Doorway to light
Originally uploaded by Lidwit.
What a cracking walk... literally.
Today's adventure went off road somewhat heading for what is known as The Whangie. Strange but true. A couple of miles north of Carbeth on the A809, we pulled into Queens View car park and headed up... and up... and up the Auchineden Hill, braving bogs and cow pats in search of this unusual geological feature.
To explain the Whangie is a geological fault that is about 50 ft deep and 300 ft long. and was probably caused by glacial movement way back in the dim and distant past. The more colourful explanation however is the local myth suggesting that it was a crack caused by the devil whipping his tail during a meeting with witches and warlocks. Either way it's an interesting walk and popular with climbers although they were hiding on our visit.
The walk from the car park over to The Whangie is about 1.5 miles - so not very far... unless you're us. It's pretty unclear as you go, which path you're meant to take and at one fork we opted to go up the hill (following the people) taking us up to a fairly level area of bog, marsh and cow pats surrounding a trig point. The views from up here were pretty spectacular. To the north - Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, to the west - Burncrooks reservoir, to the south Glasgow and the northern suburbs and to the east, Strathblane and the Campsie Fells. Beautiful enough on a dullish day but on a clear day this would be even more amazing.
But of course it wasn't a clear day... or particularly sunny and bright - no. Fortunately it wasn't raining but that didn't really make any difference to the going. This was, quite something else and more than once we found ourselves trying to leap across burns and bog and not a few quagmires into the bargain. 
Us? Shy away from adversity? Never!
We just kept plodding on... in roughly the wrong direction. Ho hum. We were so caught up in the views from the top of the hill that we forgot to watch where everyone else was going and headed off the wrong way. It was a lovely walk, wade, walk, wade, but eventually we realised that we weren't getting anywhere close to our destination and decided to retrace our steps... wade, walk, wade, walk... 
What we should have done was taken the lower fork in the path which leads straight to the Whangie... but we didn't know this. So we went the long way round and in the process were rewarded with the views I mentioned earlier. Not to worry. We got there eventually and it was well worth the trek.
And that was it. Whanged! All done bar the wade, clamber, walk, stumble back to the car for a well earned banana and a fresh pair of unmuddy shoes. Only that wasn't really it... was it?
Oh we made it off the hill okay, and in one piece which I considered impressive given some of the rough ground. We jumped in the car and headed for home to the tune of my dashboard playing the bagpipes and asking for fuel. I duly stopped and filled her up with petrol - as you do... if you happen to have a car that runs on petrol.
DANG!
Or similar four letter words to that effect. Six miles from home and we were stuck in a petrol station with my poorly wee diesel buggy filled to the brim with the wrong fuel. And guess who forgot to pack her AA card. Doh! The good news is they came anyway and towed us home but that was all they could do - being a Sunday there was no garage open and no hope of getting her running again. Sorry Foggy. (Yes I'm one of those sad women who names her car - deal with it).
And there ended a lovely day. Understandably there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth from my husband and subsequently much draining of funds from el credit cardito. But also a valuable lesson was learned. Never trust the bright green circle inside my petrol cap that seems to suggest it might take unleaded... it doesn't.
Before I go I should mention that The Whangie is also a popular destination for scouts and guides visiting the local outdoor centre at Auchengillan. And in the spirit of this it just remains for me to start a sing song. All together now, after three...
1 - 2 - 3
Lidie is a diddy
Lidie is a diddy
!
3 comments:
A quick update on Foggy for anyone who's interested. A very nice man came to see her today, drained all the offending gunk from her tank and fuel line and gave her a nice drink of diesel. Ahhhhhh. She's feeling much better now thankfully.
An interesting point to note however, is that I am not alone in my foolishness. Apparently there were 44,000 UK drivers last year who did the self same thing - and that's just the ones who contacted the AA. In fact, the AA have now set up specialist patrols called 'Fuel Specialists' who's sole purpose is to visit idiots like me and drain their fuel tanks... for a fee. Sigh!
Told you you weren't the only one!!!! Glad its sorted now though. I will drive next time :)
That's okay, I think we're reasonably safe as I don't imagine I'll be making the same mistake in a hurry. At £175 a pop I don't plan on being so stupid again... I can't afford to.
Post a Comment