|
Weather/Conditions: Cloudless,
blue skies, cool breeze. Dry ground having had no rain, and being an
early walk, not too hot or cold either.
Distance/Ascent/Time:
2.2km / 330m / 1h
Accompanying: Alone |
|
Getting
about...
The main aspect to this walk wasn't the fact that I climbed
Dumgoyne, but instead the fact that I chose to cycle out to it. Prior to
this, I'd not cycled in years and I was recalling old skills of cycling
as well as getting accustomed to cycling on the roads. Having brought my bike
back to life the night before with WD40 and a pump, I was up at 5am,
setting out soon after sunrise. The passing of cars was infrequent
and it gave me a chance to adjust to cycling on the road. Pedalling in the morning light with few others around was a pleasant experience. The bike allowed for a far more intimate experience with
the surrounding land, allowing me to stop anywhere I wished. You miss
the details of the land and other 'corners' in a car, but if something
took my fancy, I found it easy to divert off the road and go have a
look.
Up Dumgoyne
When I arrived in Strathblane, I cycled to the war memorial and cut
up the private road. There were still no cars on the road, so I had the
sense of having this place to myself. I cycled as far the the forests
above Glengoyne Distillery where I left the bike behind the trees.
From here onwards, I continued on foot up to Dumgoyne. It would be a
short walk, but the views were beautiful and I was in no rush - none
whatsoever. I had a definite sense that I had all the time in the day to
walk, so why
go with speed? I held a comfortable pace all the way to the top.
Around about, the sky was absolutely cloudless. To the north, some clouds were
streaming off the high ground between Conic Hill and Ben Lomond, but to
the south, there was little haze. I'd chosen to climb the shaded
side of Dumgoyne and therefore managed to keep cool. The sun would have
been punishing, even at this early hour. Towards the summit, the breeze
grew in strength but when I arrived on top at 7.50am, the warming sun was
now above. This was the making of a beautiful and vibrant
day.
I left Dumgoyne's summit after five minutes and descended with speed,
passing a group of four walkers along the way. They wore gear suitable
to climb a Munro, I was in shorts, lightweight trail boots and carrying
just a camera. I was glad to be free
of the clutter of walking gear, and glad to be moving light and fast. I
arrived back at the bike at 8.10am. I had taken 40 minutes to reach the
summit, five
minutes at the top and 15 minutes down.
I began cycling at Glengoyne Distillery and stopped in Killearn for some
much needed food and drink. On drained muscles, I cycled back to
Strathblane, catching a bus to take me most of the way home. The driver
was none too pleased to see a bike on his bus. I wasn't happy about
putting my bike on a bus, but I knew I could never cycle the hill out of
Strathblane with no energy in my legs. The particular hill I speak about
follows hairpin bends and this gives some hint as to the steepness of
the road. It's fascinating that while I built myself a set of muscles
that will climb mountains effectively, relatively little cycling had
reduced my legs to a quivering mess. I was glad to be able to climb this
hill from the comfort of a bus, I simply could never had made it. But
after the bus dropped me off, it was a ten or fifteen minute cycle home,
this time through heavier traffic. I arrived home in good time to miss
the heat of the day, too hot for my own taste...
 |
