free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
Start in Dunkeld and walk up Brae Street. This is the street with the salmon smokery. It is also the steepest part of this walk. The brae soon levels off and continue along until the turning for Haughend.
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- Fork to Haughend with Newtyle Hill behind
You follow the yellow marked trail, which continues to Loch of the Lowes, until the path forks. Go through the gate and climb the high style at the corner.
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- over the style
The next section is through some established woodland. There are no paths to follow from now on, so it's a matter of choosing the broadest sheep track. As well as trees, there are very large gorse bushes which can form walls in front of you. I found that the ground was clearer nearer the wall on your right.
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- the older woodland on Fungarth hillside
Once out of the wood I was confronted by a deer fence. Luckily it had a gate. The difference in the terrain is quite marked. Within the deer fenced area there were young saplings sprouting up. If only more landowners would limit deer numbers and access this could be a common sight in Scotland. The ground now gets boggy and heathery. The heather is quite old and is quite tiring to plod through.
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- Looking back to the Lunan Lochs and Stormont
Now a major gripe. I took my 1:25 000 map with me and followed on to the high point marked 314m. Looking back there was some ground which looked higher! I stumbled through the heather to this higher ground and found a cairn. The true top. This is marked as 317m on the 1:50 000 map. I could have done without the detour.
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- summit cairn looking north
Sitting at the top an RAF jet buzzed past and when all was quiet, the birds started singing again.
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- one more from the top with a glimpse of mountains in the north
I walked back the way I'd come, but you could take the path to Loch of the Lowes and see the Ospreys.
I've lived here for about four years, and although I've been up Birnam Hill quite a lot, I'd never done this one. It's different to Birnam Hill in that there are no paths and I met nobody. It took under two hours from start to finish.
