We had two wildly contrasting days for this late summer overnighter in the Lomond Hills. The first day provided an endlessly changing weatherscape as a sunny morning gave way to a wet afternoon and evening. The second day was as hot as high summer.
Butterflies and wildflowers had abounded for the walk in from the train at Markinch. But by the time we were on the flanks of East Lomond, we watched wave after wave of dense, dark clouds move through the Forth Estuary in the distance. They cast heavy downpours over Edinburgh which appeared then disappeared in the gloom. The showers eventually caught us too in sudden, short, sharp bursts. We soon decided it was quicker to pull the bothy bag over us than wrestle in and out of waterproofs each time.
We skipped the top of the hill and instead walked the track that contours round its south side. I like this route. It's very pleasant to walk and it feels ancient and atmospheric. It leads to the old limekilns, a beautiful spot, where today the sun briefly popped out.
We walked westwards and pitched the tents in a place that was hunkered down near Harperleas instead of the planned pitch on the exposed ridge of the Bishop. The tents were battered by wind and rain through the night so it was a wise change of plan. But the next day was beautiful with wall to wall sunshine that brought out the best of the purple heather.
After packing up the camp spot, we climbed up to an intriguing rock feature called the Devil's Burdens. It's a band of sandstone and volcanic rock that has weathered over time into strange shapes. It was a wonderful place to scramble around and to watch the wheatears flitting from rock to rock. A last sight of them before they fly back to Africa for the winter.
We picked our way back down through dense, purple heather and wandered through Glen Vale. The rock feature here known as John Knox's Pulpit presides over the glen. It's an outcrop of grey sandstone and its hidden valley is said to have hosted secret meetings of Covenanters in the 17th century. The valley was lush with colourful heather and rampant bracken.
Our onward route took us across fields and farm tracks to the shores of Loch Leven which was quiet and sleepy in late summer ahead of the noisy, busy arrival of thousands of geese in autumn.
From here the lochside trail took us into Kinross to catch a bus home.