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Saturday 29th February 2020 – Steele’s Knowe8.67km
348m ascent
1 hour 40 minutes
With Saturday night spoken for – Mike’s ceilidh – we were going to be in Perth anyway, so decided to climb some hills on the way. The weather wasn’t really playing ball, but it looked as though there might be time for a wee hill before the awful weather returned. We had a bit of a lazy start and an easy drive down Glen Eagles before pulling up at the bottom of the Green Knowe windfarm track.
Boots on fast, we were heading off up the windfarm track just before 12. It was easy underfoot, the sun was shining and although there was a tiny amount of snow falling it was coming from behind us (the fact that we’d be walking back into it later on was a fact we had conveniently chosen to forget!)
Heading up the track 
Happy Malky We gained height easily despite being quite steep – a fact we didn’t really notice until the way back down.
The way ahead 
Slow down! 
Looking back down to the Ochills Once at the top of the glen the track bent left. Here the climb was largely over, but we were into snow and ice on the track which slowed down our pace and made for some interesting slips
Ice and turbines It was very cold up top but it was a beautiful day for now
Winter wonderland 
DSC07515 There were some interesting ice and snow covered cattle grids before we reached the end of the track.
Turbine! Here we left the track and we made for the direction of the trig point. Here we saw a couple of other people coming back. They seemed to be decked out in arctic gear but perhaps they’d come from somewhere further afield!
Off piste towards the summit The snow was quite deep here and I was very glad of my gaiters. At the summit it was pretty windy but the views were good so far
The impressive Glen Turret 
Snow flurries coming through 
The Ochils From here it was definitely time to get going as we couldn’t be bothered with adding any more layers
Sun hitting the snow 
Back at the track There was a lot more up on the return than we’d remembered but before long we were on the final descent – it was here we noticed how steep it was
Our track 
Helpful signposts Back at the car it was time for a quick sandwich and a decision…
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Lendrick Hill2.89km
260m ascent
45 minutes
Did we have time for one hill or two? Would the weather hold long enough for either or both? A quick check at the map gave me an idea – if we smashed straight up Lendrick Hill (the less interesting of the two hills) then we ought to easily have time for the last hill too, with plenty of time to get to the hotel for a shower before the ceilidh. What could possibly go wrong?
We drove around the corner, stopping for a photo of the dam….
Glen Devon dam ..before finding the small car park marked at the base of Lendrick Hill. We hopped out the car, followed the track for the zig, before leaving the zag and heading directly uphill alongside the fenceline. It was a bit damp underfoot to start with but soon became pretty decent.
Sun hitting the Ochils 
Following the fence It was steep but we climbed quickly and before long I was starting to think we might be nearly there. I knew Malky would tell me we had miles and miles to go so didn’t say anything
As it turned out, we really were nearly there. A conveniently placed gate meant that we didn’t have to climb the deer fence, and a short stomp through some snow and tussocks and we were on the summit.
Towards the Lomonds The trig point was slightly off the summit but still worth a wander over – the views out to Loch Leven and the Lomonds were pretty good
Trig Point ahoy 
Mellock Hill and Innerdouny Hill 
Lendrick Hill summit We headed back down and we back at the car far quicker than we expected – looked like we had time for Innerdouny Hill
Back down --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Innerdouny Hill6.72km
316m ascent
2 hours
A few miles further up the road we were at the car park area – this one was pretty full of snow but we carefully pulled off and hoped that we didn’t get stuck – obviously Malky’s car with the winter tyres was in Inverness
Heading up the track Although the map suggested we would be sheltered by the forestry, unfortunately it was very new forestry which wasn’t quite high enough
A bit exposed There was a lot more snow around here and as we took the right hand fork of the track it got deeper
Snowy track And then it started properly snowing
Brrrr We dropped down before crossing a burn and beginning to climb back up again. We were looking for a fence or wall which might provide a shortcut to the summit. We actually missed it and had to wander back a short distance. It looked a goer – what could possibly go wrong?
Leading the way It went well for a short while…until we came across a pile of fallen trees. Malky led the way – it was tough going; the trees were slippery, covered in snow and piled up pretty good.
Oh dear.... 
Nightmare It got worse
Oh for love of.... We were battered and bruised and we were pretty sure we weren’t getting through. I was definitely not going back the way we’d come though
We tried to go sideways towards a firebreak and I spied a way through. Malky was all for giving up but I decided we had come this far and I wasn’t giving up this close to the summit
The firebreak helped a little until it was also filled up with fallen trees. I managed to thread a way through a slightly less dense pile of fallen stuff and finally….we were out
Summit!!! The snow was deep up here and full of tussocks. We kept falling down holes as we bashed our way towards the summit.
Malky clearing the way 
Rage! But we had made it – a huge relief, although we were both trying not to think about how we were getting out of there
Innerdouny Hill 
North Berwick Law 
The Ochils First and only photo of Malky smiling
Now on the summit we could get a bit of a lie of the land – a huge section of fallen trees showed why we’d had such difficulty getting through. I had an idea – I spotted a fire break that would make our return a lot easier, and the trees weren’t fallen in that direction – let’s face it, it couldn’t be worse than what we’d already come through could it?
Looking back to the summit The forest wasn’t bad at all – no fallen trees meant that we could easily get through to the fire break and actually kept going through the forest as it was more direct. We sent Mike a message – “Lost in a forest, gonna be late” before battering on.
Lost in a forest.... The next fire break and fence led us through some dodgy terrain before depositing us back on the track we’d been on almost 2 hours earlier
Never have we been happier to see a snow-covered track
It was an easy walk back to the car – by now it was chucking it down with snow and we were walking into it, so it was definitely time for snow-glasses on and getting out heads down. Back at the car we made decided to drive over the hill as the roads looked ok. This got decidedly more dodgy as the snow became heavier but Colonel Mustard did us proud and we arrived safely in Perth very hungry and cold and extremely keen for a shower
We actually were only 10 minutes late to the ceilidh as well, and had a great night catching up with pals
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Sunday 1st March 2020 – Moncreiffe Hill3.46km
155m ascent
45 minutes
The next morning we weren’t keen for getting up too early but we were on the go eventually and decided to have a wander up Moncreiffe Hill before the weather got too awful. It was a short drive across Perth to the car park and we set off – it was spotting with rain but nothing too bad just yet
Heading up Moncreiffe Hill It was a good path and this was not going to be a long walk!
The summit ahead 
Looking down to the M90 bridge 
Summit views 
Summit of Moncreiffe Hill There were plenty of interesting looking forest trails but it seemed the rain was coming in so decided to get going – an easy walk back down to the car before the worst of the weather hit
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Knock of Crieff2.77km
136m ascent
35 minutes
It looked like we would get another short break in the weather shortly and also were desperate for some food so decided to drive home via Crieff. This gave me the opportunity to go up the Knock of Crieff – I’d been up to the viewpoint with pals years ago but never made the summit
We headed around the back first in the hope that it would have cleared before we got to the viewpoint
Heading up the track We met a group of people on Segways which seemed like cheating
A short walk further we broke off the track and headed off up a path through felled forestry which led to the summit
Summit views.... 
Towards Glen Turret Although it wasn’t yet awful, the weather was definitely not great so we got moving, along the ridge through a muddy path which led us to the viewpoint.
Onwards The views weren’t that brilliant this time around
Viewpoint 
Viewpoint - 2010! From here we dropped back to the car and we were so hungry that we went for a delicious lunch in Crieff. We had thought to go up Torlum after lunch but instead of improving for a few hours as forecast, it deteriorated to the point where we decided to get going before Perthshire flooded again
