Dumyat

On Dumyat

Dumyat - how is this pronounced?

Today we'd meant to go a bit further north for a bigger hill, but I got caught up in telephone conversations with my parents, trying to sort out a crisis from 230 miles away.  Chatting to nurses and doctors from that distance is so frustrating.  I even considered going south to try to help out,  but in the end I think things resolved.

So what to do with the rest of the day?  It would be dark by 4pm.

Time was running out and so I suggested Dumyat in the Ochils - a nice little walk with good views over the Forth plain.

By the time we got there, the sunshine of Edinburgh had turned into gloom.  The bigger Ochil hills were deep in mist.  The views would be limited.

We parked on the Sheriffmuir road already at some height and headed over muddy ground on a well trodden path to the top where a brazier was set up to hold beacon flames.

The trig point looked down on the meandering Forth. The Wallace Monument was there, looking small and insignificant.  We were also high above the castle, the Great Hall painted in a strange magnolia colour very visible from this vantage point. 

It was a popular afternoon's walk - there were lots of people around and it is always nice to see families taking kids into the hills.  I hope they enjoy the movement, the space, the hope that the mountains provide. 



Just being out for a couple of hours was good, green exercise.   A nice break from the current stresses and worries.  With my parents and my job things are getting me down at the moment and I am not sure when something will give out.    It is making these weekly escapes to the hills absolutely essential.   Green exercise by the way is the topic of the next piece I am writing for TGO, how exercise outdoors has massive positive psychological impacts.  I need them at the moment.