Loch Ardinning
How often over the years have we driven north from Glasgow on the A81, noticed the little sign for Loch Ardinning Wildlife Reserve and failed to stop? Countless times – until Easter Sunday dawned bright and sunny and we were looking for a short walk not too far from home. Now we just can’t understand why we were so negligent for so long.
We started at the loch which has plenty of spots for contemplation. (I’ve also been very negligent about writing the walk up. You will spot several benches which were originally intended for Jude’s Bench with a View Challenge in April. Oops…)
After leaving the loch, the walk rises onto moorland with good views towards Ben Lomond, then there’s a really boggy part around Black Linn.
At the highest point (172m) of Muirhouse Muir there’s a cairn and a bench, then another bench at the point where you start dropping back down to the loch. We spent time on both of these, admiring Ben Lomond and the Campsie Fells.
See that lumpy little hill on the right above? That’s Dumgoyne. I’ve climbed it several times, but after the last ascent swore never to do it again. It’s small but painfully steep and my knees just won’t stand it these days. However John misses it and, inspired by seeing it on this walk, he’s since done it twice on his own. As a bonus, here are some of his pictures. The little black dots by the path in the third one (click to enlarge) are people on their hands and knees. See my objection?
The walk starts behind the Glengoyne Distillery which is also worth a visit – AFTER the walk, unless you also want to go up on your knees.
Linked to Jo’s Monday Walks – I wonder where everyone else has been this week?
The Glasgow Gallivanter 
This looks so lovely. I regret a bit that when I lived in the UK I never got out into the Scottish countryside on foot. Now my trips back are so fleeting that I’m lucky to see anything at all — even from the car.
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Especially if there’s horizontal rain outside!
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Have never been to Scotland but I think the views are vast and far reaching and something to behold. I would probably pass doing the steep climbs, too. Those days are in my past. I enjoy the participants in Jo’s walks. They take me to places I’ve never been.
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Yes, I enjoy Jo’s walks too. So glad to have discovered them.
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Beautiful place. I envy you for all the fantastic walks you do 🙂
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Thank you – I love living here, in the city but very close to beautiful countryside.
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A student of mine was just in Ireland and said the weather there was wonderful during her trip. But she was also talking about how low the mountains are — your pictures certainly prove it!
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She was lucky! Yes, that’s just a wee hill. Ben Lomond is 3000+ feet and the highest mountain in the UK is Ben Nevis at 4000+ so low by most standards.
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Wow no wonder you stopped doing that hill! Climbing up on your hands and knees just doesn’t sound like fun! the views are beautiful though — I do especially like that photo of the bench looking out on it all. I looks so peaceful….
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It was peaceful. Such a beautiful place, very close to the city and yet we saw only a handful of people.
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Lovely photos and I don’t blame you for not climbing the hill it looks so steep.
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Too steep seems to be the consensus!
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What a lovely hike! Such beautiful views. I’d have to give some thought to that hands and knees climb. I guess it would depend on how badly I wanted to see the top.
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I would never want it that badly!
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So beautiful, Anabel. I’m with you (and apparently many others) on not fancying that steep climb. My knees raise the same objections as yours. The place names are so lovely. Muirhouse Muir, Campsie Fells, Dumgoyne–they make me want to hie myself over to YouTube and start listening to someone with a Scottish accent read an atlas. 🙂
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Great idea! Perhaps some day I’ll do a feature on Scottish place names and their (sometimes weird) pronunciations. Try Milngavie (Mul-guy) or Dumyat (Doom-eye-at) for starters.
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