Road test.

Forecast was a little sketchy but we decided to risk it anyway. Fortune favours the brave! No thunder storms and no rain. We had found a walk that was about 20 minutes away. It's getting to the point that we have to drive a little to get a new walk. This one was well worth the effort.

Even for here the views were outstanding. It was a steep climb but the path was well defined.

Funnily enough the slope up or down is easier on my foot than the flat. It's the bending of the foot that causes the pain. It was bloody steep. Luckily I had my hiking poles which made the whole thing a little easier.

That's loch Leven. Mary Queen of Scot's was imprisoned on one of the islands. The other notable thing is that it's 6ft deep at its maximum depth and this makes it particularly important for wading birds.

We have walked around it 13 miles in circumference but very easy as it's flat the entire way.

We reached the top and stopped for lunch. You would struggle to get views like this without being swamped by people. Not here!

So quiet all you hear is the hum of insects. We met only one other person on the way up.

It had a great view of the Lomond Hill that we had previously scaled.

The good news is that the road test was successful. A couple of twinges but no screaming.

It's a strange thing but going up although strenuous is easier than coming down.

We returned to site and are starting to contact sites in Spain for our winter getaway. Tomorrow is when the list of next year's availability becomes available. We have to select a top 3 choices and then we await the lottery. Not sure what the plans are at this stage.

Tomorrow we are transporting the dog to his sleep over by bicycle.

Almost forgot the start of the walk was through proper woodlands. It had a New Forest feel. So few woodlands up here apart from the Scot Pines it was a treat.