. 9/10
Pints in Glasgow then home.
