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Routes shown and parking mentioned on this website are those used by the author. Readers heading for the summits are responsible for their own choices.
Playing the Game - Stones #0.1 - #10
24th April 2020
#0.1. Placing the very first stone. Well, so keen were we to get this project off and running that we decided to have a dress rehearsal for the 400+m summits by placing the first stone in the cairn on Spow Knob [SpK] (GR 862977), which is actually only a 220m high outcrop on the side of Myreton Hill. This spot has had a special place in our family for over 40 years and seemed like a very appropriate first step on what is likely to be a long journey. Starting from home on a beautiful sunny morning, from the "back road" between Menstrie and Alva, we joined the footpath across the front of Myreton Hill and headed uphill in the direction of Balquharn Reservoir, cutting off to the west and reaching the cairn at our destination. After a pleasant rest, we returned to the back road by heading south to Balquharn Farm and then home. 3 hours, 5km and 200m ascent / descent.
* White-dot Stone placed in cairn by Rory on 1st May 2021
#02. Placing the first stone on a summit over 400m. Loss Hill [LoH] (GR 833000), which is the most westerly summit over 400m is a 417m Top, neighbouring Brown Hill. In beautiful weather, we set out from Menstrie and followed the well established track to just north of Jerah ruin and then followed the newer continuation of the track for about one and a half kilometres before heading off over some rough ground through a new plantation, probably boggy in wetter weather, until we reached a deer fence around the summit of our first hill, which, embarrassingly, turned out both to be extremely difficult to reach (deer fence, rickety high stile) as well as not to be Brown Hill! I decided that since time was racing on, we should make for the summit of what I was sure was Loss Hill. A difficult descent "against the grain" of the newly planted forestry led us to The Balloch and the dreaded deer fence, which thankfully had been previously breached, allowing us to get out! A steep ascent then took us to the summit of Loss Hill, where the Game stone was placed beside an existing stone, thus forming one of the smallest cairns possible - hence the temptation to add to the ongoing "Yoga with cairns" portfolio! :) It's impossible to do this pose and keep your belly in! A brief stop for a sandwich and coffee, then it was off downhill to the south to the Kings Highway and home. A taxing day, but very rewarding to get the Game properly started; over 7 hours, 14 km and over 500m of ascent and descent.
Loss Hill was removed from the List in April 2022 when it was decided that it did not have sufficient prominence to remain.
Friday 29th May 2020
#03. Phase 1 of the Covid-19 lockdown easing came into effect and a beautiful sunny morning persuaded us that we could at last make for the summit of The Nebit [TNe] (GR 888986) which we had climbed on many previous occasions. The lay-off certainly told on both of us, with more rests than usual being needed to see us up the track from Rodders Farm in Alva and north to the sheep fank at the junction with the path up to Ben Ever. We had felt every one of the hill's 449m by the time we reached the summit; the stone was placed beside the boulder a few metres from the cairn, before the flies chased us back down the south slope and back to the car. 3 hours, 5 km and over 400m of ascent and descent.
Sunday 31st May 2020
#04. Getting it right this time. Having made such a mess of trying to find Brown Hill previously, I was tempted by the great weather to make amends and go and place the stones properly. However, rather than trek back up the Menstrie to Sheriffmuir forestry track again, I decided to drive round to the other side of the range and approach from there. The last day of May saw me setting off east into the bright rising sun at 6 am, and less than an hour later I was back over some rough, potentially boggy ground at the scene of the previous confusion, and that deer fence again! This was another first, as the top which I was not quite on is not named on either the OS or Harvey's maps (although it may have a name on a forestry map somewhere), so for the purposes of this Game I had named it Mid Hunt Hill [MHH] (GR 841007), it being smaller (453m) than the neighbouring Big Hunt Hill and higher than Little Hunt Hill. The deer fence was a bit of an irritant, so I decided that I would place the stone outside it and not quite at the correct grid reference - sorry, it's at 841006 but there is no need to negotiate the deer fence!
#05. Hoping that Brown Hill [BrH] (GR 835002) would not cause any such problems, I set off downhill to the south west, with the sun now at my back and the underfoot conditions firm, and soon reached The Balloch, with its dyke and fence. Miraculously, there was a stile just where I needed it, and I could not fathom why it was there - this must be a more popular route than I imagined. A gentle drag uphill soon brought me to the summit of the hill (419m), which is quite featureless, so rather than set the stone down in the middle of nowhere, I decided to place it in the broken down wall which was still within the correct grid. To celebrate, I thought about adding to my "Yoga with cairns / stones" collection, then realised just how difficult it is to do a yoga pose and take a selfie at the same time! So, mission accomplished and it was still just after 8 o'clock in the morning. Feeling very satisfied to have rectified the previous embarrassing mistake, I had a pleasant downhill dauner back to the car, and then home for a welcome breakfast. 3 hours, 6.5km and about 500m of ascent / descent.
Friday 5th June 2020
#06. With the weather forecast predicting some rain and wind, we set out to look at climbing Colsnaur Hill [CnH] (GR 861993) from Menstrie, and possibly some other summits when we had assessed the situation. Having been up Colsnaur many times in the past, it was interesting to find that there is now a very obvious footpath up through new forestry from the Menstrie / Sheriffmuir track as far as the summit; the path crosses a forestry track about halfway. I was feeling the effects of the climbing by the time we got to the 553m summit, and the weather was not looking very promising, with a snell wind coming in from the north west even subjecting us to a flurry of hail while I got on with my yoga pose regardless. Colsnaur is a very popular hill, and I decided not to leave the stone either in the welcoming natural alcove or the cairn, so it has been placed in the dyke on the east side of the top.
#07. Despite donning our waterproofs at this point, we decided that it looked as if the weather was going to be OK, and so we set off north along the well established path heading for another "new" top which is nameless on both the OS and Harveys maps, which I have named Colsnaur North [CnN] top (GR 861005). Apart from the fact that this top satisfies the height (545m) and prominence conditions, it definitely falls into the "bit - because it's there!" category, as it is quite featureless and must be pretty boggy in wet weather (clue: the marsh grass); it can be reached, luckily, by following a quad bike "motorway" and it's not too far off the beaten path.
#08. Up until now, we had been able to walk on good tracks and paths all the way, but to get to our next goal, Bengengie [BgH] (GR 869002), we had to head east over a fence and dyke into Menstrie Moss, and no obvious path in our direction of travel. Having carefully negotiated our way over the fledgling Balquharn Burn, we then picked up a nice path which led us all the way to the 565m summit, where it was too breezy to do much other than grab a quick yoga picture then head down a bit to find some shelter in the lee of the hill and have a bite of lunch - more hail!. I decided to place the stone at this point, so as not to have it shining like a beacon on the summit - unfortunately this meant that the GR on the stone was not absolutely the same as its resting position, but who's going to argue over 10m?
#09. Having met only one pair of walkers up to this point, and despite us being well over 500m in fairly inclement weather, on the walk to our next destination we now passed a lone walker, a family with a couple of young kids and a runner - they must have come up from Alva, since there is no way they would have come up the way we were about to go down! We made very good time along to the next hill, Craig Leith [CLM] (GR 873988), and I left the stone beside another one slightly to the west of the cairn which gives this summit at 542m its other name on both the OS and Harveys maps - Mid Cairn - not to be confused with the other cairn at the front of the hill (510m), which does not satisfy the prominence rule.
I'd like to say that it was then just a simple matter of making our way back to the car, and I suppose that it actually was. Except, it may have been simple, but it certainly wasn't easy! Having run out of paths, we now had to find our way down 200m to the very empty Balquharn reservoir where we picked up a steep and difficult path down to the front of Myreton Hill and then along the front to Menstrie - a hard descent from Craig Leith and not one I relish having to do again.
That having been said, there was a great sense of achievement to have got to four summits over 500m and to have progressed the Game significantly at this early stage. 6.5 hrs, 13km and 680m of ascent / descent (Running totals: 22.5 hrs, 43.5km and over 2,280m)
For update on placing white-dot Stones on Bengengie and Craig Leith, see Playing the Game - #70 - #78 20th April 2023
Friday 26th June 2020
Leave no trace. Flashback to three weeks ago today, and my thoughts as we made the long descent from Craig Leith - I really was having a problem with the potential obtrusiveness of these bright yellow stones I was leaving scattered around the hills. I'm pretty sure that most people who even saw them at all would be somewhere on a scale from "intrigued" to "upset", and I thought about abandoning the idea all together. However, part of my motivation for doing this thing is the personal fun of finding the right "spot" and placing the stone at it as proof - just a, surely, harmless game. So, by the time we eventually got home, my habitual compromise had been reached in my mind - stones, but not so obvious. Of course, I now had to discuss this with the stone artists, Ali and Paul, who immediately grasped my point. The next three had already been ordered and produced and a question was - can we still use the other six stones we've already painted yellow? Answer - yes.
Meanwhile, in order to improve the flexibility of availability of prepared stones, and to allow impromptu expeditions (chance would be a fine thing!), I had acquired a few acrylic markers and some quick-dry non-toxic varnish with which I proceeded to experiment, resulting in a new model as illustrated. I decided that the new livery would be just a yellow band, with the details on it. (The green border will only be on the stones on mountains (above 610m)). Unfortunately, the yellow stone in the picture became the only casualty of this new regime, having already been produced - but it does serve a useful purpose as an illustration of the old and the new. Only about another sixty stones to be produced!
How do you lose two mountains? Having taken a week to recover from our Colsnaur - Bengengie - Craig Leith trek, our intention to attempt our next set was thwarted when I started to show some signs and symptoms of another bout
of shingles, for which I was duly medicated, and which had me exhausted for a while; as I write this, I continue to have an annoying cough ( been tested negative for Covid-19!) and am nowhere near ready to start climbing hills.
But that doesn't stop me from making plans, so realising that our previously planned trip is likely to be beyond me for a while, I sat down with the maps to look at a possible alternative re-start. For some reason, my eye was drawn to Grodwell Hill (553m) on the map, and from there to the point that I had labelled Grodwell Hill South (620m), due to it being unlabelled on either the Harveys or OS maps. I am really confused, and would welcome any thoughts / advice on my dilemma: as marked on the maps, Grodwell Hill doesn't seem to be the summit of anything, just a spot height on the side of a shoulder which seems to summit at "Grodwell Hill South". Were this the case, then Grodwell Hill no longer earns the designation of a Hill, which accolade goes to Grodwell Hill South, although it would probably make sense (although add to the confusion) to drop the word "South". But that's not the end of it. Close attention to the contour lines on all the available maps shows that Grodwell Hill South does not satisfy the prominence rule for being a Mountain / Hill / Top, as it does not have 20m of ascent on all sides of its summit; so it looks to me as if neither Grodwell Hill nor Grodwell Hill South should be on the list as they are merely points on a shoulder of Ben Cleuch.
Lost the will to live yet? I'll be brief this time - the same more or less goes for Whum Hill (640m) which I have listed as a Mountain (Top), having been so advised by at least one list on the internet. Again, there is not sufficient prominence to the summit which also becomes just a point on another shoulder of Ben Cleuch.
So there - I believe I have just lost two Mountain (Tops) from my list.......
Wednesday 1st July 2020.
And now - the final List (for the time being!). It's getting on for a month since we were actually able to get out into the hills, and I'm really hoping that the antibiotics I was prescribed yesterday will allow us to get going again fairly soon. In the meantime, you will recall that the last report ended with the sad news that two summits had been erased from the List; well, hold the presses on this because, with time to let my brain work at a relaxed pace, I decided to "once and for all" clarify and simplify my definition of just what entitled a summit to be on the List at all. So here goes: for a summit to be on the List it must be at least 400m above sea level (asl), with a prominence of at least 15m (changed from 20m)
The Western Ochil Hills
Found and lost: the immediate result of this 5m adjustment to the prominence requirement and closer scrutiny of maps means that Whum Hill has now been reinstated into the List, as have Wood Hill and Loss Hill which were in danger of exclusion. However, Grodwell Hill has not been saved, and has actually been joined by fifteen other summits which were previously on the List, closer examination of contours having shown them not to have sufficient prominence to survive. These summits are marked with a red pin on the accompanying maps of the Ochils.
So, as things stand, there are now 79 summits on the List, with 9 of them having had their stone placed - a mere 70 still to go. Hopefully, health and weather will allow us to get going soon...
The Eastern Ochil Hills
Friday 14th August 2020.
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Non progress report. 10 weeks since we were actually able to get out into the hills, and at last there is some light at the end of the (very long) tunnel. Unfortunately, none of the treatment I was undergoing to cope with my breathing problems was having any success, so eventually I was referred to hospital, where I was quite quickly diagnosed with a blood clot affecting my lung. Two weeks ago, I was in bed with an oxygen mask to help me breathe, and the road to recovery had started. That's the good news - the not so good news is that recovery is likely to be slow, and it is quite likely that I am not going to get to the top of any hills in the remainder of 2020; this could be the most boring website ever! Huge thanks to all the staff of FVRH for the fantastic care they took of me for the 10 days I was with them.
Wednesday 16th September 2020.
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A milestone reached. At last, after five weeks of fairly gentle exercise, it was time to see how ready I was to start to introduce a bit of climbing into the regime. On Saturday 12th September, Lindsey and I set out to conquer 100m high Craigomus, the rocky outcrop behind Menstrie. The principle of putting one foot in front of the other worked very well, and a restrained pace enabled us to reach the goal feeling fine, and indeed quite elated at having reached this target with no obvious breathing difficulty.
Baby steps on Dumyat. Having suffered no ill effects of Saturday's triumph, we decided to take the next uphill steps onto Dumyat from Sherrifmuir on Tuesday 15th. The first part of the path is pretty steep, so it was not difficult to be sensible and keep the pace down; we met lots of people going in both directions. After about 1.5 km and 100m of ascent, it was time to make our way back down. The top looked a long way off, but it was reassuring to look at the map and see that we were almost halfway there, and there was ONLY another 150m to climb. Dumyat is one of the smallest 400m+ hills on the list and seems to be well within reach. It is very encouraging to have been able to use the boots and poles out there and get moving in the right direction. I felt that I am possibly a bit ahead of schedule, but the muscles hurt even more than usual, there are twinges in the lumbar area and the fatigue is never far away. I know I have to ca' canny.
Friday 25th September 2020.
First to play the Game. On 19th September, the stones on Colsnaur and Spow Knob were visited by Murray and Gavin, and the Game was officially started. Since this is a Game where you make your own rules (although they must include staying safe, respecting and enjoying the countryside and leaving the stones where they are), the trip was obviously very successful. All I need to do now is get the remaining 70 stones out and in position!
#10. And here's the first one! Just eight weeks after lying in a hospital bed gasping for breath, I was on the top of Dumyat [Dyt] (GR 853977) gasping for breath - in the brisk north-westerly wind that was trying to blow me off the summit; the plus side was that the same wind had blown us up the hill! It's difficult to describe just how fantastic was the feeling of achievement at being able to place a stone on a 400m summit - very recently I honestly didn't think that was going to be possible this year. I suppose I'm a bit of a Dumyat snob i) because I've climbed it so often and ii) because the "real" way to do it is from almost sea-level at Menstrie. Well fiddlesticks to that - I'm more than happy to have achieved the 290m climb from Sheriffmuir, with the round trip of 5.5 km being ample challenge for today. (Running totals: 25 hrs, 49 km and over 2,570m)
Parking and access: this is a very popular hill, and even today on a very windy school-day during the Covid pandemic, it was very busy. There is a big parking area marked on the OS map, with a good path connecting it to the beginning of the Dumyat summit track. Some limited parking is available if you want to chance your luck nearer to the gate leading to the track. There's ample parking in the village if you are approaching Dumyat from Menstrie.
Placing the stone. As previously mentioned, this is a very busy hill, and the chances are that no matter what time of day or what time of year you reach the summit, somebody will be there before you, or will arrive very soon after you. There are numerous very obvious landmarks on the summit, and this adds to the attraction and reward of the ascent. When placing the stones, consideration is given to how obtrusive they might be considered by some people as well as to how vulnerable they might be, possibly being a handy souvenir for some intrepid explorer. With this in mind, we had a look around the top of the hill for a likely place to position the stone, without actually hiding it, which is not the intention at all; we plumped for a niche in a rock at the west of the summit area, and the position of the beacon in the background in the picture should be sufficient information to lead gamesters to the stone.
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The vulnerability of the stones. A few friends with whom I have discussed the project have expressed the concern that the stones might prove to be a handy souvenir which can be removed, thus detracting from the effectiveness and adaptability of the Game; just as if an orienteering control is removed, the competition can be totally ruined, or if a geocache is interfered with leading to great disappointment to those playing the game. My feeling is that it would be very annoying if the stones disappear, but I don't feel inclined to go down the road of gluing or cementing the stones in place - they're not THAT important, and it might even be seen as a challenge by some folk to remove them.
So here's the attempt to avoid the stones disappearing, and the one on Dumyat is the first - a simple plea on the stone that it should be left where it is found. Will this work? We'll see.
Tuesday 24 May 2022
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Over the top of Dumyat
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At last, a chance to get onto a hill during May, and I decided that it was about time that I got a white-dot Stone onto Dumyat [Dyt#10] 835977. I have been to the top of this popular hill on countless occasions over the years, but I have never “gone over the top” – that is started from Sheriffmuir and walked to Menstrie, and this is what I set out to do today, with a gentle breeze at my back the whole way.
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Note: this route is equally satisfying in either direction, with parking available at both ends, if two vehicles are involved. There is a large car park about 700 metres to the south west of the gate leading to the track from the Sheriffmuir end, and if you are early enough, you should be able to park off the road close to this gate. At the Menstrie end, there is ample parking in the village beside the Dumyat Centre.
As previously noted, this is a very popular climb, as is evident from the very obvious erosion on both sides of the hill, making it important to take care, especially on the descent. In fact, I met a group of Conservation Volunteers who were busy installing new steps at one point on the Menstrie side of the King’s Highway, but there is a great deal of work needing to be done to make it tourist friendly.
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The summit was fairly busy, and it was not easy to reconnoitre the area for suitable resting places for the two Stones, but there was no rush, and I actually plumped for putting the replacement yellow-band in the cairn at the base of the beacon – I don’t have great hopes for its survival. The white-dot Stone may be sufficiently well placed, in a rocky outcrop a few metres east of the trig point, to be able to last a while – we’ll see.
Spot the white-dot Stone to the east of the trig point
A replacement yellow-band Stone in the cairn - for how long?!