Over The Hill

It was only a few weeks ago that we had a family day out that started with a fine lunch in the small, quaint Brig o'Turk Tearooms before we had an afternoon cruise on Loch Katrine, a wonderful day then, and I was already looking forward to visiting the tearooms once more for our after-walk coffee and some of their scrumptious biscuits as we parked just a short distance beyond the tearooms on the roadway leading into Glen Finglas and the reservoir.

As we headed off uphill on the reservoir track, it was not long before we had some early views across the dam and along the reservoir as we gained height above the east bank of the reservoir before turning sharply away from the main track and onto a good path which contoured, first south, and then east around the lower slopes of Stuc Odhar. Slopes lined with a variety of mixed woodland, among which were quite a number of Rowan trees, certainly more than is generally seen in one place, their berries adding a real splash of colour to an already colourful hillside.

As the path contours, its joins the Great Trossachs Path, this being the route sections between Loch Katrine and Callander, its popularity quite obvious by the number of walkers we encountered, most heading towards Loch Katrine as we traveled in the opposite direction, at least as far as our intended cut-off point on the hillside above Lendrick Lodge at which point we swung north heading for the open hillside.

The path, becoming increasingly steeper and ill-defined soon left the woodlands behind and continued across the rough grass and heather covered hillside, dipping and rising into and out of a number of small troughs until it eventually lead us to a point where a large stile provided the means of crossing the high deer fence which marks the boundary between the woodlands and the open hillside.

A steep climb over the heather then ensued as we headed for the ridgeline at a point between the 594m spot height and the actual summit; the ridgeline proving more of a challenge that anticipated as it's complex nature lead us over humps, bumps and knolls culminating in a short, but very steep grassy section to scramble up in order to reach the summit. Despite our efforts we were denied the views this summit offers, as low cloud obscured all above our heads, even the nearby summit of Ben Ledi was lost in the low cloud.

And, it was not long before those clouds began to dispense their watery contents, as a heavy squall passed over and had us digging out our waterproofs before heading sharply off the summit, down the steep gully into Sgorr an Fhithich in an effort to dodge the worst of the rain, which thankfully had abated as we gained the track in Gleann Casaig and descended to the reservoir track for our return to Glen Finglas.

A fine hill, wonderful company, and oh, those biscuits!

Thanks Idris.