LIFETIME of WALKS by DEREK HARWOOD

Parked the car on the south shore of Loch Earn (Perthshire), near the Falls of Edinample and Edinample Castle. Inspected the other side of a tree by the car before we started the walk. From the road we walked around the building site of the bridge repairs to the track up Glen Ample. Good track alongside the western side of Burn of Ample to Glenample Farm. Here we crossed the burn using a good bridge suitable for vehicles and then scaled a stile to a path alongside the eastern bank of the burn. We circumnavigated the farm and walked up a straight good track, missing the stile on the right for the direct route. After about half a kilometer of steady ascent Eddie realised we weren't on the best route, so we detoured left up a corridor clearing in the pine trees towards the direct track. Just before we reached the edge of the pine trees we walked past a small carpet of primroses to a high wire fence. We had no idea where the stiles were to cross the fence, so we were forced to scale the fence if we were to proceed. The good direct track was just on the high side of the fence, with good views across and along Glen Ample. As we slowly ascended up the track we passed many small pools of water on the track. Some of the bigger pools were inhabited with hundreds of tadpoles. A strange environment for these creatures on the side of a mountain (Munro). As we reached a small plateau between Ben Vorlich and Ben Our, the tracked petered out in the long grass. As we climbed higher, the summit of Stuc a' Chroin (See Walk No.526), on the right, became more and more prominent and impressive. Without realising, we crossed the boundary from Stirlingshire to Perthshire. As we approached the summit, the views unfolded in all directions, with excellent views of Loch Earn, the surrounding mountains and the Munros to the west, especially Ben More and Stob Binnein. We could even clearly see the prominent peak of Dumgoyne, part of the Strathblane Hills, to the south near Killearn Village. After the compulsory summit photographs we descended by the same route except the small detour through the pine forest above Glenample Farm. This time we scaled the huge stile over the high fence into the pine forest near the farm. We soon reached the path alongside the burn on the west side of the farm. This time the path was populated with many large pigs rummaging in the undergrowth. They were difficult to pass on the narrow path. We continued to the vehicle bridge and the good track down to Edinample and the parked car. The weather was very kind to us for the whole of the walk, giving us excellent views at all times. Another wonderful Munro bagged, thanks to the help of Eddie.