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After a pretty grueling struggle up the two Aonachs on Saturday I was looking to do something more relaxing on the Sunday and just enjoy the fine weather without causing my tired legs too much more pain. A plan was hatched late Saturday with GLW and we landed on Ben Vrackie. As anyone who stuck their head outside on Nov 6, 2011 can tell you, the weather was perfect. The frost made for a nice touch on the fall foliage as we started up the easy path to the hillside. This was a popular choice for many folks today - both car parks were full. No bother, everyone we passed was in excellent spirits and pleasant greetings were numerous. The first glimpse of Ben Vrackie was pretty impressive - very nice corbett indeed. Below us the fog filled Perthsire, especially over the Tay. Gammy and I had a good chat all the way to the lochan and then the path turned to steps and the ascent began. The previous day's walk caught up to me at several points along this section, but with the fine views we still made good progress and made the summit in an hour and a half. We were joined by probably two dozen folks. The view over to Beinn a Ghlo was spectacular, as was the sight of Schiehallion in the distance. With the breeze making our ears cold we dropped down and had lunch out of the wind as people continued to trickle up and down the well-made path. After lunch, an easy stroll took us back to the car and onto the Moulin Hotel for a great tasting pint - Ale of Atholl for myself.
I thoroughly enjoyed this gem, very nice walk and one that would be great in winter. The fall scenes really made the day for me though. Thanks again to Gammy for the great company as usual. I'm pretty sure this was the first time in all our walks together that the big bright globe in the sky shined down on his hairless dome!