Outdoor Odysseys

A different split

After a brace of Irish trip reports from 2022, my mind is turning now to Scottish ones, mainly from the year. In September, I finally made two visits to the place for the first time since the arrival of the pandemic. Stirling was my chosen base, and it was the Ochil Hills that drew me. However, I clouded my designs with a realisation the Ben Ledi was near at hand too. Together with the variability of autumn weather, that bifurcation of intentions rather confounded things.

If the weather on that first trip had continued in the same vein as what I got for a side trip to Helvellyn on the way north, that would have made my decision-making easier. However, what I had was one better day, so the question became where I was going to go that day. In the event, I opted for Ben Ledi for the better day. While there was some sunshine that day, it was not as extensive as I might have hoped. Even so, anything was better than the soaking I got in the Ochil Hills the next day. There was some recompense the final morning before I left, and I made something of things even with depleted camera batteries. Even so, the prospect of a return was on the card.

Disaffection resulting from Brexit and a general connection to royalty freed me up to have another go around the time of the royal funeral, a few weeks later. There was dry weather for the Ochil Hills traverse, though sunshine was scarce, and I got to realise that the hill fog had hidden wind turbines from view on the previous incursion. Nevertheless, there was some redress for my previous soaking. Ben Ledi saw another visit the next day, on a circuit had passed Loch Lubnaig and Stank Glen. A pair of overtrousers covered up a wardrobe mishap on the way up the latter before I descended by the route that I had used before. The promise of sun that morning unfortunately faded by the afternoon, yet there had been a satisfying hike all the same.

Even after the second outing, there remained an air of unfinished business. A visit to Stirling in November 2023 set matters to rights with the Ochil Hills, with an incursion as far as the lower slopes of Ben Buck. This was no traverse, and I was not shod for such a thing anyway. The saunter had begun in Alloa instead of Alva as I had intended; catching the wrong bus was the cause. Thus, a ramble round by Tillicoultry resulted in the sunshine before I passed through Ochil Hills to rendezvous with that track that allowed me to capture some photographic delights before going down to Alva to begin my journey home.

That left Ben Ledi, which saw a reverse reprisal of the previous circuit without any clothing mishaps in April 2024. While there was a route variation around Boschastle, much was similar, and I got the sunlit sightings that I sought. This encounter was part of a longer stay in Stirling that had me traipsing by the River Forth in the city, as well as hiking from Callander to Aberfoyle via Loch Venachar and Loch Achray. The latter included a pointless side trip to Brig o’ Turk that could have been part of circling the loch if I had stuck to the original plan.

Putting these together, I now have a new trip report publishing plan. One post should collate the ascents of Ben Ledi, while another will describe the Ochil Hills rambling. It halts any repetition and the hope is that the accounts may be more engaging to read too.