The start of a journey run is normally characterised by a happy throng of runners, pink-cheeked and bright eyed and chatting excitedly about the challenge to come of running a long way over lush green hills and purple heather in the company of like-minded friends. Helen and I travelled up together for the Lomonds journey run; as we turned into the windswept and deserted car park at Craigmead there was not a sign to be seen of a pink-cheeked runner, etc, etc. No-one else turned up. The weather wasn’t good, although better than the forecast, and Helen was recovering from a heavy cold so we decided to run just half the course. As we had recce’d the route a few weeks earlier we decided to do something a little different – a Plan B day was forming.
We ran along the track towards West Lomond, suffering from what the Met Office call “severe buffeting” by the wind. Part way along we dropped down into a gully to find a delightful path which contours high along the hillside and crosses the large and dramatically rocky gully of Craigen Gaw. The path dropped gently down towards the Bonnet Stone so we sheltered in the howff inside the Stone for a little refreshment. Helen thought that the head of the Bonnet Stone looked very like ET; I thought that he looked rather disconsolate which is hardly surprising if he had swapped the warm Californian sunshine for a typical Scottish winter’s day.
We needed to get back up onto West Lomond so we opted for the directissimo route, straight up the steep hillside. At one point we were side-by-side climbing on all fours up the steep slippery hillside. At the top, we contoured round to the Devil’s Burdens then continued on to the Harperleas reservoir and back to Craigmead. We had the prospect of a cold picnic lunch in the car; a much better use of the car was to motor down through Falkland to warmth and hot food at the Pillars of Hercules. It was an ending worthy of a Plan B day.
Nigel Rose