Over The Hill

On a fine day the grassy hills of the Ochils provide some great walking and amazing views, and so I had been looking forward to this walk during the week and hoping that the spell of unsettled weather which had brought low cloud and showers would break by the weekend. And, glad to say it did, bringing a beautiful sunny day for Sunday, with just a touch of coolness to a fair breeze which combined to produce almost perfect walking conditions.

Leaving the car park in Glen Devon we took the fine forest track as it steadily climbs and twists its way around points with catchy names such as Black Hill, Gled’s Nose and Lamb Hill to reach the firebreak which would take us up through the trees on a soft bed of pine needles, where often there are wet boggy patches to negotiate, but today the path underfoot was surprisingly dry with any wet patches being easily avoided, and out beyond the forest onto the open hillside above Glenquey Hill. A big plus for this walk is that once you exit the forest the views are quite extensive in all directions, and your way ahead is easily navigated as you move between the high points of the circuit, the first of which is the 611m top of Innerdownie which, weather permitting, is seen clearly ahead along the line of the forest boundary.

After a short break at the head of the firebreak, we set off on the fairly gentle uphill climb to Innerdownie, directly ahead and easily identified by a fairly substantial cairn which sits just on the opposite side of the boundary wall and small fence line that the uphill path runs parallel to. Here, on this 611 metre top, the views east and south take in everything from the Lomond Hills, Loch Leven, over Edinburgh, and today, with excellent visibility, the Bass Rock and North Berwick Law could be seen in the far distance. There then comes a short descent from Innerdownie before the final steady climb towards the indistinct summit of Whitewisp Hill. As you near the end of the climb you encounter a rather large gate in the fence line, and once through the gate you realise how indistinct the summit of Whitewisp Hill is, as it lies on an expanse of flat grassland, with only the smallest of rises and an even smaller cairn indicating the 643 metre summit. We made a passing visit to the cairn, but were soon on our way across this broad grassland and heading to our highest point of the day, Tarmangie Hill.

Unlike Whitewisp Hill, Tarmangie Hill does have a fairly prominent and distinct top, a knoll rising above the grassy ridge, and from where you can gaze down the length of Glen Sherup and view the horseshow in its entirety, to the south side of the glen, where you have just ascended from, and to the north side, where you are now about to make your descent. But, not before that all important lunch break. I mentioned earlier that there was a fair breeze as we started on our walk, and we were grateful to it for keeping us cool on this sunny day. However, it has to be said that at a height of 645 metres on the summit of Tarmangie Hill it was blowing a bit more than breezy, and the temperature was cool enough to warrant us to seek a sheltered spot for our break.

Three tops down, Innerdownie, Whitewisp Hill and Tarmangie Hill, left us with one final top for our return, Ben Shee, some 3 kilometres or so along the northern leg of the horseshoe and a very pleasant stroll over yet more grassy hillsides, this time covered in a mass of Bog Cotton which was quite spectacular to see and to walk through as Ben Shee drew steadily nearer. One final climb, a short but possibly the steepest of the day, and we were taking in the view from the 516 metre summit of Ben Shee, all four tops now in the bag. No more climbing, downhill all the way, through the shrub and woodlands lining the path as we descended down The Shank towards the fields of Wester Glensherup farm and along the short tarmac stretch of road to the Glen Sherup Reservoir dam and our return to the car park.

A great walk, in glorious weather and fine company, thanks Bernadetta and all for the day. John