Getting Lost in the Woods of Laggan Hill, Crieff

On our second morning in Loch Monzievaird, I enquired at reception about walks in the area and was told that I could take a circular walk around Laggan Hill and that it would ‘take about an hour’. After assuring the owner that I am indeed a seasoned walker, I left the grounds of Loch Monzievaird and set off up the hill.

It will surprise absolutely no one that I got lost

This is the point at which I went wrong, turning towards Trowan instead of veering toward Puddock Wood. What I thought would be a short 1 hour, 3 mile walk turned into a 5.5 mile or 9km hike.

Of course, for the longest time, I didn't realise that I was lost or that I was heading due west instead clockwise around an east, south-east loop.

This had nothing to do with me stopping every 3 minutes to admire the views and take photos of the scenery.

I soon found myself wandering deeper and deeper into the forest. I have to admit, I was pretty much in my element at this point until the path veered in a direction that I was absolutely not expecting it to.

It got to a point where I was photographing any landmark I could find because I incorrectly thought Google maps had my location wrong too (it didn't, I was way off course). I had very little mobile phone coverage the whole time on our holiday and it was glorious.

Eventually, I realised with dismay that Google Maps was not wrong and that I was closer to Trowan than I ever expected to be. I tried to take the path to Baird’s Monument but I either took another wrong turn or the path to the monument is not passable after recent storms because I found myself in deep forest and definitely off the path. I turned around swiftly! Here is a link to the monument at IWM – it is really lovely, I wish I’d have found it.

'No matter', I thought, 'I'll have a nice cup of tea and maybe a scone when I reach Trowan'

Except, as you can see above, Trowan is little more than this house and is mainly named for the large farm is there.

I walked a little further, hoping to find the loop I was trying to circle, but I dropped my paper map at some point and with it, I lost my bottle. I'd already taken an hour walk alone and gotten lost. The responsible thing was to head back along the same path.

My route took me through the forest again…

… past scenes of incredible beauty. I might not have taken the path I’d been expecting to but I loved every minute of the walk (barring the part near Baird’s Monument where I went sliding down what may or may not have still been the path).

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