A long awaited Graham and ghostly peat traps

[trederdog 100]

I have stayed in St Fillans a lot and have always meant to climb some of the Graham's surrounding the village. Creag Ruadh has been on the top of the list after I completed Creag Each a few years back. Creag Ruadh appeals to me as it is the 'parent peak' of The Girron and the hills I used to stomp around as a child whilst on holidays, investigating mud and streams and dead wood. That type of thing.

The weather was pretty humid and claggy as I set off - using the railway line to ascend to a forestry track that rises through Glentarken wood, past some pretty lovely old hazels, elms, birch ash, oak and friends. Also some plantation, which has been felled recently.

Some old hazel next to track up

And a scene that looks a bit like Scottish rainforest

The track soon opens up over empty moorland. Well, empty apart from plenty of sheep and apparently some cup-marked rocks. I can see the boulder they must be on, but I can't quite see the indentations.

Views opening out to Beinn Fuath and Meall Reamhar across Loch Earn

A while later and Glen Tarken is spied, along with Creag Each, looking bigger than her 672m suggests.

Creag Each above Glen Tarken

I dose up on coffee and take in the muggy silence. The lack of people makes quite a difference to climbing some munro's, although I notice Ben Vorlich has a hefty lump of clag on its head, so not sure how many ventured up there today! After passing the track junction and continuing into Glen Tarken, I look out for a small stream to take to the hill side. I found a stream and ascended.

Stream of ascent and a small rowan clinging on

On the way up I found some peculiar peat cuttings with an open top wooden box inside and two sides to it. Not sure what they are, but I was to see many over the walk, I gussed they were something to do with grouse as there were plenty of butts nearby, but perhaps an ecological study? Each one had hessian or garden cover material, with one side having white gravel on top and the other side nothing.

Peat cutting and box

I continued up, only to realise that my stream was not the correct stream and that I was in the middle of peat hags and boggy ground, which was thankfully quite dry. Views to the south-east took in the peaks behind The Girron, perhaps a long walk for another time. I could see Creag Ruadh over the moorland and trudged away, enjoying the occasional peat 'room' where the wind stopped and it was utterly silent. I can't remember hearing such intense silence.

A few deer scampered out my way pronto, as I ascended a small ridge coming down from the craggy summit. The hill top looking surprisingly summit-like from here, as I was expecting just a bouldery lump in the moor before I saw it.

Creag Ruadh from Meall Reamhar just southeast of the summit

I soon got to the summit, where the wind was stronger and the memories of the hot days of last week seemed miles away.

small cairn

Looking across to the east there are good (although hazy) views of Creag Uchdag, a Corbett on my to-do list and Ben Chonzie was nothing but cloud. The views were obscured all around but the minor peaks to the north and the tracts of moorland emphasised how large this area is between Loch Earn and Tay.

I soon descended view the correct stream this time, passing plenty of weird box peat constructions.

route down

The walk back was the way I came, although there is a good circular route you can take to get back to the village, by taking the right at the track junction and descending glen Tarken to a small cottage near a sheep feeder. This leads via a small path through Glen Tarken wood. I descended over the 'goat path' above St Fillans, overgrown as it was with spring tree growth. A nice Graham to add to my impressive 2 and I'll be eyeing up Mor Bheinn next, especially in claggy weather!