Sentimental Schiehallion
Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2012 9:06 pmSchiehallion has alway been a very special mountain for me. When I was very young my grandfather got a job for Scottish Hydro Electric so my grandparents moved from Clydebank to an old farmhouse that was situated between Tummel Bridge and Kinloch Rannoch. After that I spent many weeks during my school holidays running around on the fields and fishing in the burns and lochs. During that time there was always the view across the valley to Schiehallion (well, when it wasn't raining).
So with the forecast clearing up nicely and for the weekend I decided to take Cameron up, show him the mountain and also point out the house where I spend time when I was his age..
We left early and drove through the clag up the M90 and A9 and got to the Braes of Foss at around 8:30. It was a little chilly but had dried up so things were looking good.
Cameron on the bridge at the start.
It is a really nice walk in for the first half mile or so and then it gets a little more serious as the gradient stiffens.
We were the first on the hill and were spoiled with the wildlife on show. Red Deer, hare, grouse and ptarmigan were on show. Its always difficult to get an impressive photo of ptarmigan as they usually shuffle off before you can get the camera zoom sorted out. However I did manage to get a few in this shot.
I then realised that there was more and just about managed to catch them as they took flight to get away from us.
http://s134.photobucket.com/albums/q105/calumcraigie/Schiehallion/?action=view¤t=20121020_095649.mp4
This was the first clear sight of the summit. It is quite tricky going over the granite rocks and slabs.
There wasn't much snow left of Shiehallion from the falls earlier in the week. I took this photo, walked on and a few seconds later a rather large snowball flew past my right ear!
We had made good progress and made the summit by 10:30 and had a snack to take in the views.
Views down Loch Rannoch
View North over Dunalastair
Zoomed view over Dunalastair. My grandparents stayed in the house in the middle of the top right field in the middle of the photo. Looking down brought back some fantastic memories. Playing around on old schielings, getting lost in the hills, my first brown trout at Dunalastair.
We headed back down and unsurprisingly it was very busy coming up the other way. It was great to see so many people out enjoying the hill on such a wonderful day.
We got back to the car park for 12 and had our lunch and made our way to Aberfeldy for a coffee and cake. Having had such an enjoyable time on the hill and looking down on my holiday playground I felt it was a good time to introduce Cameron to his great grandparents. They just happen to be buried in the graveyard opposite the distillery in Aberfeldy so on the way out we swung by and spend a few moments at the graveside.
So what was just a normal day on the hill turned into a sentimental journey into my childhood and the times I spent with my grandparents.
So with the forecast clearing up nicely and for the weekend I decided to take Cameron up, show him the mountain and also point out the house where I spend time when I was his age..
We left early and drove through the clag up the M90 and A9 and got to the Braes of Foss at around 8:30. It was a little chilly but had dried up so things were looking good.
Cameron on the bridge at the start.
It is a really nice walk in for the first half mile or so and then it gets a little more serious as the gradient stiffens.
We were the first on the hill and were spoiled with the wildlife on show. Red Deer, hare, grouse and ptarmigan were on show. Its always difficult to get an impressive photo of ptarmigan as they usually shuffle off before you can get the camera zoom sorted out. However I did manage to get a few in this shot.
I then realised that there was more and just about managed to catch them as they took flight to get away from us.
http://s134.photobucket.com/albums/q105/calumcraigie/Schiehallion/?action=view¤t=20121020_095649.mp4
This was the first clear sight of the summit. It is quite tricky going over the granite rocks and slabs.
There wasn't much snow left of Shiehallion from the falls earlier in the week. I took this photo, walked on and a few seconds later a rather large snowball flew past my right ear!
We had made good progress and made the summit by 10:30 and had a snack to take in the views.
Views down Loch Rannoch
View North over Dunalastair
Zoomed view over Dunalastair. My grandparents stayed in the house in the middle of the top right field in the middle of the photo. Looking down brought back some fantastic memories. Playing around on old schielings, getting lost in the hills, my first brown trout at Dunalastair.
We headed back down and unsurprisingly it was very busy coming up the other way. It was great to see so many people out enjoying the hill on such a wonderful day.
We got back to the car park for 12 and had our lunch and made our way to Aberfeldy for a coffee and cake. Having had such an enjoyable time on the hill and looking down on my holiday playground I felt it was a good time to introduce Cameron to his great grandparents. They just happen to be buried in the graveyard opposite the distillery in Aberfeldy so on the way out we swung by and spend a few moments at the graveside.
So what was just a normal day on the hill turned into a sentimental journey into my childhood and the times I spent with my grandparents.