The narrow, single track road to Balquhidder is the gateway to a multitude of great hills, from the mighty Munros of Beinn Tulaichean and Stob Binnein at the northern end of the road to a trio of Corbetts that span the road to the north and south, all exciting challenges in their own right. However, today it was not the mighty hills that drew us to Balquhidder, but rather the mystique of names such as Lochan an Eireannaich and Rob Roy’s Putting Stone in an area where the legendary Rob Roy MacGregor lived, and is now buried in the grounds of Balquhidder Church.

The forested area of Kirkton Glen lies to the north of Balquhidder and has a network of good forest tracks giving access to the hills beyond. And, so it was via a short section of narrow, muddy track behind the Balquhidder Community Centre that we followed to gain one of the main central tracks leading up the glen just on the north side of the Kirkton Burn. This main track made for a leisurely ascent up through the forest towards it’s north western boundary, which was a bonus, given that the weather was not the best as a fairly heavy drizzle accompanied us every step of the way. Occasionally as we walked through the forest the low cloud and mist cleared a little to show the hillsides ahead, still holding snow in some of the gullies and open ground of the hills ahead. We had a short break at the highest point of the loop in the main forest track before diving into the forest on a single narrow path for the final stretch of forest before reaching the boundary fence and crossing the small burn and onto the open hillside.

Here the going became a little more challenging, with the soft, muddy track winding ahead, sometime indistinct in the grass and heather, and eventually, as we gained height at times being lost completely as we crossed some sections of snow covered hillsides, the snow depth varying from boot crunching solid surface to the occasional ankle or even knee deep bank of snow. Additionally, with the height came the low cloud base, with visibility gradually worsening to a point where it was just a few hundred metres at best, as was demonstrated with the eerie sight of the mass of Rob Roy’s Putting Stone appearing out of the gloom as we approached it through the mist. As legends go, the mighty Rob Roy is reputed to have used this massive stone as a trial of strength much as the modern day shot-putter does in an athletic competition. Some legends may have a ring of probability about them, others, well maybe, after a few drams too many! A short distance beyond the “putting stone” lies the beautiful Lochan an Eireannaich, The Loch of the Irishman and this time the legend is a more plausible one, in that the name refers to the Irish missionaries who frequented Kirkton Glen in the 5th century. Whatever, it is a beautiful spot, even in todays mist and snow and the lochan with it’s covering of thin ice around the edges, just magnificent, and a perfect spot for lunch.

Our return route back to the main forest track was a fairly straight forward affair, we simply retraced our steps back over the open hillside, down the narrow forest track and out onto the broad forest track at the north western end of the forest. Except that is for one minor point. We had a slight delay while Andy extracted his leg from a deep snowhole he had stepped into, only to find that his foot was now minus a shoe, and such was the grasp of the snow and water all attempts to extract the shoe were failing and Andy was looking to an awkward walk back to the cars when one last effort saw the shoe, somewhat damaged, but finally extracted from the hole.

Eventually we did rejoin the main forest track, and made a very easy and leisurely return via the uppermost forest loop back to Balquhidder where we made a short visit to the churchyard and Rob Roy’s grave, before retrieving our cars and making the short journey to Mhor 84 for coffee and some delicious cakes and snacks.

A brilliant day and wonderful walk, thanks all, and Jack