A walk in the Lomond Hills.The Peaks of Fife.

This is a day out from late June I've just got around to posting. An early mist was predicted but it was a good forecast on the east side of Scotland so we headed for the Lomond Hills as Ron had never been up them. I had a circular walk in mind that would take in both East and West Lomond. A five to six hour day at a steady pace.
As you can see it was still misty when we arrived but by the time we had climbed halfway up the first hill from the scenic and historic village of Falkland it was starting to clear.

One from the village itself on the way up the hill from the large central square car park. Falkland is one of the real gems of Fife with cobbled lanes, old buildings covered in history, plus the ancient Royal hunting palace of the Scottish Monarchs.

Some gardens even have a mini Falkland within them. In some ways it feels very English. Almost Cotswolds in nature and in surrounding landscape. (Shock! Horror!) They even play cricket here and take it just as seriously as the villages down south. Neighbouring Fife village Freuchie even entered then won the English Villages Cricket Tournament one year which was some achievement as it's a tiny place. The path up the hill is signposted and travels up past the right hand side of this recycling factory on a village street then enters the woods seen above. A steep climb at first up a long straight  line of wooden stairs. Once on the ridge the going is easier though.

We started out by heading up East Lomond first which is a cracking walk in itself then made for West Lomond along the grassy, high level track that connects the two summits.

After that we cut down into the finest glen in the Lomonds, the steep sided Glen Vale, but first we had to descend to the Devil's Burdens. This is a straight line of massive, weathered boulders similar to the peak district or Stanage Edge although slightly smaller with no real rock climbs to speak of. Scrambling only. Still a nice feature though. The Devil is supposed to have dropped these from his back as he flew over the Lomond Hills. It's also the name of Scotland's well attended hill race through the Lomond Hills which passes this point.http://www.fifeac.org/events/fife-ac-events/devils-burdens/51-devils-burdens-2013.html

Not being into running I didn't realise what an epic and large event this is as there is not much evidence that 700 runners pass through here. It is still a grassy and beautiful location throughout its length. Long may it remain that way.

Although a mere 30 miles apart the east coast gets roughly half the rainfall of the west coast. My next mountain post will demonstrate this difference in very graphic terms and what that actually means in real terms on the mountains.

A sea of cotton grass under West Lomond.

Ron doing a good impression of John Knox from the precarious scoop of John Knox's cave. A prominent hollow halfway up a five story sized sandstone cliff. From here the great man, notorious nippy sweetie, and protestant firebrand reputedly preached to the faithful, condemning the catholic Mary Queen of Scots and all that she stood for. A very readable, short and interesting account here. It's also full of other facts on the history of Scotland. Great site for bite sized details that are easy to digest and remember. 
.http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/scotlandshistory/renaissancereformation/johnknox/index.asp

Nearby is this tranquil waterfall. A magical place and a contender for one of the prettiest waterfalls in Scotland. Not powerful, not dramatic... just small, stunning, tumbling, playful. Perfection in nature.

Instead of fairies however I ran into this down here. A very large, very nasty looking flying insect, nearly three inches long. It looked like some kind of sand wasp that digs a hole then causes paralysis in fat juicy caterpillars with its sting before dragging them underground to feed its brood. Despite a fair bit of searching I cant find its likeness anywhere online. A seasonal invader from the continent perhaps due to the extended summer heat wave?
It behaved like a really evil, (not so wee) bug that feared nothing and no one so I gave it plenty of room bending over to take this photograph. I didn't want it numbing me with its sting then dragging my fat juicy body underground. It was almost big enough to attempt it :)

We returned to Falkland across Harperleas Reservoir then past little Ballo farm to the car park on the minor road that cuts the Fife Regional Park in half. This is also a good place to do East and West Lomond summits from if you want an easier way up with far less ascent. Allow about an hour for each peak starting from this elevated car park at a sedate pace.

We then walked down this minor road past Maspie Den back to Falkland. Even this tarmac road was a joy in late June with a cornucopia of wild flowers filling the verges on both sides and very few cars. This road over the Lomond Hills also forms part of  a popular bike tour. Did it a few years ago and it was very fine indeed. A great day out and perfect walking for humid conditions as we had a light breeze once up onto the central plateau area between the peaks.

Video today is a modern classic. Soulsavers with Mark Lanegan on vocal duties. The poignant and moving 'Kingdoms of Rain'.