Last week I made a short trip to Scotland to see my sister in Tillicoultry. I've had some health problems lately, haven't been in the hills since July and have had hardly any exercise since August, so this was a good opportunity to stretch my legs. I had three days on which I could get in at least some walking.

On Monday (19th Jan) I set off towards Ben Ever in fine rain which soon turned to snow as I headed up the Silver Glen. I got to the top of Ben Ever but by then I was in complete whiteout conditions with heavy snow. it was tricky even finding the summit - at first I thought it was this tiny cairn...



but then found this one which seemed slightly higher..



...anyway, my not very fit legs were tired by now, so it seemed best to head back down. The snow stopped when I emerged from the fog at about 1500ft. Here are a couple of photos of an unusually snowy Silver Glen:





As I emerged from the glen, bands of grey mist were moving up the Forth Valley and swirling around the Wallace Monument...



..and as I reached the valley floor the rain started again.

Back at base I had a look at the forecast for the next few days. Tuesday was much the same but it looked as if Wednesday might be a bit better. It was the last day I could use for walking anyway, so Wednesday or bust.

I set off up past Tillicoultry golf course about 8.30. There were some breaks in the cloud and as I climbed the zig-zag track up the front of The Nebbit, Dumyat was bathed in a pinkish sunlight...



...but there was still some cloud over the tops. Once again I was in hill fog at about 1500ft, although it was not quite as dense. When I reached the summit of Ben Ever once more, I could see both little cairns at once, and they are about 40m apart. This was an improvement. On the downside, more snow had fallen, it had drifted to at least a foot in places, and had formed an irritating crust which wasn't quite firm enough to support my weight. But, feeling fitter, I was undeterred and headed on down to the col with Ben Cleuch. As I started up the steep slope on the other side, the fog suddenly lifted and I got this glimpse of the little valley of the Daiglen:



but it quickly descended again.

Soon I was at the summit. The indicator, the shelter cairn and the many boulders round about were all deeply encrusted with frost.



A bitter wind was blowing from the south and the vis was still only around 50m if that. Sitting in the cairn were a couple of guys who had passed me on the way up. They had come up from Alva and were heading by Blairdenon Hill to the minor road NW of Dumyat (to those not either local or graduates of Stirling University - pronounced 'dum-eye-at') and thence down past the uni to Bridge of Allan. Nice on a summer's day but a long arduous trudge through the snow just now.

I set off to the SE. Again the fog cleared briefly to show the top of The Law with the Forth at Kincardine bathed in a golden light which doesn't show up too well in my hurried photo:



I followed the fence line down towards the col with Andrew Gannel Hill, which I had hoped to cross, passing more frosted boulders:



but the drifted snow became increasingly deep, so I veered off and went up the fence line for The Law. This is what it looked like at the summit;



It's a steep descent from the Law and I was soon out of the fog, then the snow too petered out. Soon I was above the confluence of the Daiglen and Gannel burns where I took this of the Mill Glen



and this of the Daiglen Burn



a nice spot where we used to have family picnics when I was a boy.

Then down the walkways and bridges of the Mill Glen, a dark and forbidding place on a day like this, back to Tillicoultry at about 12.30. A fine morning's walk in spite of the weather, and it had been good to be back out on the hill again. Now I'm back in Norwich, and planning my next venture north!