The Oikofuge: Walking

The Tarmachan Ridge

Wed, 15 Jun 2022 13:00:00 +0200

Meall nan Tarmachan SE Top (NN 589385, 922m)Meall nan Tarmachan (NN 585390, 1044m)Meall Garbh (NN578383, 1027m)Beinn nan Eachan (NN 570383, 1000m)Creag na Caillich (NN 562377, 914m) 14.8 kilometres850m of ascent Some days even I give up on trying to come up with new ways to climb old hills, and just go out and walk a … Continue reading →

Glen Prosen: Driesh From The East

Wed, 18 May 2022 13:00:00 +0200

Hill of Strone (NO 288729, 850m)Driesh (NO 271735, 947m) 18.3 kilometres890 metres of ascent Driesh is usually climbed along with it neighbour to the west, Mayar. Most people seem to come in from Glen Doll in the north, a route I’ve previously described, but the longer approach from Glen Prosen in the south has its … Continue reading →

Scottish Hill Lists: The Classics

Wed, 11 May 2022 13:00:00 +0200

If you’ve spent any time at all reading The Oikofuge, you’ll have gathered that I’m quite interested in hills—climbing them, looking at other hills from their summits, understanding their names and their place in history, landscape and land-use. What you won’t have seen me mention very often is the plethora of classifications that have been … Continue reading →

Sydney Scroggie: The Cairngorms Scene & Unseen

Wed, 04 May 2022 13:00:00 +0200

The Cairngorms lay beneath what was now a local bonnet of cloud. Everything else was in sunshine and dazzling with colours, cobalts and browns and bright greens, all the peaks around glowing with the pristine pigments of an illuminated manuscript, as far as distant Lochnagar and Beinn a’ Ghlo. Then even the interior gloom began to … Continue reading →

Lomond Reservoirs Circuit

Wed, 20 Apr 2022 13:00:00 +0200

East Lomond (NO 243061, 434m)West Lomond (NO 197066, 522m)Bishop Hill (NO 185043,461m) 20 kilometres710 metres of ascent Having previously climbed West Lomond and East Lomond from the Craigmead car park, and having made a more recent traverse of Bishop Hill from the Holl Reservoir car park, I decided it was time to chain all three … Continue reading →

Bishop Hill Circuit

Wed, 09 Mar 2022 14:00:00 +0200

Bishop Hill (NO 185043, 461m) 13.5 kilometres370 metres of ascent Bishop Hill is a prominent ridge on the far side of Loch Leven for anyone driving on the M90. Together with West and East Lomond, it encloses an area of tilted terrain, dotted with reservoirs, northwest of Glenrothes. I parked at the Holl Reservoir car … Continue reading →

Prosen-Clova: Airlie Memorial To Hill Of Couternach

Wed, 09 Feb 2022 14:00:00 +0200

The Goal (NO 361639, 459m)Hill of Couternach (NO 356659, 512m) 13.7 kilometres470 metres of ascent The Airlie Memorial stands on the shoulder of Tulloch Hill, which is the prow of a long ridge separating Glen Prosen to the west from Glen Clova in the east. It’s another of those places conjured into legendary status in … Continue reading →

Nan Shepherd: The Living Mountain

Wed, 02 Feb 2022 14:00:00 +0200

[…] I toiled up the last slope and came out above Glen Einich. Then I gulped the frosty air—I could not contain myself, I jumped up and down, I laughed and shouted. There was the whole plateau, glittering white, within reach of my fingers, an immaculate vision, sun-struck, lifting against a sky of dazzling blue. … Continue reading →

Tinto

Wed, 05 Jan 2022 14:00:00 +0200

Tinto (NS 953343, 711m) 8.3 kilometres510 metres of ascent I feel vaguely embarrassed to be writing about an ascent of a popular hill by a popular route, but sometimes ingenuity escapes me. Tinto is the site of a great missed pun opportunity for me. Decades ago, I was invited to climb it along with an … Continue reading →

Ochils: Ben Cleuch From The North

Wed, 17 Nov 2021 14:00:00 +0200

Ben Shee (NN 952039, 516m)Cairnmorris Hill (NN 933016, 606m)Skythorn Hill (NN 926013, 601m)Andrew Gannel Hill (NN 918006, 670m)Ben Cleuch (NN 902006, 721m)Ben Buck (NN 896014, 679m)Ben Buck NE Top (NN 904024, 583m) 20 kilometres790 metres of ascent Most of the foot traffic on Ben Cleuch, the highest point in the Ochil Hills, comes up the … Continue reading →

Glen Doll: White Water Circuit

Wed, 20 Oct 2021 13:00:00 +0200

Tom Buidhe (NO 214787, 957m)Tolmount (NO 210800, 958m)Crow Craigies (NO 221798, 920m) 21 kilometres910 metres of ascent These three rounded summits form a horseshoe around the headwaters of the White Water, which flows down Glen Doll to join the South Esk in Glen Clova. I’ve visited them all before, but never linked them up into … Continue reading →

Ben Vrackie From The West

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 13:00:00 +0200

Ben Vrackie (NN 950632, 841m)Meall na h-Aodainn Moire (NN 941622, 633m) 14 kilometres900 metres of ascent This one is much less eccentric than most of my “familiar hills from an unusual direction” reports—the route to Vrackie from the west is well-documented, but considerably less-travelled than the tourist route from the south. There’s even the potential … Continue reading →

Glen Doll – Glen Clova Circuit

Wed, 25 Aug 2021 13:00:00 +0200

Cairn Lunkard (NO 232781, 863m)Craigs of Loch Esk (NO 237786, 851m) 17 kilometres790 metres of ascent This is a classic circular route over the plateau between Glen Doll and upper Glen Clova, but it’s been fifty years since I last walked it. I was put in mind of doing it again during my recent trip … Continue reading →

Sidlaws: Long Loch Circuit

Wed, 28 Jul 2021 13:00:00 +0200

Lundie Craigs (NO 281378, 353m)Keillor Hill (NO 281385, 334m)Donald’s Brae (NO 293396, c280m)Auchtertyre Hill (NO 293398, 278m)Newtyle Hill (NO 296399, 270m) 8.5 kilometres210 metres of ascent It’s been a while since I’ve posted a new walk in the Sidlaws. This one accesses an old ridge-walk from a new direction. I’ve previous visited these hills either … Continue reading →

CCCP 2021: Beinn a’ Chuallaich

Wed, 23 Jun 2021 13:00:00 +0200

Beinn a’ Chuallaich (NN 684617, 892m) 13 kilometres720 metres of ascent The Crow Craigies Climbing Party was again prevented by Covid restrictions from assembling in full force this year, but the founding members managed to get together for a socially distanced day on the hill nevertheless. Our aim this year was to climb Beinn a’ … Continue reading →

Glen Doll: Craig Mellon to Cairn Damff

Wed, 12 May 2021 13:00:00 +0200

Craig Mellon (NO 262773, 866m)Cairn Broadlands (NO 270777, 852m)Craig Damff (NO 247777, 846m) 15.5 kilometres800 metres of ascent Craig Mellon and Cairn Broadlands dominate the view up Glen Clova as you approach the road-head—neatly paired humps with Glen Doll on the left and upper Glen Clova on the right. The broad slope between the two … Continue reading →

Lockdown Walks: Three Brochs

Wed, 28 Apr 2021 13:00:00 +0200

An exploration of three lowland broch sites near Dundee

Lockdown Walks: The Dundee-Newtyle Railway (Part 2)

Wed, 31 Mar 2021 13:00:00 +0200

At the end of my previous post, I left you gazing at the blind end of the old railway bridge over Lochee High Street. Back in the ’70s, there used to be several of these bricked-off gaps along the line of the old Dundee-Newtyle railway, But this is the last one left---it doesn't even have a partner on the other side of the road.

GPS Navigation With Historical Maps

Wed, 17 Mar 2021 14:00:00 +0200

A project to transfer an out-of-copyright georeferenced historical Ordnance Survey map from the National Library of Scotland website, to use with the GPS of an Android phone

Continue reading GPS Navigation With Historical Maps at The Oikofuge.

Lockdown Walks: The Dundee-Newtyle Railway (Part 1)

Wed, 10 Mar 2021 14:00:00 +0200

This one follows the route of the old Dundee-Newtyle railway, as it weaves around town. The track bed is long gone (I can only just remember the occasional goods train plying this route in the early 1960s), and subsequent demolition and building work has left little of even industrial-archaeological interest ---but it's a pleasant route to follow, and wide enough to allow two-metre distancing throughout, with a little care (and occasional willingness to step off the path).

Continue reading Lockdown Walks: The Dundee-Newtyle Railway (Part 1) at The Oikofuge.