After my hike on Arran it was time for a short break and Pitlochry seemed to be the perfect spot for this. A quiet town in the middle between Glasgow and my next destination, the Cairngorms Nationalpark. Hiking is possible anywhere in Scotland though and when my three days break was over, it was time to check out the surroundings of Pitlochry. My schedule was a bit tight unfortunately, as I only had one and a half day before I had to carry on. Surprisingly there were a lot of different hikes to do in the area. I settled for one of them with the prospect of combining it with a second one if I had enough time. The start of my hike was in the neighbor village Blair Atholl and as the bus at 8 in the morning was too early for me, I took the next one at 10. Arriving in Blair Atholl after a 30 minutes ride, it took me another quarter of an hour to reach the official starting point. Already regretting my late start, I set off right away and for the first hour I ascended gently through a lovely forest. Reaching the Jubilee Shooting Range, the view opened up for the first time. Passing by the Shooting Range, I descended back to the bottom of the valley and now followed the river Tilt for another hour. It was an entertaining walk with nice views, a lovely dirt path and tons of sheep and lambs. Arriving at Gaw's Bridge, I left the dirt path behind me and walked along a gravel road for a while until I reached the turnoff to the mountain Carn a'Chlamain, my goal of today. Meeting a couple that just came down from the summit, I asked them how long it will take to the top. About two hours they replied and checking the time, I regretted my late start even more. Well, the weather was fine so far and I definitely wanted to go up to the top so I started with the ascent without further delay. The first part was amazingly steep until I reached a well maintained rocky road. Glad that it ascended more gently now, the summit came into view not much later. Now that I could see where I had to go, I wasn't that stressed out anymore. The summit looked pretty close and therefore I decided to have my lunch break.
About half an hour later I started to walk again. And I walked and walked, took a short cut, and walked and walked and it seemed as the summit never came closer. :) When I finally reached the peak, it was half past three in the afternoon. Looking around, the scenery was a stunning sight to behold. A picturesque valley to my feet and mountain ranges in all other directions. Wow! The sky was littered with clouds and some time later I could see a rain front appearing in the distance. Of course the wind was coming from exactly that direction, so I knew my time on the summit was over soon. At least I had time to prepare myself. :) Donning all my rain gear I left the summit at a quarter past four and started with the descent.
Taking another short cut, I was walking on the mountain slopes when the front hit me. It was a bizarre situation. Again it was a mixture of hail, snow and rain that was coming down, pattering on my backpack as the wind was coming from behind. But even though the front washed right over me, I could still see the sun shining to my right, which was something I've never witnessed before. Scottish weather at it's very best! :) The downfall stopped soon enough and the rest of the descent was calm. Once back at the bottom of the valley, I picked up on speed as I wanted to walk as far as possible today. So I turned left at Gaw's Bridge as on the left side of the river was a decent road to walk on, way better for fast walking than the dirt path that I used when I came along here before. Coming back to the Shooting Range it was time to decide what to do. Thinking it all over while eating my dinner, I decided to give it a go and joined another track that would bring me to a second summit tomorrow. It was already 7.30 in the evening and that left me with about an hour more walking. The best part of this hour was spent with hiking through forest again, leading upwards steadily. Out of the forest I finally came upon a stream to fill up my water. It was the brownest stream I've ever seen, but there was no other choice. :) A bit later on I found a stretch of grass close to a little stream and decided that this would be my camping spot for tonight. As the sun had almost set, there was not much more left to do than pitching the tent and go to bed. To the sound of rushing water and a cackling grouse I drifted off into sleep.
Unfortunately the sleep during the night was not so good and when I got out of my tent in the morning I knew why. My tent was completely frozen. :)
I realized that it was cold during the night already, but not that it was freezing cold. Before I packed up my tent I wiped it down and with all the snow together I could have made a decent snowball. :) Luckily the sun was over the mountains soon and when I started walking I did this under a clear blue sky. Making good way, I reached the start of the ascent up to Beinn Dearg sooner than expected. Again the first part was pretty steep, going upwards in serpentines until I reached a plateau. Crossing some muddy ground, another lesser steep ascent waited for me at the end of it. Once I was over this one I was on another plateau and finally also was able to see the summit. The views were already spectacular and when I reached the summit, they got even better. A 360° panoramic view awaited me with mountains and rolling hills as far as my eyes could see. And even though Scotland is so small, I couldn't see any sign of civilization from up there.
The weather was still very good and the clouds that scattered the sky to one side were just a magnificent add on to the epic view. Unfortunately I had a train to catch in the afternoon and therefore couldn't stay too long. Retracing my steps I was soon back at the bottom of the mountain. Instead of turning left and walk back the same way, I turned right to head back to Blair Atholl in a loop. Again I walked on a nice dirt track that followed a little stream, soon reaching a mountain bothy for hikers to stay overnight. From there started an epic stretch of moorland that I had to cross. It took me about two hours and while the views more or less stayed the same, the stunning sky with it's scattered clouds entertained me most of the way. Then it was back into the forest again for the last part of the descent to Blair Atholl. Thanks to the time I made up yesterday and today morning, I actually was way too early and therefore was able to check out the local pub. :) Right on time on 4 pm the train arrived and off I was to Aviemore for more adventures and hiking.
Highlight of the hike: the diversity of the Scottish weather :)
This hike is for you if:
- you're looking for magnificent panoramic views across the highlands
- you don't mind to camp wild overnight
- you want to walk on proper trails and good roads
- you're looking for summits that can be reached without any scrambling
This hike is not for you if:
- you're looking for challenging trails
- you seek total remoteness
- you mind very steep ascents and descents
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