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The clocks went back for Winter, so an early rise sees me pick Peter up in Glasgow at 7am, knowing darkness was coming at around 5pm. As usual, we headed West, the Aonach Eagach Ridge was our aim but as we turned up the A82 after Tyndrum it became clear that the weather out west was poor.
So, we about turned and backtracked heading for Killin, where the falls of Dochart were in full flow. We couldn't resist getting the cameras out and here is my best shot:
- The Falls of Dochart, Killin
Ben Lawers etc had their heads in the clouds, so we just kept driving through Aberfeldy to the A9. As we approached Pitlochrie we could see Ben Vrackie and our mind was made up. Driving up, just after the Moulin hotel we got the photo of the day, which shows the beautiful colours of Autumn in the trees, suitably lit by a low sun:
- Autumn Scene
The car park seems very small indeed, accomodating around 12 cars, we managed to squeeze in at the end. The walk is very straightforward, a nice section through the woods, then onto open terrain with a very well defined path. Being from the west, we were then shocked to find the pair of park benches with the view down to the meandering silvery Tay. We stopped for a bite to eat and a cup of tomato soup (we'd been on the go for around 5 hours by now).
The sign points the way:
- Signpost
We regain a view of the summit:
- Ben Vrackie appears
It was then onwards up to the wee Lochan, where the summit of Ben Vrackie comes into view and the terrain changes from wide dirt track to a solid staircase all the way to the top. I suppose because of the hill' s popularity it's a necessary measure, but it's not really my cup of tea. At the top we were confronted by someone flying a stunt kite, and due to the wind level it was fair zipping around.
- Kite
The Indicator - not that we could see any of these markers!
- Indicator
We stayed ontop for around 30mins hoping for a view, but began getting cold so made our descent. On the way down, we got a bit of a view:
The Silvery tay:
- The Silvery Tay
The Reflection of Ben Vrackie in it's Lochan:
- Reflection in the Lochan
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O1nysjjXWc&hd=1[/youtube]