"It was a shame that for all the beauty of the scenery that the top of the mountain was covered in mist." Ben Alder and Ben Bheoil These two Munros stand south of Dalwhinnie in a remote part of Scotland. The best way of getting to them is to cycle out to Culra bothy, some 17km, which, I suppose is one way of warming up before a lengthy hike. These hills were not even on my radar for possible hills to visit but something happened that changed all that. I have had a mountain bike for over 20 years now, for over 15 years it has been covered up, sitting, rusting out the back. A few years ago I did replace the main gear cassette and chain however frustrated at not getting the gears working properly I gave up and left it. That was until the start of the summer. I had decided on not worrying about gears, all I wanted to do is to cycle and to have a bike that would be a low maintenance as possible. With that in mind I took the gear shifters off, pushed the rear mech back and fixed t...
Gleniffer Braes Country Park Hiking with kids What do you do on your birthday? Some people like to celebrate with a party or a meal. My choice has always to go for a hike or a walk somewhere. So this year I decided to choose Gleniffer Braes Country Park. This park is located just outside of Paisley, near Barrhead. We actually parked at the car park at the furthest end, next to the information hut. The idea was to walk the Tannahill walkway which would take in the impressive Craigie Linn waterfall and the viewpoint over looking the surrounding area. The Route From the car park we headed along the path that wound up through the woods. We had managed to get a map from the information hut and that helped to navigate our way. The first stop was to walk to the waterfall. The weather in Scotland had been mixed, very warm with large downpours of rain. Our way to the waterfall only took about 20 minutes, it took us up some large wooden steps. There is a signpost an...
I first walked the West Highland Way in 2004 and then again the year after. I took 5 days to complete the route the first time and took a more leisurely pace the next year, completing it in 7 days. This year we are attempting to finish the West Highland way in 4 days and taking a further 3 days to walk the 79 miles of the Great Glen Way. I say we as I am walking these two routes with my wife's stepfather. He has always wanted to walk both the West Highland and Great Glen Ways and he has set this summer as his target to complete them. He has also planned out our route, which I have noted below. Day 1: Milngavie to Rowardennan 27 miles Our first day should see a flat section of the route from Milngavie to Drymen before the climb over Conic Hill to Balmaha. The hill is only about 360m but it will test our fitness especially since we will be carrying full packs including camping and cooking equipment. Even at Balmaha we still have another 7 miles or so to Rowardennan. In...
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