Wednesday 12 June - 2024 Schiehallion

On 27 August 1977 we stood on Schiehallion's summit with our one year old rescued Border collie, Morag. It was one of our earliest Munros and her first. On Wednesday we again climbed Schiehallion, had the summit to ourselves and remembered the wonderful 13 years we had with her, on and off the hill.

It was a cold morning so we didn’t hang around and made quick progress over the moor to gain the stony ridge.

At a large cairn we met the two people ahead of us, the male of the duo announcing that fifty years of smoking wasn’t helping his second ascent. His wife was carrying a full pack while he had cleverly lightened his load by not carrying anything. We left them resting at the cairn and were soon crossing the quartzite boulder field leading to the summit. 

It was hard to believe that it was 47 years since we last stood here.

We didn’t linger long on the top and descended in improving weather. Late starters were met lower down most saying ‘hello’, some passing by grim-faced or head down. Some appeared to think I was their ‘pal’… 

We eventually found a decent spot away from the busy track, had tea and rolls in the sun then dropped off the ridge and so back to the car. An enjoyable day with happy memories of times past.

Note: Our 1977 ascent was by Gleann Mor starting from Glengoulandie Farm on a reasonable path, followed by some heather bashing to reach the start of the east ridge. These days, most will start from the attractively located carpark at Braes of Foss as we did today. £3 a day with free, clean toilets. The awful Beauly to Denny transmission line has industrialised and degraded the landscape here. 

Monday June 10th - A wet start

Off on our travels again but the weather isn’t settled enough to entice us very far north, so we’ve stopped off at our usual spot near Loch Tay for the time being. Apparently, snow has fallen on the hills on seven consecutive days but not here as far as I can tell. Not yet!

22 May - A saunter above Loch Tay

The weather forecast was for thundery showers and heavy rain later. The cloud was well down on the hills so parking in Kenmore we walked to Remony and up to Balmacnaughton where we were delighted to see swallows and swifts in large numbers. A short distance further on is the little bridge over the Allt Mhucaidh, built in 1996 by 78 Regiment Engineers, where we diverted to make the short ascent to the Acharn stone circle. We  never tire of these simple walks though as the hills cleared there were the usual pangs of regret at not being on our way to a summit. It would certainly have been a lot less humid higher up. 

Retracing our steps, we took the track towards Acharn (of waterfall fame) and spent 20 minutes watching two  brown hares chasing each other and generally frolicking around. Descending to Acharn would have meant additional road walking back to Kenmore, so returning to Balmacnaughton we followed the RRW to join the steep twisting road down to Kenmore. The heavy rain didn’t arrive until later which meant I couldn’t test my 7 year old Rab Kinetic’s waterproofness. Fellow blogger alanrayneroutdoors.blogspot.com had reported some folks finding the jacket leaked like a sieve while others, including me, found it was fine for summer days on the hills in wet weather. 

Back in Kenmore we were struck by how quiet it was - except for the noise of heavy construction vehicles everywhere.The £300 million plus redevelopment of Taymouth Castle by its new US owners, a ‘playground for millionaires’,  is in full swing but otherwise Kenmore is ‘closed’, a ghost village. The beach and holiday properties have been bought by the developers. The lovely Paper Boat cafe sadly closed a few years ago. Houses in the village have been sold to the developers. Kenmore Hotel is closed for refurbishment as part of the redevelopment. The locals for the most part support the development, but why they think those coming to this luxury resort with clubhouse etc will spend money in the village is beyond me. Time will tell, but those staying at the luxury Fife Arms, Braemar, really don’t have breakfast or coffee at The Bothy! The Courtyard is, thankfully, still open for coffee etc and has a good deli, gift shop etc.

At the lovely Paper Boat in 2019

20 May - Dunan Bothy

Claggan and Loch Tay

 A misty start to the morning so we drove to Kenmore then along the south side of Loch Tay to Ardtalnaig and up to near Claggan. We’ve been on the hills both sides of the glen so had no incentive to go high and wander in the mist - we’ve had plenty of that recently. The tops did clear around mid-day but we were happy enough to stay low on what is now the Ardtalnaig to Aberfeldy section of the Rob Roy Way. 

Shee of Ardtalnaig (Summit Ciste Buide a’ Claidheimh)

Oyster catchers, a roe deer racing up the slopes of the Shee of Ardtalnaig, a brown and a mountain hare (spotted by Lynne) added interest and pleasure. A gin trap on a log bridging the Allt a’ Chilleine, not so much.

It’s an understatement to describe Dunan as a ‘locked bothy’ so no shelter here in an emergency. That said, when a few feet away you see the remains of an open fire  perhaps you can’t blame the estate. I’ve never seen this before out here but it seems to be becoming common, together with the curse of disposable barbecues.

We found shelter from the cool breeze in the sheepfold near the bothy, had rolls, hot cross buns and tea. An oyster catcher flitted about on a wall. From here the track continues into Glen Almond, a glen well known to us starting from Newton Bridge in the Sma’ Glen.

Distant hills above Glen Almond

Lynne took some better pics but I haven’t transferred them to the phone yet so these will have to do. (Mobile blogging seems much harder than I remember!) 

Sunday 19 May - Loch Tay

A lovely drive with the early light cloud lifting to bring welcome sunshine. We’re not sure what we’ll do tomorrow but we’ll be among the hills somewhere.

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