| The Touch and Gargunnock
Hills
(Stirling Bike Club discover
why there are no tracks marked here on the OS map)
Sunday 3rd November 2002.
An autumnal day in Kings Park
Nearly leaving with Nigel, because he obviously thinks by
10am we mean 10 past 10am, we rode through Cambusbarron and
picked up the road/ track to Touch Reservoir (NS 725 915,
elapsed time: 1 hr).
The Gang.
Steve & Neil Blennerhasset, Nigel Bogtrotter, Andrew
Caldwell, Dave 'the boy' Brennan, Mike Walsh
Some walk, some cycle...
We carried on past the reservoir to the end of the quad-bike
track (NS 711905, 1hr 40m) and headed across 'no tracks here'
bog-land to the Cairn.
Pushing and carrying across bog-land.
...Oh no, I'll never get these stains out of my socks!...
Nigel pushes bog-trotting beyond acceptable limits. We all found ourselves up to our knees in cold, boggy water at some point.
Our route attempted to keep to the high ground. The occasional
quad track was picked up, and two fences were crossed. It
was decided that a microlight was needed to scout the tracks. This
bit is a long, hard slog. We sort of picked up a track
at Tulmore, but hardly any of it was rideable.
Andrew and Dave approach the cairn.
Sheltering from the wind and rain at the cairn (NS 687 918,
3h5m).
Those who had not bothered to bring any lunch were starting
to regret their error. I was embarrassed to watch as Andrew
and Dave squabbled over the remains of one of my sandwiches.
We then got a bit lost.
The 1:50,000 OS map shows a track at NS 677 918. This appears
to be no more than a quad-bike track. The 1:25,000 map shows
another track starting at NS 684 915. This is the track
we
eventually headed for...it is a good quality track but it
is not the quad-bike track visible from the cairn.
It's like a motorway up here. Horribly big rocks eventually
gave way to small rocks.
Crossing the burn at NS 662 896. Nigel's rucsac nearly didn't
make it.
The track at NS 954 600 (4h20m)
Looking west
Descending to the road at Ballochleam Farm (NS 656 927,
4h26m), a mix of minor roads and tracks got us through Gargunnock. The A811 took us into Stirling. The fun was not over, however,
as we were treated to a sight of Dave Brennan blowing up
and having to push his bike up the small climb to the King's
Knot (NS 787 387 5h30m).
Total time spent moving 3h50m, distance: 40km from Kings
Park.
We rounded the day off with pizza and coffee at Corrieri's
(NS 805 956).
Welcome back Dave!
Contour map for the day's ride
(height (m) vs distance)
Tracklog - (see disclaimer)*
Associated file: Text
from file 'TouchHills081102b.txt'.txt
In addition, a GPS
Utility file may also be downloaded containing the following
route information.
The tracklog is for a clockwise circuit of this route, has
minor breaks, and finishes just short of the car park at the
end of the ride.
GPS Waypoints
*Disclaimer
The above information is provided for planning purposes only
and I accept no responsibility with regard to its accuracy.
Always carry a map and a compass and prepare for the unexpected. Please leave these hills in a state where we can continue
to enjoy them.
Additional Note: There are signs on this route stating that
the area is a "Game Conservation Area". We chose to
ignore these signs as there are also many grouse-shooting
butts,
particularly after Carleatheran cairn. The choice is yours.
© Crispin Bennett 2002.
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