Pitlochry -Calvine

[Alba Bhoy]

Pitlochry to Calvine, Saturday 10th August 2013. OS Landranger Map 52 and 43. Start 1030, finish 1440, total time 4 hrs 10 minutes. Distance 13 miles
The guide to the Scottish National Trail on this Walk Highlands website goes Pitlochry - Blair Atholl – Bynack – Glen Feshie – Kingussie – Laggan. That comes to approximately 68 miles and involves a couple of nights wild camping. That means carrying a tent and supplies.
I’m doing the Scottish National Trail for pleasure not as an endurance test. So no wild camping for me.
For this stretch I’ll go Pitlochry – Calvine – Dalwhinnie – Laggan following the route of the old A9 for much of the way which in turn is part of National Cycle Route 7. That comes to just over 40 miles.
So, Saturday 10th August and it’s the 0839 train from Haymarket to Pitlochry, arriving Pitlochry at 1015.
Quick visit to the station toilets then stroll through the car park into Pitlochry Main Street and get a roll to fuel me up then start walking from 1030.
Today’s walk was in good conditions. High cloud, not much blue sky, but dry with temperatures in the mid to high teens centigrade.
Beautiful walk today, Killiecrankie was lovely. Walking on good paths through forest from Loch Faskally boating station to Killiecrankie. Route opens up a bit from there to Calvine but all the time with water close to you; Loch Faskally to begin with then the River Garry.
This first stretch out of Pitlochry is easy. Head NW out of town along Atholl Road (Pitlochry’s main street) towards Green’s Hotel and Loch Faskally.
Take the left fork, off the main road, onto Clunie Bridge Road, walk downhill with Green’s hotel on your left and you soon arrive at the boating station on Loch Faskally.

Loch Faskally

Should only take 10-15 minutes to get here from the centre of Pitlochry.
Turn left in front of the boat station and follow the path through the trees, Loch Faskally on your left.
You’ll soon pass under the bridge carrying the A9. Almost as soon as you pass under this bridge head right in the direction indicated by the Killiecrankie sign. Do not go straight ahead over the bridge that crosses Loch Faskally. Loch Faskally and the River Garry should be on your left (West) as you head to Killiecrankie.
Shortly you will see another sign saying Killiecrankie via Faskally Wood. Follow this sign which will see you head up a small incline briefly heading away from Loch Faskally.
This route is indicated by green way markers. Stay on the main path which is wide and easy to follow.

Path through Faskally Wood

Any junctions that could cause confusion take the route as identified by the green way marker.
At this point, 20 minutes after starting, I came to a distance post which told me Pitlochry was 1.25 miles behind me and Killiecrankie was 3.25 miles ahead of me. About 20 metres after this sign the path splits into two, take the path to the left, as indicated by a green waymarker, which sends you downhill with Loch Faskally through the trees on your left.
By 1105 – 35 minutes after starting – I arrived at Loch Dunmore. There’s another distance sign here showing Pitlochry as being 2 miles and Killiecrankie another 2.5 miles.

Loch Dunmore

The sign at Loch Dunmore sends you to the left along a road. Loch Faskally stays on your left hand side.
After another 10 minutes or so you’ll arrive at a fishing research centre with Faskally House just beyond it.

Another of Loch Faskally

Another sign here sends you left with the promise that it’s only another 2.5 miles to Killiecrankie (but didn’t the sign at Loch Dunmore 10 minutes earlier also say it was 2.5 miles to Killiecrankie, 10 minutes walked no distance gained!) Loch Faskally is now behind you and the River Garry is now on your left (West).
Continue upstream on the right (East) side of the River on what is still an obvious, easy to follow path. You’ll soon pass below the Garry Bridge with the harness attached beneath it which I assume is used for the Bungee jumping that takes place here.
Keep heading upstream, River Garry still on your left, and you’ll soon see a railway viaduct on your right. Shortly after this you’ll see signs for the Soldier’s Leap where a government soldier is supposed to have leapt across the gorge to escape Jacobite soldiers after the Battle of Killiecrankie in 1689.
Views from the Soldier’s Leap are nice.

Soldier's leap, Killiecrankie

Don’t do as I did and continue on the path from the Soldiers Leap. It took me up to the railway which it followed for a short distance before the path disappeared. Retrace your steps from the Soldier’s Leap to get on the main path again which will lead you up to the Killiecrankie Visitor Centre. Have your camera ready as there are some excellent views of the River Garry gorge and the pass of Killiecrankie as you head up to the visitor centre.

Railway snaking through the Pass of Killiecrankie

and here's another one showing the River Garry and the Pass of Killiecrankie.

River Garry and the Pass of Killiecrankie

I arrived at the visitor centre at 1205. It has toilets and a cafe as well as picnic tables and plenty bins to dispose of any rubbish you may have.
Head out the visitor centre, turn left onto the road and follow the road the short distance into the village of Killiecrankie.
You’ll see a hotel on your right as you enter Killiecrankie. Head on into the village and on your left you’ll see a bridge that carries you across the railway and the River Garry. Signpost as you access the bridge says, Killiecrankie Path, Garry Bridge 1 ¾.
Cross the bridge and stay on the road. You’ll soon come to a junction. Take the road to the right and follow it to the Garry Bridge. The River Garry is on your right as you walk along. At 1250 - 30 minutes after crossing the bridge at Killiecrankie - I arrived at the Garry Bridge. Take the right fork – the main road continues to the left towards a quarry – and walk underneath the Garry Bridge which carries the main A9 and follow the track upstream, River Garry still on your right.
After 20 minutes or so you’ll arrive at the bridge that crosses the River Garry and takes you into Blair Atholl.

Bridge across the River Garry at Blair Atholl

Some nice views up and downstream of the River Garry as you cross the bridge.

View upstream of the River Garry at Blair Atholl

Follow the road into Blair Atholl, Watermill tea room appearing on your right, cross the railway and soon the Atholl Arms Hotel will appear on your left.
At this point you have reached the old A9
Turn left and follow the old A9 the 3.5 miles or so to the House of Bruar.
While the old A9 was nowhere near as busy as the new A9 it still had its fair share of traffic which meant I had to regularly step onto the verge between the road and the dry stane dyke to allow vehicles plenty room to pass. Thankfully A) the verge is wide enough and B) the road is pretty straight between Blair Atholl and House of Bruar so you had plenty time to see approaching cars and get onto the verge and out the way.
Be nice if a path could be made alongside the River Garry between Blair Atholl and House of Bruar to keep walkers, cyclists and vehicles separate.
Took just under an hour, following the road, to get from Blair Atholl to House Of Bruar, arriving at Bruar at 1415.

House of Bruar, the local convenience store.

I had checked the bus and train times online before I left Edinburgh and was aware that there was an Elizabeth Yule bus at 1615 from House of Bruar that arrived at Blair Atholl at 1620 which would allow me time for a pint in the Atholl Arms before catching the 1722 train from Blair Atholl to Haymarket. Elizabeth Yule, Pitlochry to Calvine bus timetable (Summer only service) see http://www.pkc.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=16870&p=0
As my next stretch is to Dalwhinnie, and having time to kill, I decided to continue on to Calvine which is only another mile along the old A9 from House of Bruar. I took the view that another mile walked today would be a mile less to walk to Dalwhinnie. En route to Calvine, I had a brief blether with a lad from Leicestershire who was doing a LEJOG cycle, something he hoped to complete in 9 days. He seemed cheery and in good spirits and with only 2 more full days of cycling ahead he looked a good bet to complete it in the 9 days.
Reached Calvine where I turned and walked the mile back to House of Bruar where I had some food, ice cream and coffee before taking the 1615 Elizabeth Yule bus, from outside the flag poles at House of Bruar, back to Blair Atholl and a well deserved pint in the Atholl Arms before catching my train back to Auld Reekie.
As mentioned above there’s a bus service (Summer only?) that connects Pitlochry, Blair Atholl and Calvine - Elizabeth Yule, service 87/887, and Stagecoach service Perth 83 both do this route.