A snowy stroll - Saturday 26 January

The snow never stopped yesterday. Literally. The birds constantly made it clear that they needed fed. A 3-4 hour power cut rounded off the evening.

Our regular

There was respite today so we took ourselves out across local tracks stopping for a pleasant half hour's chat with a local man who, having spent over thirty years with the Forestry Commission, was now a volunteer warden and speaker with the Woodland Trust. The Trust owns an important area of the Glen Devon side of the Ochils, thus protecting it from the march of wind turbines. We really ought to be members.

The wall has vanished

The Ochils would have been skiable for most of their 28 miles

Sunday was a different world. One of wind, rain and rawness, the dirty piles of  snow, cleared from driveways with so much effort only the previous day, now slowly thawing. A depressing sight.  I know snow creates problems for those who work and have to travel but I'll take it over the miserable, dull, dark days.

Still, the thaw allowed me to get the top-box off the 'van - but horror!  I'd  forgotten to take the Golite Quests out and mine is now covered in mould.

Strong winds caused another power cut last night and I wouldn't be at all surprised if another follows today.

Birthday, but first....

14 December 2012

Now, I've seen a lot of dead sheep in my time, and rescued almost as many, but never before have I come across a carcass like this. It looks as if this poor soul tumbled down the slope, landed on its back, died and was then stripped, piranha-like, by hungry creatures. The freezing weather of the past week would have made this a welcome feast.

3rd January - Birthday

Today was Lynne's birthday and obviously had to be celebrated on a hill, so off we went to Innerdownie and Whitewisp Hill. About half way along the ridge to Innerdownie we came across five elderly walkers reclining and sheltering by the wall, enjoying a break on their descent to Glen Devon. They were a cheery bunch and during exchanges of  'Happy New Year', it transpired that their cheeriness was, at least in part, explained by the fact that their beverages were being fortified at regular intervals with Highland Park! They kindly offered us a dram but since we were on the way up, we said we'd settle for the angels' share.

 This photograph from Innerdownie was the only photograph taken all day.

It was rather different scene a few years back.

After a brief stop we found the shelter and dug out the tea and sandwiches. The sun intermittently attempted an appearance but never looked likely to win the battle with the clouds rolling in from the west so, donning more clothing to combat the ever-increasing wind, we sauntered off to Whitewisp.

Hamish Brown describes the section between the two hills as 'interminable' but I've never found this to be so. In fact the tramp across Bentie Knowe is rather fine I think, but in fairness to HB he did made the comment during a 22 mile day on a west to east traverse of the Ochils.

Good ski-touring from Innerdownie to Whitewisp, left

Conditions like this soon please.

It is now three years since I started this blog but unfortunately I find that only a fraction of outings have been recorded from January 2010 so I really must do better, even if some posts are kept brief.

Happy New Year

New Year greetings from the bonnie Ochils from both of us. It's snowier than it looks!

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