- Saturday 23rd March 2019
- The Lomond Hills
Today we decided to keep it local and head to the Lomond Hills for a short walk including some practice with rope work on the crags.
The Lomond Hills, also known out with the locals as the ‘Paps of Fife’ lie in western central Fife and Perth and Kinross, Scotland.
It’s one of Fifes most prominent landmarks.
We were intending to climb Bishop Hill on the north west side, one of the three summits. The west side also has a more rural view compared to the urban east side.
We drove to Scotlandwell, a tiny village to park the car and from here walked the path up to the summit.
It was a pretty steep climb at parts until we were almost at the top then the path rose more gently.
Today we had strong winds, but this was a good thing as we had clear views and in addition the gliders were out in full force from the nearby gliding centre.
From the top, at times, it felt like we were able to reach out and touch them.
Views were lovely and we were able to see Benarty Hill and West Lomond, all overlooking Loch Leven.
We headed to some crags on the hill where a 40 foot high basalt column sits called Carlin Maggie to practice some rope work.
According to local lore Maggie, a witch, had an altercation here with the devil who unleashed a bolt of lightening, turning her to stone.
After our short rope work practice session and of course some lunch we headed over to summit the top and then it was time to head back down.
Mary's Outdoor Adventure's 
Great pictures reminding me of home as the hills are farerly local to Kelty. Kelty is surrounded by some stunning scenery. I can also hear your Dad pointing out the hills in the distance if you were out and about with him. Good to see Brogan out on the road again after recovering from the recent operation. Hadn’t heard the story about Maggie. Theresa x
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Yes it was a good day for pictures, plenty views and the colour of the landscape beautiful. We are very lucky in this neck of the woods if your into walking, so many places within easy reach. We sometimes take this landscape for granted being brought up in the area. As kids this was our playground and many a weekend was spent up these hills and the surrounding areas, so many great memories. My dad would have us playing soldiers and camouflaging ourselves from other walkers so we weren’t spotted…we were in our element and took the game seriously! This was Brogans first hill walk since her operation and she was in her element! I was in my element too as walks are no the same without her, funny that isn’t it! Hope your well x
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Looks lovely Mary and so close to home. Great to see those gliders. One of our past neighbours told me he used to go gliding up there. Is the rope work in preparation for your Russian adventure?
As Terry says made me think about your dad who loved tramping all these hills. As spring is on the way and weather improving you’ll be able to get off and bag a few more Munros. While we’ll be conquering the flatlands of East Anglia😂😂 xx
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I was just saying that we are lucky to have such a variety of walks in our area very close to home! I remember we all got Dad a voucher years and years back for a gliding session at Scotlandwell and he wouldn’t do it…so we sent Pat instead!!! It played havoc with his stomach, no wonder my Dad refused ;-)…it looks so peaceful though when watching them in the sky but they can pick up some real speed, pretty cool. We all know these hills like the back of our hands as we hiked them a lot back in the days, Dad enjoyed them, so really nice memories. Weather is improving (slightly) and what I am getting more and more excited about is the lighter evenings…the boys are fed up with my daily comments over the past 6 weeks of look its 5.30 and its still light…look its 6.30 and its still light to last nights look its 7pm and it still light and next week this will be 8pm lololol! We certainly have a few plans for long weekends April time and getting up North to those hills….I think I like the sound of the flatlands of East Anglia…sounds quite exotic?!?! 😉
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Funnily enough I’m a bit obsessed with the time it gets dark as the days get longer…must be a Brogan thing!!
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Thanks for the photos Mary
Hard to believe that all that scenery is on your doorstep
Weather looked beautiful although you say it was windy
Still trying to.keep my spirits up
Had an MRI scan this morning would take want to go through that again .
Will you be rock climbing when you go to Russia
The Lomand hills will be a bit tame after. Russia. Next step the Eiger 😀😂!! Love to all Auntie Alice xx
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No problem…
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Ooops I hit send by mistake 🙄….I was just saying that we do take our immediate surroundings for granted sometimes and we are so lucky that we have a range of walks to go on almost straight from the door whether it’s hills, forests, lochs. Without the wind the sun actually felt quite warm but in the wind pretty cold! So we’re going North side of Elbrus which is the more technical side of the mountain, so it will involve crevasse crossings etc so will need to be tied in etc 😬….maybe if my visa is declined I could be on to a good thing….no visa, no Elbrus 😂….glad to hear you are managing to keep your spirits up….that’s a good thing….maybe that patch 😉 has something to do with that though 🤣🙈🙊….I promise you this….I will get to the River (but it might have to wait till May/June next year 😩as this year is already looking hectic busy 🙃…as I said we were actually planning to go there this year then wham bam Russia happened 😤…..so is an MRI scan the one you go into a big tunnel like thing? Would you get one of those for possible signs of blood clots?? Im sure I had one of those years ago?? If your claustrophobic then not a good situation to be in 😵🙈….what a service/MOT you are being given though 👍😬 ….sending our love xxx
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Can’t see your visa application being declined just think they”re makimg things difficult for Brits
That’s what miss about Kelty it isn’t a picturesque village but the scenery and walks are to die for . When I worked in Kinross we used to go out couple of times a year to collect rates and Scotland Well was one my favourite places
In fact we camped there in our first trailer tent. The farmer screwed us for everything
Your Dad asked around and he was notorious in the area . I remember Simone being frighteners when the wind blew against the side of the tent.
Loved the story of the witch 😁😂😂 xxx
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Totally agree…and I love Scotlandwell also, it’s a lovely village …can’t believe yous camped there in your trailer tent…very nice…apart from the farmer 🙈! Funny re Simone…I think she’s still like that possibly 🤣 x
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