The Brutal Bagging of Blath Bhalg

[Graeme D]

The two week school holidays had almost been and gone and other than a solitary pre-Christmas outing near Drumochter, I hadn’t managed out at all. All of my best laid plans had been scuppered by the weather – not so much the prospect of what it was like on the hills as the fact that most of the hills I had on my hit-list were in places where I had severe doubts about the state of the roads. I had also been laid low for two or three days with the dreaded winter vomiting virus. Then there had been the various family commitments so once the New Year fog had lifted, I was raring to get out there and get 2010 kick started.

This was also to be Lucy’s first real hill day since her leg injury in September and my wife was coming along too. She fancied a short outing followed by a late pub lunch. She had given me the Grahams book for Christmas and I was keen to discover more of these hills this year, having only claimed three so far. I settled on Blath Bhalg near Pitlochry with a visit afterwards to the Moulin Inn. The book described it as “ideal for a short afternoon or an evening leg-stretcher”. The hill that is, not the pub!

We parked up just after 11 o’clock in what limited space remained amidst the high banked up snow at the summit of the A924 Pitlochry to Blairgowrie road opposite the transmitter mast and headed south-east onto the track past the mast.

Setting off

The book suggested that there was a path which could be followed up the shoulder of the hill and onto the broad ridge. Needless to say, with all the snow of the past fortnight, there was no chance of following this even if it did in fact exist. So we simply resorted to making a beeline for a large boulder about two thirds of the way towards the horizon and a small cairn visible beyond against the skyline.

Looking back down to the A924

The views were clear north towards Ben Vrackie and the Beinn a’ Ghlo peaks and these steadily opened up as we gained height. Further west towards Schiehallion and the Lawers range was much darker and would remain closed in for the whole day.

Nearly at the boulder!

The going was tough beyond belief. Sometimes the snow was solid enough to support a person but would suddenly give way and you would be propelled forwards and downwards into a chasm large enough to bury a small house in. At other times it was soft and powdery and could quite easily be waded through until you suddenly hit a solid slab and ground to a shuddering halt.

Maybe this way will be easier?

The dog seemed to be experiencing similar difficulties and it was with some relief that we reached the large boulder for a hot juice and chocolate bar stop - and some fun in the snow!

Fetch!

"Snowy! I can see the pub from 'ere!"

If the Lord had intended Man to fly.......

At the little cairn, things closed over a little and the sunny blue skies gave way to a heavier grey. We could make out the line of fence posts running up the very broad ridge and proceeded to slog cross country towards where they dog-legged away at the bottom of the ridge. The snow turned out to be even deeper here against the fence and at times it swallowed us whole. In a few places the fence posts disappeared completely under the snow and in others my wife resorted to climbing along the fence for support – a flagrant breach of the countryside code but these were extreme underfoot conditions.

Buried fence posts point the way.

I knew that she had been finding it unrelentingly hard going and was not really enjoying the experience – it was obvious now that this would not be the short sharp two to three hour stroll that she had had in mind – so I wasn’t too surprised when she threw in the towel at the first top. We could see the true summit away to our right, but before that there was a short descent and reascent to another top before the ridge bent round to the tiny summit cairn. The overhead conditions were still quite benign so she insisted she was fine to head down on her own following the trail of devastation we had wrought on the way up. Lucy and I continued without her and made quicker progress now. At the second minor top the views opened up eastward towards Blairgowrie and up towards Glen Shee.

Beinn a' Ghlo

Ben Vrackie

Sunshine on Mount Blair

View to the summit

From here it was only a short descent and reascent up to the true summit of Blath Bhalg. I didn’t hang about too long at the summit before heading back down and trying to catch up with my wife.

Summit cairn of Blath Bhalg

Going down was no less problematic than than the ascent and by the time I reached the road and the car, I was completely knackered. Judging by the look on the dog’s face, she felt the same. My wife had the engine running and was busy trying to dig the snow out of her boots and trousers.

We quickly headed off and were soon in the comfort of the Moulin Inn where given the time, we decided to settle for a pint of lager and packet of crisps each before heading home for a well earned dinner of left over steak pie.

5 hours to cover 7km gives an indication of just how brutal a climb this was. However, despite the man-eating dunes of snow, it was a highly enjoyable and rewarding trip with fine views and a great way to open up the account for 2010.

[mountain coward]

Not surprised the dog was knackered - looks like she had to resort to tunneling here way up the mountain in places! Don't think it was quite fair to jump onto her off a large boulder though

[Cuillin]

Admire you for tackling the virgin snow and that certainly looked pretty hellish.

Great picture of you jumping off the boulder!

I'm intending doing this hill tomorrow so will literally follow in your footsteps, although I may break out the snow shoes to see if they help.

Cheers for the report.

[Paul Webster]

Good effort Graeme. I reckon this sort of weather is what these wee hills are for

[kevsbald]

Two things Graeme - Winter vomiting bug - can I get a stool sample sent down please?
And look at the dog's face as you're jumping - "What's he up to now?"

Glad you managed to get out and about. I ain't been out since the 13th Dec and I am suffering big-time. May have something planned for Thursday though, weather willing.

Bien fait!

[John Burgess]

The book described it as “ideal for a short afternoon or an evening leg-stretcher”. The hill that is, not the pub!

From my memories of days and evenings with Andy it could have referred to either

An entertaining report but I can't help but feel you've missed a trick with Lucy. Can't you train here to keep running off in front then back again thereby creating a nice clear route for you to follow

All the best,

John

[allansmitchell]

Great report and pictures, looks a great walk (swim) in the snow

[37lumleyst]

Enjoyed that report, probably more than you enjoyed doing the walk!

I'm in that area later this year so will test the 2 to 3 hours evening stroll and let you know how I get on. I like walks that can be done in a given time window and especially like those that come with an Inn attached Always makes for a good after walk pint whatever the size of the hill.

Good effort Graeme. I reckon this sort of weather is what these wee hills are for

I couldn’t agree more, its good to scale down our ambitions from time to time given the recent weather we have been enjoying/enduring. I think all too often people turn into 'stats' by being over ambitious with their walking ambitions in bad weather.

Glad you all enjoyed it, especially the poor family dog!

[Cuillin]

Followed in Graeme's footsteps (literally) yesterday although I used snow shoes to see if they would help. Managed to do the ascent and descent in 3 1/2 hours, so the shoes obviously helped a wee bit on the snow crust, although they don't cope with powder that well. The worst bit was just up from the transmitter on the way to the boulder and I toiled there.

A better day to be out than today!

[Graeme D]

Two things Graeme - Winter vomiting bug - can I get a stool sample sent down please?

I'm afraid you're too late there Kev - they've all gone already! Just a distant memory now, like Christmas itself....

Followed in Graeme's footsteps (literally) yesterday although I used snow shoes to see if they would help. Managed to do the ascent and descent in 3 1/2 hours, so the shoes obviously helped a wee bit on the snow crust, although they don't cope with powder that well. The worst bit was just up from the transmitter on the way to the boulder and I toiled there.

Yeah, that bit from the transmitter to the boulder was grim, probably more so coming down when I just had my head down and was ploughing through. I think in normal conditions that bit would be a bit of a marsh, judging by the reedy grass sticking up through the snow, and now it's a marshy with several feet of shifting snow kicking about on top of it.

I also think small hills may be the way to go until the snow levels abate a bit and the avalanche risk in certain areas of the country becomes less of a concern. Thinking about the two Glen Tarken Grahams near St Fillans this weekend. Easy enough to get to and to get parked up I'd reckon. They would probably also be fairly dull mounds in the summer so a good cloaking of snow will probably have brought out their best sides.

[grantrobertson]

Hi,

I had a similar experience last week on Blath Bhalg. Near on double the time it should have due to deep snow and "breakable crust". I agree, though, that these weeish hills are just the job for the superb but somewhat challenging difficult winter conditions we have had through March and early April 2013. Great perspectives, too, of the more familiar big hills.