Loch Ard Forest walk from Aberfoyle

Gaelic meaning : High Loch
Height : 561 feet
Walk distance : 11 miles
OS Map : The Trossachs
Walk time : 4 hours
Difficulty rating : 1.5 out of 5

After a camping trip by Loch Achray, back in May last year I'd hoped to come back to this area to do a bit more exploring. With the weather not being the greatest I figured a high level walk would be pointless, so opted for a low level mid-distance walk and chose a walk through the woods at Loch Ard.

There are lots of tracks through the forest so I won't go into detail on the walk I chose, i'll just show some pictures from a great (if somewhat wet) day out.

Start from the main car park in Aberfole and make your way along the b829 signed for Loch Ard Forest.

Take your pic, there's plenty of walks.

Soon Loch Ard comes into view.

I really enjoyed the day, plenty of walking and plenty of points of interest. Highly recommended.

Loch Ordie, Atholl estates - Dunkeld

Height : 1,858 feet ( if Climbing Deuchary Hill)
Walk distance : 15 miles
OS Map : Dunkeld
Walk time : 5.5hours
Difficulty rating : 2.5

A gem of a walk in the Wonderful Atholl Estates in Perthshire, this lengthy route takes you up into the lower hills of Dunkeld and through some beautiful woodland passing some great little Lochs on the way. My dog (Mungo) was old and fit enough now to come for a long walk, so this seemed like the perfect big walk to test him out on.

You start the walk in the Cally car park just past dunkeld. Be careful though, what the signs don't tell you is the kilometre of road to the car park is about as close to a dirt road without actually being one as you can get. Once at the car park look for the signs for the Atholl Woods Path & Mill Dam then head left at the cross roads towards Upper Hatton. The path takes you through some lovely wooded areas and you'll soon come across the first of the small Lochs off to the left (Cally Loch).

You'll come to two sections where the path splits, take the fork to the right on each occasion towards The Glack and Upper Hatton. You'll see a path that leads to Birkenburn which should be avoided.

Continue on the path until you approach and go through a metal gate, by now you'll have had your first views of Deuchary Hill which you have the option to climb a little later in the walk. Eventually you cross a little stone bridge and you'll reach a signpost, turn right and take the Upper Path to Loch Ordie.

Soon you pass the Mill Dam and with the path climbing you get great views out over towards the River Tay and out towards the Tummel Valley

Continue on the rising path over another small stone bridge which cross the Leddown Burn and turn right (there's a large bourlder with a red arrow painted on it here). The path, previously a land rover track, narrows somewhat at this section and is boggy in places.

This is Deuchary hill and the path gives a great view of the stoney summit. I didn't climb as I had Mungo with me and it looked a little to rocky for him so we carried on the narrow path around the foot of the hill. The path was somewhat overgrown here and I was very conscious of ticks as bracken and long grass are what you walk through, fortunately neither of us picked any up.

We followed the path until we reached a rather old and rickety looking gate, where we stopped for a wee cup of tea. This section of the walk has left the woods and is now open grouse moor. What I didn't realise at the time was the hill opposite where we stopped (Knock Of Findowie) has the remains of an old hut circle and field system. Not exactly rock and roll but I love things like this and I wished I'd read the map more thoroughly so I could have gone and had a look, next time maybe.

Back on the path and you soon come the the Childrens Loch on the right, near there and again only noticed afterwards is the Sancta Crux Well, an apparent healing well with a font for baptisms . . . . must read map more thoroughly ! Soon a tarmac road appears, you follow this off to the left. Eventually the road curves right at a bridge and a track heads of to the left, you go left.

Climb the stile and after a short walk you come to little Loch Ordie, a wonderful wee Loch. The path skirts rounds the south side of the Loch and soon comes to the Lochordie Lodge.

Before you reach it take the path that heads up and around the back of the lodge, the path leads of to the left and soon rejoins the main track. I passed loads of old dears out swimming in the Loch which was a bit of an unusual sight !

Once you're past the lodge you cross the bridge over the Dowally Burn.

Take the path to the left for Dunkeld and start heading gently downhill again eventually coming to a farm buidling with some chickens and things running around, make sure your dogs on a lead here although mine was more scared of the chickens than they were off him.

Once you're free of the dog eating chickens head left to Dowally Loch and Rotmell Loch. Smaller than Loch Ordie they are just as picturesque and even have water lillies on them

I had a wee break here and was joined by a little companion, in all my time i've unbelievably never seen a grasshopper, plenty of crickets, but never a grasshopper. So it was a nice surprise to have one hop right up beside me and pose for a picture.

This section is quite long but worthwhile, I passed a fair amount of people but I loved the tranquility of the area. Soon a T junction is reached, turn right here and head up the gentle slope to the Atholl Woods Path.

Go through the gate, there are some handy yellow way markers here to aid navigation. Keep to the right when the path splits then head left when it splits again then head left again after you climb a stile. This section gives great views of the River Tay and some of the surrounding hills, in fact you're not far from the Kenmore Hills, another walk excellent walk.

The final part of the journey is downhill and easy going. Turn of the main track to the left to Polney Loch and eventually you head down to a road which was previously part of Wades Military road. After about half a mile of road walking head left at the gate and you'll come to Polney Loch, another beatufill little Loch with lots of wildlife, including a huge dead deer Mungo seemed quite interested in. You're nearly back at the car park, just following the track past the sawmill and you'll get there.

I loved this walk, although it's fairly long it's in an incredible area. There are shorter routes through the woods but if you have the time and energy I'd recommend this, it's a good idea to have a good read of the map though as there are so many areas of interest you'll be kicking yourself if you miss them. Fantastic walk.

Beinn Ime

Gaelic meaning : Butter Mountain
Height : 3,317 feet
Walk distance : 8.25 miles
OS Map : Loch Lomond
Walk time : 6 hours
Difficulty rating : 4 out of 5

Having first spied and being quite taken with the Arrochar Alps while climbing Ben Lomond way back in June last year, I figured it was high time to get out and climb one. So naturally I picked the highest . . . on the hottest day of the year.

Beinn Ime I think gets its name from a time when butter was made either on the mountain or in the area and is seen as the landmark at the entrance to Argyll.


I started the walk from the car park at Succoth (small parking charge) then headed across the A83 following the sign posts and up hill.

The path is easily followed, well kept and very steep in places. I love the woods around Succoth,, I've previously walked the Glen Loin circuit, which finishes in the Succoth woods so know the area a little and the Loch Lomond area is still the only part of the country I've seen Dragonflies in !

 

The higher you go, the better the views of Loch Long are. Here you can see the Faslane Naval Base in the distance.

And as the views of Loch Long improve, Ben lomond also starts to make it's presence felt. It's not called the beacon mountain for nothing.

After a while you'll leave the woods behind and the ground flattens a little as the path winds it's way up to the Bealach a' Mhaim, it's here the legendary cobbler comes into view for the first time.

As you approach the Cobbler the path splits in two, keep to the right and head towards the house sized Narnain boulders. The boulders are a good place to rest and have a cup of tea before you go on to the climb up Beinn Ime.

Once you reach the Bealach you can see the climb ahead, as you start at near enough sea level you still have another 350-400 metres to climb.

With the heat around 28c I was really struggling, I'm not used to temperatures that high and generally shelter indoors when it gets too hot, so to it was a real relief when i reached the summit.

As the weather was fantastic, so were the views. Some of the most rewarding I've had so far, an absoultely incredible location.

Here's the profile of the route :

And a guide to the route itself :

Milngavie to Bridge of Orchy

We covered 60 miles of the West highland Way in 3 days. It's recommended you do it over 7-9 days, we aimed for 5 but personally that's not enjoyable unless you are going solely for the physical challenge. Enough has been written about the West Highland Way so i'll only include some pictures from the walk.

Day 1 :

Just passed Craigallan Lochwith Ben Lomond coming into view. The aim of the first day was to get to Balmaha which is not far from Ben Lomond, so you can see just how far the first day is.

After Conic Hill (only the two boys who hadn't walked it before went up it) and a stop in Balmaha we walked the last couple of miles to the campsite.

After the first nights camping we suffered our fist casualty. Kris, who had climbed Conic Hill couldn't carry on as he his Achilles heels were both fairly swollen.

 Day 2 :

The remaining three carried on to Rowardennen for a bacon roll and cup of tea, this part of the walk is fairly undulating with a couple of steep sections but on the whole pretty gentle.

The route takes you high above the shores of Loch Lomond following the forestry track for the duration of the walk.

Once passed Rowardennen the walk becomes far trickier.

The scenery is great though, but as the path narrows and zig zags round tree roots you feel as if you are going sideways as much as forwards. Eventually Inversnaid hotel comes into view, with hot food and a bar it's a great place to rest.

It was here we suffered our second casualty. Mark, another who climbed Conic Hill, was suffering a strained knee. Our problem was it was Sunday, so no ferry service operated to take him across the loch to the bus stop. So he was left with no choice but to walk the remaining 6-7 miles to Beinglas. This section is by far the toughest walk i've done, all things considered.

The path narrows even further, zig zags through trees and round roots, rises steeply and drops even more steeply, with a little bit of scrambling thrown in. The section near Rob Roy's cave in particular was very hazardous especially for Mark who was becoming less and less mobile as he went. Eventually the path improves with the end of the day in sight. This section shouldn't be underestimated though.

The final climb is over little Cnap Mor, which after the day you've had feels like Everest, but the views back along Loch Lomnd are something special.

 Day 3 :

Mark left us at the camp site so with only me and Bri left it was an early start on a bright and fresh morning, starting from Beinglas farm.

Day 3 promised to be much easier going as the path improved, and the views of the mountains improved as the forests gave way to Glens. The first landmark we reached was the Falls of Falloch.

As the path gently climbs you get wonderful views of the area, you're surrounded by Munro's, Corbetts etc.

Soon you pass the half way point of the West Highland Way and have the choice of going down into Crianlarich or marching on to Tyndrum. in hindsight I wished we'd gone to Crianalarich but we chose to march on. The path soon heads up into the hills and back into the Forests.

I found this section particularly long and arduous given we'd walked 50 miles to get here, but it was very picturesque. Soon you head back downhill and cross over the A82where youg et a great view of the Crianlarich hills and a walk past St. Fillans Priory. You then head back over and on to Dalrigh, where Robert The Bruce's forces were defeated by the Clan MacDougall in 1306. Legend has it Bruce threw his sword into this Lochan while in retreat.

After an all to brief stop for food in Tyndrum it's back on the old military road to Bridge of Orchy, with the highlight among lots of highlights when Beinn Dorain comes into view.

After 60 miles I decided anought was enough, the last 3 sections are the main reasons I wanted to walk the WHW and I decided I wanted to do them fighting fit, so i'll complete them another time. Just not after 60 miles though  . . . . 

Congrats to Bri who went on to complete the rest of the walk on his tod and raise about £1000 for charity.