Over The Hill

The increasing popularity of the outdoors by walkers, cyclists and just the curious is to be commended. However, there is one drawback; that is the availability of parking in remote areas, as we found today when the car park at Glen Ogle Cottages was already nearing capacity as we gathered for the start of our walk. Thankfully some nifty manoeuvring and even double parking enabled everyone to squeeze into what space there was, get booted up, listen in to the briefing before it was off we go time.

A cautious crossing of the busy A85 and we stepped onto the historic track of the now dismantled Callander to Oban railway line, a victim of the mid-1960s cull of the railways, although, in fact, a landslide in Glen Ogle had actually closed the line some months earlier. We looped around the head of Glen Ogle with ever increasing views towards Killin and Loch Tay as the forest opened up to a point where we branched off from the old railway track and headed directly through what is now open forest towards the open hillside in Gleann Dubh. The weather was glorious, clear blue skies and just enough breeze to keep you cool and the midges at bay; the views west towards Ben More and Stob Binnean were quite stunning. The forest track began to deteriorate as we approached the boundary fence with it’s rather unusual gate; a gate with no hinges, just hung on four J hooks, and considering it was over 2 metres wide and 2 metres high I guess it would be awkward for a lone walker to open, but given our numbers, a couple of helping hands had it off the hooks easily enough and everyone passed through, no climbing necessary. We now had a kilometre or so of rough heathery hillside to contour around until we intersected the stoney path in Gleann Dubh where the waters of the Ardchyle Burn made an ideal spot for a welcome break.

Approximately 3 kilometres ahead of us lay the 596 metre bealach that separates Creag Mac Ranaich and Meall an t-Seallaidh and the steep climb to the summit of Creag Mac Ranaich. However, I had a “cunning plan” albeit a plan that was untested and could come a cropper if I had misread my maps. Having received Trish’s approval to branch out, and drag three willing accomplices with me we left the main group after just over a kilometre to follow the line of a small stream coming down the hillside whose source was a small lochan which sits just below the summit of Creag Mac Ranaich, the logic being that although the lower section of the hillside was rough heather and grass, the upper section was more short tufted grass, and, more importantly, the overall gradient was a little less steep than the direct ascent from the 596 metre bealach, hopefully!

It was not an encouraging start, barely a few metres from the track my foot disappeared down a very deep hole, thankfully it was a dry hole, and all was fine. And that was the last of our problems, as we made a steady ascent, a little steep in places but a steady plod all the way with a short stop for a breather and drink just short of the lochan and one final steep but very short rocky section and we were standing on the main 809 metre summit of Creag Mac Ranaich. The plan had come together very nicely, whew! It is just out of this world to sit on a summit on such a glorious day and soak in the panorama that is on offer. We spent almost an hour before dragging ourselves up and heading off the mountain.

Cross-country it was for our return. A broad rolling indistinct north ridge runs from the summit of Creag Mac Ranaich to the forest boundary and the gate we had come through to access the open hillside, a distance of just over 3 kilometres. I really enjoyed the descent, yes the ground was a bit rough, and a little wet at times, but the open hillside meant we still had those panoramic views ahead of us as we made a leisurely descent back to the gate, where we took yet another short break before lifting the gate off it’s hooks and making our return via the forest track and dismantled railway track.

A truly wonderful day, thanks everyone for your company, and Trish for such a great walk. Brilliant.