East and West Lomond - Fife

[Stretch]

First off I want to thank Paul for adding some very nice student friendly walks around Fife and Stirling. For those of us who are paying ridiculous tuition fees and can't purchase a car it really helps to be able to take a bus to the start of a hill. These two hills offered us a chance to shake the rust off of our boots and stretch the legs. Took the #64 bus from St. Andrews to Falkland (1 hour travel time) and walked up past Falkland Palace. No tourists around in mid-Feb! So up through the town and up the stairs to the start of the slope up East Lomond. Straightforward and clear trail to the top, once at the summit the views were really nice over to Edinburgh, across to Ben Vorlich, and north to the Braemar area. A few snapshots and down we go to meet the nice track that leads over to the slightly higher West Lomond. Easy going all the way to the summit of this hill. The clouds had thickened some but we could still see Ben Vorlich and Schiehallion in the distance and Arthur's Seat was clearly visible. A bit of lunch and then down we go off to the south side of the hill, which was a bit steep to be honest. Once down we followed the path to a stile and continued up by the stone wall, but at some point we missed a turn which would have taken us closer to the Ballo Reservior. So seeing how one really can't get lost here we just marched across the fields and joined back up with the main path just behind the car park. From here it was down to Maspie Den to check out the waterfall. After a few more pics it was back down to Falkland via a broad path. With just under an hour to wait for the next bus we paused at The Bruce across from the palace for a pint. Overall this was a very enjoyable walk with plenty of eye candy, and I highly recommend it for any students who need a break from the books.

Stretch

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[Graeme D]

Nice pics there Stretch! I did East Lomond back in the summer with my wife and a friend but when we got to the picnic area by the road, they decided they'd had enough and would rather head back to Falkland for a drink rather than continue on to West Lomond! Fair enough I guess! I'll get back up there in the summer (just me and the dog - no distractions or bad influences) to finish the job! On the way back to Falkland we took a little detour to visit the mysteriously and tantalisingly named Pillars of Hercules. I'm still wondering to this very day what the hell that is all about!!!! Answers on a postcard please!!!

[benno]

Ah the lomonds, my old back garden! Good to see they're still there! If you're interested in these hills, there are limitless possibilities for routes. A more interesting route up W Lomond is via the Bunnet Stane - an interesting rock formation on the path from near Nether Urquart. You can vary the descent by heading SW to the waterfalls and caves in Glen Vale, and from there there's a good path back to the road. Also worth visiting - Carlin Maggie, a 40 foot natural stone collumn hidden amongst the cliffs of Bishop Hill - well worth searching for. If you can arrange transport, a traverse from Kinnesswood to Gateside is a good afternoon's walk.

[Paul Webster]

Funny to read that, as I first did these hills using the bus when a St Andrews student. It was a warm day and I dozed off on top of East Lomond (which I did last) and had to leg it to Falkland for the bus.

If you want more walks you can get to by bus Stretch, the bus from St Andrews to Stirling runs right through all the little towns at the foot of the Ochils. Using the bus you can head up from one and come down to another.

[malky_c]

On a slightly different note, I used to use the train occasionaly when I was a student in Dundee. I did a fair number of the Blair Atholl and Drummochter hills this way, not to mention Ben Alder and surrounding hills. Times weren't that great -the first practical train left Dundee just before 10am and you had to hang around at Perth for an hour, but there used to be fairly late trains back. I doubt the timetable has changed much.

I suppose this is a little bit impractical from St Andrews as you are a few miles from the station, but it may be doable. Especially if you have a bike and use bothies such as the Tarff Hotel, Culra, the one in Glen Banchor or the one in Glen Feshie.

[Stretch]

We have already looked into the bus times for Stirling and hope to do Ben Cleuch soon. I think for us it may be just as quick to get the bus to Dundee and then train it to some of the more out of the way places, but when the weather starts to warm up car I'll be calling Enterprise on a weekly basis

[NickyRannoch]

Did Ben Cleuch yesterday Stretch, my first foray into the Ochils and well worth the trip.

If you don't mind coming into Dundee there are plenty of clubs that do regular trips out of Dundee including NCR club, one out of the Bank Bar on Union St, Ancrum Club and of course the Dundee Uni Rucksack club who I am sure would take on a student from another university.

http://www.durc.org.uk/durcsite/home/index.php

http://www.ancrum.org.uk/

[malky_c]

and of course the Dundee Uni Rucksack club who I am sure would take on a student from another university.

http://www.durc.org.uk/durcsite/home/index.php

Maybe, maybe not. When I was a member, I remember them getting distinctly sniffy about allowing people from Abertay Uni in. Mind you, numbers seem to be well down in the more recent years, so they may reconsider!

[Stretch]

Thanks Malky and Nicky for the tips, we have a similar club here in St. Andrews but I've been hesitant about joining mostly because of the young age of the members. Not sure a 33 year old would fit in too well with that bunch The Ancrum club looks more my speed though and I like what they have going on their site. I also keep meaning to sign up for a few walks with the gang from meetup.com that MacCookie from this site organizes, but then I'd have to get myself to Glasgow rather than Dundee.

[LeithySuburbs]

Hi Stretch. Ben Cleuch is a great wee hill and you could do an interesting Ochills traverse with a bit of canny bus planning.

Also on a separate point, Maspie Den is nice but has really lost some of its mystique and charm since the forest has been cut down

[mountain coward]

I can't imagine a young-age walking club - seems to be most of the people in the hills are normally at least in their 30s!

As that started from 'Falkland', you could have called your report 'Argy-bargying in the Falklands' Look a nice pair of hills - surprised to see no snow at all!