Two of my favorite places to walk are Loch Ardinning and Lennox Forest. You can see the loch from the forest and you can see the forest from the loch but there is no path that connects them together. On a map it seemed possible. There is only half a mile between the two paths.
I thought about doing it during the summer but I thought it might be too boggy. I decided to wait until winter and do it on a frosty day when all the vegetation had died back.
So during a recent cold spell of weather I set off with my wife to try and find a way across the gap.
It was surprisingly easy. The conditions were perfect and it only took 30 minutes of off path walking. I’d recommend doing it with a good map as due to the trees it was tricky to find the path at Lennox forest. I used https://maps.me/ as an app on my phone. It has downloadable maps so I don’t have to worry about a signal. It is also completely free.
Check out just how cold the walk was in the video below.
An interesting challenge to connect up two routes but no one I’d do often.
Parking
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
There’s a small car park in Clachan of Campise. You can park on the street if the car park is full. It can be busy on a nice day. Loch Ardinning has a few parking spots but they fill up quickly on a nice day.
Facilities
⭐
Rating: 1 out of 5.
None on the route
Nearest cafe
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
There is a cafe at Clachan of Campsie.
Run Surface
50% track. 25% off road track, 25% off road (no path, mud, heather etc)
Film Friday is a weekly (when I remember to do it) recomendation of one video to watch this weekend.
This weeks video is the story of Tim Don who broke his neck in an accident just a couple of days before he was due to take part in Iron Man Kona. This is his inspiring story to come back to fitness.
I’ve ran in all the traditional Scottish conditions – rain, sleet, shower, downpour, drizzle and, once, many years ago, even a dry day. But although I’m quite happy to run when wet as, once you’re wet, you can’t get wetter. After five minutes you’re as wet as you’ll ever be so you might as well continue. However, I don’t run when water turns to ice. If there’s a chance of slipping then I give a run a miss and do something more warm instead, like sitting in front of a fire while wearing a scarf, a down jacket and wrapped in an electric blanket. Toasty.
Last month though I had the chance to try something I’ve never tried before – a run in fresh snow, with no ice. We’d planned on running the Campsie and thought there might have been a nice dandruffing of snow on top but as soon as we started to climb the snow became deeper and thicker until it was up to our ankles. Then over our ankles and down my socks as the snow melted around my feet. Baltic.
It was fantastic to run in such conditions and I thought it worth sharing some tips in case you ever get the chance to do the same.
Tip 1 – Don’t do it.
Just like wild swimming, you should never run alone. If you trip, twist an ankle or run into trouble then you could be a couple of very, very cold miles away from help. Running through ankle deep snow is hard, hopping through it on one leg would be even harder still. That’s why pirates stuck to the Caribbean and you don’t see Alpine climbers with peg legs.
Tip 2 – If you’re going to go sledging, test your sledge first
At the top of Meikle Bin we met four three guys from Kilsyth who’d hiked up with sledges and were aiming to slide all the way back down the Campsie.
“WHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”
Went the first guy as he pushed off from the top and shot down the southern slope.
“WHEEE – DAMN!”
Went the second and third guy as they shared a sledge for 10 metres before it snapped in half because a child’s sledge is not designed for two grown men to bobsleigh together. Went it snapped, they looked like someone had just told them that Santa Claus was not real. They were not happy.
Tip 3 – Gaiters are your toes best friend
Speaking of Santa. Did you know that Santa is the only lie that that the news will repeat and will never challenge? Every year the news will pretend Santa is real, which must be why Huw Edwards always gets great presents. He’s top of Santa’s nice list.
If I had a chance to get a present for running in snow I would definitely choose gaiters. As mentioned above, the snow will quickly rise above your shoe and the space between the tongue of your shoe and your ankle will build up with snow until it looks like your playing keepy-up with snowballs. Then it will melt and you have frozen water running down you foot and refrigerating your socks. Gaiters will stop that. Or…
Tip 4 – Just accept you’re feet are going to get wet
Because gaiters are not going to help when you put a foot down and find the snow was covering a path or a patch of heather but rather it was a trap and underneath the snow is a deep muddy bog. While most bogs will be frozen, some will crack as soon as you stand on them and your foot is going to be ankle deep in slush mud. Ugh.
Tip 5 – it’s fun!
Accept you will not go anywhere fast. You will not beat any personal best or challenge for any world records. Running in snow is sluggish and challenging as you stamp down to punch through the snow and find the earth beneath. But, on the right day, with pure snow, a blue sky and no wind then you will have fun.
Tip 6 – dress correctly
But remember to wear the right clothes – I wore three layers (long sleeved t-shirt, short sleeved t-shirt, thick running jacket, a running skull cap, waterproof trail trainers and a pair of gloves).
Oh, and bring a pair of scissors if you want to get your trainers off at the end as your laces will freeze and you’ll never untie them until they melt….
The plan was to walk to Burncrooks Reservoir from the Whangie and then return by the same route. That was the plan but…
The Whangie is a hill I don’t go to very often. It is usually too busy and the route is too muddy. Neither of which I enjoy. The last time I was here was with my dad. He first climbed it 50 years ago and hadn’t done it since. He climbed it when he was 18 years old. He had been drinking in a local bar, the Carbeth Inn, and someone had told him about an interesting rock face nearby. He’d wondered off drunk to see for himself. I’m impressed that he found it and that he made it back to the pub to tell everyone what he’d seen.
My wife and I came here early to make sure it was quiet but even at sunrise there was already five cars in the car park.
We didn’t have to worry about the mud as the recent cold weather meant it was very frosty under foot. Unfortunately my wife had the wrong type of shoes and struggled to get a good grip on the icy sections. After slipping and sliding our way to Burncrooks we decided to take a different way back.
During the walk one of my dogs tripped up my wife. She was fine but amusingly I was filming at the time and caught it all on camera. Does You’ve Been Framed still exist and do they still pay £250 for a funny faceplant video?
I’d like to do a multi day run this year but I don’t fancy doing the standard routes everyone else does ie the West Highland Way. So instead I’ve created my own route – The East Coast 100. A coastal route from North Berwick to St Andrews. 100 miles of sand, sea and sightseeing.
The route takes in some of my favorite parts of the east coast – the beaches of east lothian, the edinburgh bridges and St Andrews fudge donuts
Delicious!
I hope to do it during the Easter break but I’ll have to wait and see whether covid restrictions ease.
I’ll plan it and then see what happens. Now to decided how far to run each day….
Film Friday is a weekly (when I remember to do it) recomendation of one video to watch this weekend.
This week’s video is The Ginger Runner’s annual 100 mile training week video. Watching his 2019 video was the reason I attempted to run and video my attempt at it. It’s a really interesting challenge and I’d recommend people give it a try.
I’ve started the year by looking like Batman in this month’s issue of 220 Triathlon, which is called February even though it’s out on January and I read it on the Readly magazine app in December. Hopefully they have the dates of the events they feature correct as otherwise everyone will be turning up two months early.
It’s nice to be featured even if all you can see is my Batman ears and my nose. But even if you can’t see that much of me – it’s still better than being caught in the shower like number 3. Yikes!
Cort-ma-law is gaelic for “steep climb, boggy on top”
I must admit I failed Gaelic in school. The only phrases I know are “how are you?” and “I am cold” which in Scotland is appropriate conversation for 90% of the year.
So my translation may be wrong but its a steep climb as well as often being wet and boggy on top. I find the boggiest section is the run between Cort-Ma-Law and Lecket Hill. I’ve often ended up ankle deep in a bog.
This route follows a popular walks on well-defined paths. I’ve done it in mist and rain but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you are familiar with the route. The car park can be extremely busy so get here early on a nice day.
From the car park, cross the road and make your way up the broad grassy shoulder going east. The ascent of Cort-ma Law is fairly relentless but the gradient eases off as you reach the high ground. Remember to look behind you to get the great view down the valley towards Strathblane.
Follow the cairns all the way to the Summit. Once at the summit. Walk north and jump over the fence. A clearly defined path takes you all the way to Leckett hull. Turn west and follow the path all the way back to Crow Road. Run down the road to finish off the route. Keep an eye out for Jamie Wright’s Well on the south side of the road, a memorial to a local angler who tapped the rock to provide drinking water on his walks to go fishing.
Film Friday is a weekly recommendation of one video to watch this weekend. I forgot to post this yesterday but better late than never!
This weeks video follows Greg Whyte who you might have seen on television helping celebrities overcome sporting challenges. He helped David Walliams swim the Thames and Davina Mccall’s 500 mile challenge, as well as many others.
You can review stats and try and work out patterns to improve your training. How far did you run. how fast did you swim? Was it faster or further than a month ago?
If you want you can dig down further and check power and heart rate. You can consider zones of training and recovery time and whole host of metrics designed to make even a simple jog round the blog into a carefully monitored scientific experiment.
“Are you off for a jog, dear?”
“No, I’m heading out for a zone 5 steady state session with five times maximum power intervals followed by a CT scan and X-ray!”
Or you can take a more simple view, like I’ve done and ask one simple question: did I beat Iain? And, yes. Yes, I did. You can see his lesser stats here.
Twin brothers swimming, cycling and running in Scotland 