Munros and Other Walks

  Distance Walked: 5.76km Time Taken: 1 hour 57 min Route The route that we took for this walk is shown below.  We started this walk in the centre of Strathaven, for a shorter walk it is possible to park at the waterfall car park in Sandford. This is a small village a couple of miles from Stathaven. As it was a nice day we decided on a slightly longer route starting at the carpark on Station Road. From here, we took a left out of the car park, along Station Road and then a right on the B7086.   Road out of Strathavon View from The farm Track On the Right Track? This road takes you out of the town towards Sandford. After a couple of hundred metres out of the town we took the first farm track on the left. There is an official signpost further on, however, both routes end up in the same place later on. The farm track is scenic and muddy, the track bends towards the river and over what looks like a newly built bridge. There are some nice views of the river and the surrou...

  Cort-ma Law Less than an hours drive from Glasgow, just north of Lennoxtown are the Campsie hills, which allows for a quick days hike.  Starting Point The best place to start is at the Campsie Glen waterfall car park. This can get busy, so it is best to try and get a parking space early. The walk itself starts directly opposite the car park.  Car park location Location of hill Route The track ascends immediately from the carpark travelling east, go past the old shelter covered in graffiti. Shelter Hike up from the car park The track continues upward and the track could be tricky at this point for younger walkers. The first part of the walk ends at a small cairn marker.  First marker cairn From there the hike undulates for 2km as it snakes it's way slightly south of the actual top. Here you will reach a bigger cairn marker.  Second marker cairn From this marker turn north east to the trig point 4.5 km distance. The height of the summit is 526m. We reached the t...

"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...

  For 6 weeks between September and October the Beat the Street game was installed in our local neighbourhood. This gave children and adults alike a chance to participate, a different take on staying healthy. The idea is simple, there was over 60 boxes in a local area  scanning a box with a special cards or fob that gives you 10 points towards your overall amount. There were different events during this time that gave double or even triple points. The rules were simple, you can walk, run or cycle between boxes,travelling by car was against the rules.  Halloween themed boxes The benefit was that it got me motivated to run in the local area, something I didn't like usually doing. It also allowed you to meet other people that was taking part. It was fun to see those that took the game seriously. Once I got into, it my aim was to break into the top 100 players. I managed this and was able to sneak into the top 50, finishing at 49 out of over 7000 players.  Leader board...