Three Stones Circular - 4th August, 2023

Less than 6 weeks to go to our walking weekend in the Lake District and we haven't done much walking this year. Yesterday, again just 4 of us available for a local walk. Dave picked me up and drove us over the Slug road to the car park at Fetteresso Forest where Balfour Beatty are upgrading the power lines. We were early so had to wait for Jeb and Vicki to arrive. Ruby was anxious to get started:

This is the start point and the road up the hill is clearly visible. Pretty much the whole route is well maintained forest tracks - wide enough for the contractors' lorries - and very cyclable too.

After Jeb and Vicki - plus Ozzie - arrived, we started walking at 1:40 pm and finished exactly two and a half hours later. The All Trails web site had indicated the circular walk was 11.9 kms and would take an average of 3 hours 23 mins but it was an easy walk and the quality of the trails allowed us to keep up a good pace, so even though the actual distance we walked was a little longer, we completed it almost an hour quicker than forecast.

There were a few optional turnings - e.g. up to the Durris mast - but we managed to stick to the planned route - with one brief exception when we strayed up the path that was leading to Glenbervie. Now that would have been some walk! While we sorted out which way to go, this slight faux pas afforded us the opportunity for a team photo on the bridge over the free-flowing burn:

We had planned to meet Colin for beers at the Legion after our walk, but first we had to drop off Dave's car - and Ruby - at his house, with Jeb picking us up and driving all of us over to the Legion, where Colin, having received our order by text, had already lined up the beers.

Vicki took the Volvo - and Ozzie - home after a swift half and the rest of us then raced through 4 pints before Jayne arrived to take Dave home.

A fine afternoon but we need a few more of them before heading to the Lake District. Here's the stats from yesterday's walk: