Conic Hill; 01 January 2024

For my first excursion of the year, I took a small group up the famous Conic Hill, a well-known small climb a little north of Glasgow on the shores of Loch Lomond. We arrived at the base of the hill in the town of Balmaha just before sunrise, which gave us some great views of the sun coming up during our ascent and at the summit 30 minutes later. There was some snow and icy spots along the trail, but thankfully the winds were calm. From the summit we could see the sun rising over the Campsie Fells and Kilpatrick Hills to our south, lighting up Loch Lomond. Unfortunately clouds to our north prevented us seeing Ben Lomond and the Arrochar Alps, but the views were spectacular regardless. During the descent we ran into a small herd of Highland cows, the first time I’ve actually seen the long-haired variety outside a farm. When we got back to the car park, we got hot chocolates to warm up, sipping on them as we strolled along the shores of Loch Lomond. On the way back to Glasgow we took a short detour to see the spectacular ruins of Buchanan Castle.

Loch Lomond from the Conic Hill ascent

Loch Lomond shoreline from the town of Balmaha

Buchanan Castle ruins

A Highland Cow on the side of Conic Hill

Chris watching the sun rise from the top of Conic Hill

Conic Hill ascent