UNLIKE the majority of Scotland's hillwalkers, I'm not a great lover ofsnow and at this time of year I've had more than enough of stumbling up and down knee-deep snow fields.

The days when I felt like a "real" mountaineer because I carried an ice axe and wore crampons vanished with my teenage spots and although I'm passionately fond of ski touring and, like most mountain lovers, welcome the first snows of the winter, when it gets to the fag-end of the season I develop a longing to smell warm earth and new grass, to hear oystercatchers and lapwings in the glens and golden plover on the tops.

More than anything else I get a craving to do nothing more than find a good spot with a view and fester in the sun.

It was for these reasons I turned my back on the northern hills, with their forecast of gale-force winds and heavy snow, and travelled to an old, favourite haunt of mine, Balquhidder in the Trossachs.

The further south I travelled the less snow there was on the tops and by the time I eyed the Corbett of Ceann na Baintighearna, or as the Scottish Mountaineering Club's Corbett guidebook calls it, Stob FearTomhais, I decided I could even leave my ice axe in the car.

A reader took me to task recently for writing too much about the Corbetts, (Scottish hills between 2,500 feet and 2,999ft) instead of the Munros, but I would defend my choice on the basis that many of the Corbetts are ideal for the shorter daylight hours of winter and with well over 3,000 hillwalkers having completed all the Munros I'm sure there are many, like me, who enjoy climbing both sets of hills.

Until several years ago I knew Stob Fear-Tomhais, which rises steeply from the south shores of Loch Voil, as Ceann na Baintighearna, or her ladyship's head, the name of the subsidiary top that overlooks the loch. The main top, about half-a-mile or so to the south, boasts a trig point but has no name, or at least the Ordnance Survey have never bothered to mark one on their maps. When the Scottish Mountaineering Club brought out their guidebook to the Corbetts they decided to christen the main top, and chose Stob Fear-Tomhais, surveyor's peak, presumably because there was a trig point on the summit. The name has stuck.

It's not the most remarkable mountain in the land but, like many of the Corbetts, it offers some great views. To the north, across the steep Braes of Balquhidder, Stob Binnein and Ben More rise majestically, with the Crianlarich hills filling the north-west horizon. To the west you can just make out the south peak of the Cobbler (its main peaks are hidden by the curiously square-sided shape of Beinn Narnain). Ben Lomond lies a little to the south, showing its most Alpine face and closer at hand lie the twin Corbetts of Benvane and Ben Ledi.

A right of way runs between Ballimore and Brig o'Turk in the south and I followed this sketchy path for just over a mile to where it suddenly bends to the left. Across the Calair Burn there is a large farm shed and a couple of dozen cows lay contentedly in the mud. As I crossed the swift-flowing stream an audience of cud-chewing faces watched my every move.

Once across the burn the going was easy, up grassy slopes to Stob Fear-Tomhais' eastern ridge, then over several bumps and bluffs to the summit trig point. Just before I reached the summit I found a niche that was out of the wind, a little sun-warmed cleft where I could enjoy my lunch in considerable comfort, if not luxury. If you don't think lying on a sun-kissed hillside with one of the best views in the southern Highlands laid bare before you is luxury, then you've never tried it.

I made the most of it, because I knew once I was over the top I'd be exposed to the wintry breezes, blowing down from the Artic with unconcealed glee. It took me a good 20 minutes to warm up again but by that time, I was slithering down grassy slopes towards the Fathan Glinne and the remains of its old shielings. From there it was an easy walk back to the cattle shed and a good track back to the car. I felt I had defeated winter. Hopefully spring is just around the corner.

FACT FILE

Map: OS Sheet 57 Distance: About 8.5 miles, 1,900ft of ascent Approx time: 4-6 hours Start/finish: Ballimore Farm in Glen Buckie, GR529175 Route: Cross the bridge over the Calair Burn and follow the sketchy path that is the right of way to Brig o'Turk. Just over a mile from the start, the path veers to the south. At this point leave the path, cross the Calair Burn (it is swift-flowing when in spate) and climb grassy slopes on to the east ridge of Stob Fear-Tomhais. Follow the broad ridge over several bluffs and bumps to the trig point.

Head north now and follow the hill's north-east ridge.

Before the end of the ridge, descend grassy slopes in a south-east direction towards the Allt Fathan Glinne and follow the stream back to the Calair Burn at a large farm shed. From here a track runs across the hillside north of the Calair Burn back to the road just north of Ballimore Farm.