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A promising weather forecast was my queue to get my backside outdoors again. After spending last week in Berlin I was itching to get out again.
I opted for a couple of 'local' Graham's west of Perth, so let the research begin. I read all the WR's whilst studying the area, the one route that caught my attention was "past my sell by date" which was starting from St Fillans. However studying the maps I came up with a similar route which I thought looked interesting and very doable, so I plotted it out and loaded it onto my phone
I set off from Fife just after 8am and was walking before 9.30. I am very familiar with the road to St Fillans but wasn't sure exactly where I was going to park
As luck would have it there is a layby on both sides of the road about 50m before leaving the road
Layby for a couple of vehicles on both sides of the road
The most dangerous part of the day was walking along the side of the road, no footpaths so I was keeping an eye on traffic heading in both directions, luckily there weren't too many vehicles - would be a bit of a nightmare in the summer
Start of the track is disused railway
Early shot of Beinn Dearg
Looking back
Different water feature
There was quite a bit of rain overnight which resulted in a few puddles on the track, there were no waterfalls or rivers so the above will have to be today's water feature.
Making good progress with a nice gentle incline
Is this where the track originated from?
Looking back 'down' the track, nice easy way to gain height
The track higher up is obviously a recent creation and it made for great progress as well as gaining just about 200m
First glimpse of Ben Vorlich
The track certainly extends further than on the WH map and also my OS map - not complaining of course
My plan was amended due to the track extension and I opted to head uphill just before the new plantation
This is the uphill terrain initially, looks worse than it is
Looking back down
The off piste terrain is heather and has one or two crags, I was fortunate in that I could see the way ahead, which certainly makes a change after a few of my recent exploits
I kind of zig zagged uphill and it was certainly much easier going than the next hill Beinn Dearg
Hills to the north
Looking across to Beinn Dearg
First view of Loch Earn & St Fillans
Same shot zoomed
First shot of the trig on Mor Bheinn, came as a bit of a pleasant surprise
The views from the summit are outstanding, it was a bit blowy and not exactly warm and I also had to put on my 'extra' fleece
My plan was to kind of head down the way I ascended, however there was a path heading south so I decided to follow that. As with most of the 'little' hills paths are a rarity and after a short time the path disappeared
Looking east towards Comrie
Next target
Decided to follow a path down this way
Plan was to pick up the fence lower down and then pass to the left of the forest, didn't quite work out though
Shows the angle of descent
Forest in the foreground with Beinn Dearg in the background
Came across this random post all on it's lonesome
They were keeping an eye on me
Nice little 'stag do'
This kind of shows how far away they really were
Now you can see why my plan failed
My new plan was to enter the forest where the green meets the brown
Doesn't look very inviting
Just battled my way through
The next obstacle
Neither side looks particularly nice
Looking south down the Glen
Looking back across to Mor Bheinn
After the usual huffing and puffing going uphill, especially as it was about 300m from the bottom of the glen to the summit. Just short of the summit I actually met another human being
Naturally we had a chat, he had approached Beinn Dearg from the south and had taken 3 hours so far, I advised him the best way to head across to Mor Beinn and we went on our opposite directions.
Ben Vorlich looking very impressive
Zoomed which wasn't easy as it was quite blowy
Summit cairn on Beinn Dearg
Had to cope with this - after scaling the deer fence again on the way back to the car
Not a pretty sight
The old and the new
Well tangled up
The old railway bridge over the River Earn
And there she is the River Earn
Really enjoyed the walk and the day, these two hills are totally different and offer great views of Perthshire. I was surprised this route hasn't been posted before and would definitely recommend it
Next for me will be more of the same