Other than a somewhat embarrassing diversion via an unplanned hill, the excursion of the previous week with Mr.P had been an outstanding success. I did omit from the “tail” another embarrassing moment, this time for Mr.P, which resulted in him forgetting to change into his trainers before roaring off down the road back to his hotel in his wee BMW. The additional carrier bag in the back of “The Tank” did puzzle me for a minute until I realised what had happened. With the walk having different start and finish points it was a 2 car job with Mr.P’s 2-seater being left at the finish a couple of miles back from our start point. While this was a very handy arrangement it did mean that I had to share the front passenger side with The Fatdog, which does bring back memories of the old game “How many people can you fit in a Mini”.
So, as a result of this reshuffling of resources, Mr.P’s trainers were left in The Tank waiting for their master’s return. On the plus side he only left his trainers behind this time…last time it was the BMW!
You may wonder that this was a very convenient photo to have taken given Mr.P’s mental omission. You may also wonder exactly when I knew he’d forgotten his trainers😉 .
I digress.
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Only a couple of days after our little jaunt with Mr.P, The Fatdog and I headed into the Perthshire hills about midway between Dunkeld and Loch Tay to do a bit of heather bashing on the Graham, Meall Dearg (near Amulree).
I don’t propose to bore you with the detail of the expedition so I’ve just posted a few photos below. This was a walk of around 13km with between 400-500m of ascent, including a bit of rougher terrain (which proved to be fairly tame) lying between a track in – and a track out.
It proved to be an excellent route for this hill which, unknown to me, had quite a bit of bad press as regards its shorter access routes. See what you think.
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Oh…Mr.P’s trainers. What happened? Luckily Mr.P also realised his trainers had gone awol, I suspect when he realised he was having more difficulty with the pedals than normal. A few miles back down our dead end road I came across a sheepish looking 2-seater BMW parked on the verge and an equally sheepish and shoeless MrP. The errant footwear jumped out of the back of The Tank and hopped in through the BMW’s open window. Job done and time for home.
Looks like a good, quiet round. Did you see anybody else all day?
I doubt you’ll meet anyone on that route all year, Mark. 😆 You might get shot at more than once though…many grouse butts. The estate have been extending access roads from those shown on the maps. Must be a very noisy place in the grouse season.
Pity about the windfarm…these things always strike me as an aesthetic crime, let alone being a con..
Lovely set of photographs, thank you.
Takes me back years to walking with my father.
That was only a fraction of the propellors on show! 😯
Whereabouts did you and your father walk?
Sutherland, mostly.
Looks just like my kind of walk actually, with all those wild, moorlandy type expanses. Maisie wasn’t smiling in her photo though…
I have to admit I’m not a great fan of the moorlands…only fit for windfarms! 😆 I much prefer either rockier hills or grassier hills with scarp slopes and intricate features. 😀
Maisie actually enjoyed that walk…she really enjoys getting “off track” and into the wild stuff. Mostly she looks a picture of abject misery until she reckons it’s feeding time.
Definitely one to avoid in grouse season then. Nice shot looking north.
The views are surprisingly good Sheila. Like most of the hills in this part of Perthshire there are some long views to the south and east. The closest big hills are the Lawers range (in photo) and further west Ben Vorlich and Stuc a Chroin. In fact no matter where you walk south of about Dunkeld it’s impossible tonged away from the last two.😆
The way the estate has developed the access tracks they must be bringing in heavy artillery and tanks to blast the poor grouse!
Sounds as if it was a nice day out, but poor Maisie looks like the matadors have been at her in that summit photie.
:0/
Well observed Scott! 😆
She got a fraction too close to my lunch. 😯
Bit disappointed that Loch Fender isn’t shaped like a guitar………………..
Hi Dave…welcome to the blog! 😀
It’s one of those things you think about but ultimately think…bugger this I ain’t walking all the way around these hills to see if that characteristic guitar shape can be see from at least one viewpoint.😉
Maybe you fancy going back up to check? 😀
No mention of the shoeless vagabond whom you pointedly ignored?
Now corrected with a brand new post Mr.P….Your subsequent email made it all worth while. 😉
The heartland of dreary Corbetts and Grahams🙂
Serioulsy that looks like a nice quiet day on some wild moorland. Like you I have tendancy towards the rockier hills but recently I’ve become beguiled by the wilder, remoter untrodden hills as well.
Variety is the spice of something or otherf
Not far wrong Andy.
I have to admit to not being fond of the bleak moorlands…bloody boring places😆
They do tend to be quiet though…mainly because nobody else wants to go there. There is, however, a satisfaction to be gained knowing that very few people have seen these views…especially when you take a non-standard route.