I chose this route from a book Pathfinder Guide No 23, Loch Lomond and Trossachs Walks. I had never been on it before but the report said there was a good track throughout and the walk was circular. Pat, Kenneth and myself travelled together and met Jackie and Nan who had arrived minutes before us.

We started at 10.15 am from Brig ‘o’ Turk which I hadn’t realised existed till now. It was a dismal day with low cloud base and drizzle. There was a sign at the start saying this walk was called the Mell Trail and should take 7 hours, which we had estimated although my guide book suggested 5½ hours. The route lead us to the Glen Finglas Reservoir and within 45 minutes we had reached the junction where we end up at and join the track back. There was an tiny island that over the past few years due to lack of rainfall has joined up with the mainland again. We kept to the track, which followed the shore and eventually the rained stopped in time for lunch. This is where Jackie got on his soapbox and started putting the world to right and Kenneth revealed his strange filling in his sandwiches.

After a few hours into the walk we began the ‘long unrelenting climb’ as described in the book. By this time we were in the clouds and there was a light covering of snow on the track. We saw rows of spectacular icicles, which reminded us how cold it was. Maybe it was a blessing that we couldn’t see very far in front, therefore couldn’t see how the path continued to wind it’s way upwards for what seemed forever.

At last we reached a cairn! This must be as far upwards as we go! Up till this point we hadn’t seen a soul then three very exhausted mountain bikers appeared from the mist to meet us. They were also glad that their climb was over and were looking to the downhill ride from there on. We continued downhill and about 2 hours from the end the cloud lifted and we began to appreciate the scenery around us. Back at the reservoir, it was so still that it looked like a mirror. We plodded on and arrived back at the car for 5 p.m. just as we had predicted. We never met anyone else apart from those bikers all day which was unusual.

This is certainly a walk we would do again as we missed out on the scenery. We felt exhausted after 13½ miles of various inclines. We then finished off the day in the Forth Inn, Aberfoyle where waited for Steve, Alison, Kathryn, Chris, Nita and Keith.

Irene Cahill