We found ourselves in Alva on Saturday in the mid morning sunshine. A part of Scotland I was not very familiar with and a village that appears to be going through a transition. A more spectacular backdrop is hard to find, the Ochils rising majestically vertically from behind the town. The yellow gorse was in full bloom and there were loads of walkers out. We donned our gear for the recce for next weeks 'Up and Down Mountain Trials' and eventually found our way through the Silver Glen onto the start of the Alva Glen, a river cut ravine. There were other couples who we spied salted around the course and who looked suspiciously like they were also familiarising themselves with the topography. All looked lean, upright postures...folk who hadnt had a good slap up feed in weeks.
We hit the wide gravel path and headed straight up the glen. It rose steadily and I was soon lagging behind Speedy Joe. At the top we saw two others running down from the right. We nodded and then spent a good several minutes looking at the photo copied map I had squirreled away in my bag. I couldn't get my bearings at all. The visibility was good and the hills rolling. However, I didn't have enough features on the map to fix my position. Speedy dug out google maps on the phone and we eventually got going on the right route, but only after a 2 mile excursion to Ben elsewhere - don't ask me where? We said hello to the various walkers and folk who seemed more intimate with this part of the Countryside than we were. The clouds began to clear and it warmed up as we descended before climbing again and I stopped for a gel and some water and salt at the top of Ben something at 8 miles or so. We began to descend and this time managed to keep to the course, meeting a walking couple whom we had passed on the way up to compare notes. Of the bizarre sights on our travels, we noticed a single black lambs leg on the grass, and, later, a grey squirrel wandering around the moors without a tree in sight. Omens or what? and if so, omens of what? Squirrels are totems of preparedness, animals known for preparing for harder times. They are also known for their playfulness and energy, but I certainly wasnt feeling 'the squirrel'. As far as the lambs leg goes, I am really not sure. An omen of a big feck- off raptor, maybe? The dreamzone website suggests a lambs leg represents a gathering of friends and family to an important event. Where do they get this stuff? That said, it seems to fit, given Speedy has managed to get herself selected for the Home Internationals Womens Team this coming weekend and a wee posse are trooping along. Just watch out for the raptors; that's all I have to say on that matter!
As we came down to the bottom of the Glen we noticed a big bloke on the ground and I enquired if he was alright. He said he had bad leg cramps - so it was my turn to dish out the advice and salt tablets to him - his friend, who had been walking ahead, arrived and apologised for abandoning his buddy. No worries. We said our 'take care' and no sooner had we began to descend when I bumped into Roger Van G. an old clubmate from the Hawks. We had a wee chat and with the sun beginning to generate serious joules, we soon got going again. We nearly took a shortcut through a farmyard, but the posh bloke who owned it shooed us away, blidy plebs - we were sent packing. The very idea of it! Precious...
Back at the car we changed, checked for beasties and took off to find a nice deli to have a coffee and Panini. Regrettably, neither Alva nor Menstrie appear to have thought of opening anything as advanced as this, so there's a business opportunity for someone out there. We stopped at the rather less exotic Baynes Bakers outside Stirling and sat in the sun on the kerb for 15 minutes with a basic pastry thing and a cuppa. Its Lomond Uphill on Friday and a return to Alva on the Sunday. Wish us luck!
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