I had a wet weather alternative planned, but it wasn't needed as when I arrived at the lay by at the side of Loch Earn at 9am the clouds were well above Munro level. Following the well marked path past Ardvorlich House, I quickly gained height and was rewarded with some nice views of the loch.
The path was steep but straightforward. I thought I was making good progress until I was overtaken by a lady in cycling gear. Before I reached the summit, she was on her way down and I was left wondering what was the point of getting up there when you don't stop to enjoy the view.
In less that two hours I was at the top. In the photo you can see a lone metal post. In Hamish's Mountain Walk, the post is still attached to the fence that runs over these hills when he completed his famous round. I was chatting to one guy on the hills who asked that if someone found a post on the hill, could they carry it off the hills as they were eyesores. Well, not only are they far too heavy for me to take down mountains, most are still fixed firmly in the ground.
At the top, I was joined by others. Two ladies who'd been up in April, but hadn't been able to go over to Stuc a'Chroin because of deep snow. They were wondering if the second peak was as hard as they feared. I said I'd seen Cameron McNeish say it wasn't too bad on the telly, but there was a route around to the side that wasn't such a scramble. I left them to decide and headed off to see how much of a scramble it really was. At the foot of rocky section, I found two guys from Glasgow and their dog trying to work out which was the best place to start up, or whether they should go around to the side too. After a short debate we agree to all go together. I love walking solo, but a little bit of companionship on the hills is always welcome. Once I put my poles away, it was a fairly easy climb, and quite quickly we got to the top. Only there is about a 10 minute walk over to the highest point - you simply have to follow the metal posts along to the summit.
I decided that simply returning down the way I'd came would be a bit boring, so headed onwards. Hamish Brown had come the other direction from Glen Ample and in his description it had sounded rather nice. I'm sad to say that forest plantations have put paid to that. I eventually found my way around and through the dead ground under the trees and fought my way through to a road. Eventually this road led past some farm buildings. Past the farm was a short section of the original path that was a delightful walk through "proper" trees along side the Burn of Ample. It didn't quite make up for the dead forest and the tarmac slog to get back to where the car was parked.
