Craigmore or Limecraig?
On Sunday, I had a hangover. After just two Joker IPA’s, my head ached and I didn’t want to get out of bed. Either I’m getting old or my liver has acclimated to the pubs being shut. I felt rubbish but I’d set the goal of summiting Craigmore. On such a beautiful day I knew I’d be disappointed in myself if I didn’t. So Olive and I set off in the evening after finally getting moving.
I knew approximately where I was headed, but was working off fuzzy intel from friends about where the path was. As I hit my rhythm, I started to feel the hangover abate. Exercise is maybe the most reliable hangover cure, but I rarely manage to motivate myself to get out there. I was thankful I had.
We got to The Lodge just above Aberfoyle, which is an outdoor centre, cafe and where you start the Go Ape adventure course. As you can see from the photo it’s a good spot for a cappuccino. This was where I made my wrong turn. I took the Limecraig path instead of Craigmore. By the time I realised it was too late.
Adventures don’t always go to plan, but that’s what makes them adventures. The trail snakes through beautiful woodland, up out of the treeline and finishes at the summit of Limecraig. The 360° view of the Campsies and the Forth Valley is spectacular. Although I wasn’t where I’d planned to go, I was fine with where I’d ended up.
I could see the East was being drowned in a rainstorm and the wind was buffeting it in my direction – it was time to make a move. Olive and I flew whipped down the path and were home ahead of the rain. Before I was finished stretching, she was asleep. Overall, we’d covered 15km, been out for 2 hours and burned almost 2000 calories. The hangover was gone and we could sit back and enjoy that restful feeling you get after exercise.
