#glen ogle

It was early in the morning. The arches of the railroad bridge stretched out before her, spanning along the mountainside. She hesitated. Walking back wouldn’t be an option. She only barely walked past the guardsmen with their dogs without waking them.

So she had to push on, walking the slopes would leave a highly visible trail of broken twigs and flattened ferns that would most certainly give her direction away. So following the railroad would at least give her a chance of getting away unnoticed.

Stepping up the bridge, she looked back once more, inhaling a deep breath of fresh morning air and thinking ‘No way a train will come here that early’.

Counting the railroad ties with every step, she walked on. 1, 2, 3…40, 41, 42…when suddenly..

…a whining echoing whistle cut through the air. Repeating itself between the mountains! ‘A train’ she thought, eyes wide open, shocked and contemplating its distance from her and the bridge she had now crossed for half of its length. ‘A train closing in, not visible yet, behind the bend!’

Two options remained. Running back or keep running in the direction she was going. Hoping she will beat the oncoming train and reach the end of the bridge before it gets there.

Glen Ogle trail

The last time i walked this route was when i quit the cigarettes about 4 years back. Still suffering from the effects of smoking 40 a day. I huffed and puffed my way up Glen Ogle and after taking a wrong turn in Ahcarn Forest huffed and puffed my way around that for a few extra miles. This time i was planning on hike/run it and not take that wrong turn in the forest. To start the actual route you have to haul yourself up about 400ft of hillside to get onto a disused railway line. I forgot how steep this climb was and was soon out of breath and feeling quite warm. But i made it to top of the climb without stopping.

From there it is a case of following the old railway line up over the Glen Ogle Viaduct and then its onto the cycle path to the beautiful town of Killin.