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Friday 18 August 2023
Drawing a line under A Game Of Stones 400
Two weeks ago, a gang of us climbed Core Hill to place the last white-dot Stone at the summit, which meant that I had bagged all 76 of the tops on my List of 400s in the Ochils. When I sat down to record this, I worked out that I had taken 1,018 days since 22 October 2020 (when Lindsey and I climbed Auchlinsky, Commonedge and Seamab Hills) to achieve this feat; but further examination of the dates showed that, starting on 18 June 2021, I had actually bagged all the summits except these three, and so, today I set out to climb them and reduce my record for the “round of 76” to a mere 791 days.
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Parking once again in the layby beside Castlehill Reservoir on the A823 Glendevon, I crossed over and set up the road signposted for Glenquey; after about 400 metres, I headed left through a gate signed for trails through the woods. Following various paths uphill, I soon joined the forestry track which contours round the west side of Auchlinsky Hill; about 200 mtres after passing a track junction, I set off up the first forest ride and made my way to the summit. I was pleased to find that the Stones which Lindsey, Sandra, Iain and I had previously placed were all still there, probably suggesting that not many people actually head for this summit?
From here, it was southwest downhill through the soggy ride before joining the forest track again, following it gently uphill to its end, and then picking up the path leading to the top of Commonedge Hill, where I did find the very wethered original Stone, but no sign of the white-dot one. It was very breezy out here on the exposed top, but the easterly wind didn’t slow me down too much as I made my way due east towards Seamab Hill.
The Stones and cane in their grotto on Auchlinsky Hill
The cane marking the summit of Commonedge, with new Stone
There is a cairn on top of Seamab, but absolutely no sign of any of the previously placed Stones. It took just a few minutes to produce the pens and mark a replacement white-dot version, and
it seemed like a good idea to also make one for Commonedge, which I did. This I placed beside its marker cane as I returned to base more or less by my route up, without, of course, revisiting Auchlinsky.
So – there it is, the Game of Stones has run its course for me. It was always an add-on to my original challenge to myself to climb to all the summits I had identified for my List, and it has been a great motivator through some momentous events in the past three years. Climbing these Ochils has been an enriching and educational experience, and often writing this blog has been an even greater challenge! But what happens when the Stones go missing or become so weathered as to be unrecognisable? Well, that doesn’t matter – the summits will be there to be bagged, even without Stones on them, and if you want a game – why not bag the mountains and hills on the Ochils Four Hundreds List?
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And finally, today was a “15 pointer” for me. For an explanation, watch this space (or PM me for a preview).
Today: 3 hrs 35 mins, 11.2 km and 414m. (Final final total: 211 hrs 24 mins, 584 km and over 23,140m)