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Weather/Conditions: Walked at
night, so only moonlight and city lights to see by. I didn't use a
headtorch once, nor a map, though that was in part thanks to the fact
that this was a route Ian knew well.
Distance/Ascent/Time: 10.8 km / 530m / 4h
Accompanying: Ian |
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I climbed
Meikle Bin for the first time in January 2008. It had been a cold and
windy day, and dad and I followed the forestry tracks up through the
Carron Valley before emerging on the summit cone for the last push to
the top. It wasn't that great a day to be honest, and I hadn't been left
with a shining opinion of Meikle Bin. So when Ian and I wanted a to do
night walk, we chose Meikle Bin due to it's proximity to Glasgow and
Ian's familiarity with the ascent route. I wanted to climb it again to
see what I thought of it as well as to photograph it and it's views.
Ian drove to Queenzieburn then the farm roads above the village. He knew
this route although I didn't and these parts of the Campsie Fells would
be completely new to me. I tend to stick to the Strathblane area...
We parked in a lay-by above Queenzieburn before setting off. I would
never have known that this route existed, but Ian knew it well. The moon
was out, bright and full, (which was the primary reason for choosing to
walk at this time) and the lights of the Central Belt illuminated the
hills too. We walked up past Corrie and followed a wide track onto the
hills above. This tarmac track exists because it serves Birkenburn
Reservoir, and it offered easy walking all the way to the reservoir.
The going wasn't entirely easy though. Snow and ice lay on the ground
from the outset and it was way beyond midnight by the time we got up
high. We would have started out earlier had I not been busy until late,
but it also meant walking while tired. And I hate walking when I should
be sleeping. I'd spent my evening at the IMAX in Glasgow seeing James
Cameron's Avatar 3D and while it was completely worth going to see, it
meant we would be walking through to the small
hours.
We crossed along the top of the dam, and then followed a path onto the
moorland beyond the reservoir in the direction of Meikle Bin. Cloud was
thickening up from the north-west, but Meikle Bin (as well as every
other hill) was beneath the cloud layer. The path took us along the edge
of some forestry, down a firebreak to a stream, back up another
firebreak and onwards up a well defined path to the summit.
It was cold at the top, mainly due to steady but chilling wind that blew
from the north. I took the time to take a panorama, although this
involved taking around 15 images, all exposing about 10-15 seconds.
Fingers lost feeling quickly, so it was with some relief that we finally
left the summit and got out of the wind.
Our route back simply followed our route of ascent. It dragged on
because the desire to get back was great. So long had my day been, I was
ready for bed. It was with great relief that we finally got down and Ian
drove me home. But all in all it had been completely worth it and it was
nice to do a local hill in the snow, going by a new route, lit by city
lights and moonlight.
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