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As a Volunteer Ranger for the Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park there are many places within the park that i know very well, and a few places that I have never been to or know very little about. My John Muir Award is focusing on those places that I have yet to see and experience.

On 26th Jan I teamed up with fellow VR and JMA-er Liam to explore and discover Glen Kinglas. The plan being to walk up the glen and find the Abyssinia bothy.

One thing that struck me was the lack of obvious wildlife in the glen. We saw a few sheep, some clinging to the steep hillsides and rocky outcrops. But we saw no other animals or birds. Other than the sound of the Kinglas Water rushing by and the wind blowing down the glen it was completely silent.

We reached the Bothy in good time and faced our first hurdle, the ford across the river! I wasn't sure about crossing at all, it was outwith my comfort zone and the thought of having wet, cold feet wasn't appealing. But we'd already come that far and with the Bothy so close we just had to go for it! I was surprised that the rocks underfoot, rounded by so many years of the water tumbling over them, weren't at all slippy. What a relief! Once inside the Bothy we quickly had the stove blazing away and were able to get warm and dry again. Time for lunch!

Abyssinia must have been an amazing place to live. It was originally a shepherds cottage and you can easily imagine the hard life of the shepherd once you're within the stone walls. With the Allt Uaine rushing past for fresh water and the steep craggy slopes of Beinn Chorranach rising behind, it is such a dramatic location. Standing at the door of the Bothy we took a few minutes to just stand and listen to the wind, watching the clouds racing across the sky and we felt quite small.

A couple of walkers appeared, they had climbed over the hills behind the Bothy and mentioned snow on the tops. It was funny to see other people in such a remote location.

We packed up our gear and left the Bothy as we found it, planning to come back another day. The stories in the folder in the Bothy about it being haunted didn't put us off!

Another crossing of the river, wet feet again and then the walk back down the glen to Butterbridge. As we walked, looking down the glen to Beinn an Lochainn, we noticed the hills were rapidly disapearing in a thick wall of grey, the temperature was dropping rapidly and it was getting suddenly darker. Then we were hit by a stinging wall of hail, driving horizontally down the glen towards us! Thankfully it soon turned to less painful snow, but the wind didn't let up.

As the snow shower cleared we were treated to the most stunning views. The hill tops reappearing amid wisps of cloud, with a light icing sugar dusting of snow highlighting the crags. It was truly breathtaking and we found ourselves just standing and staring at the majestic beauty before us.

Not far to get back to the car, heater on, get the feeling back in our frozen fingers and toes.

It was a superb day of exploring and discovering a special wild place. I'm now going to spend some time learing about glacial landscapes, drumlins and erratics! And we will be going back to the Bothy, hopefully on a clear night for a spot of star gazing.

today I spent an hour watching garden birds and writing down what I saw for the Big Garden Bird Watch.