A Day at Amulree – a bit of mild heather bashing

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!

Mr.P’s BMW roaring off – minus his trainers

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.

The Map

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.

The track up Glen Quaich

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Looking down on Loch Freuchie

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Street signs in Hobbiton on the Hill

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Hobbiton on the Hill…from where they blast grouse into smithereens.

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The views to the north are pretty good

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The terrain begins to toughen up now that we’re off the track and heading to Meall Dearg (right of photo).

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There always seems to be one on every walk…the gate to nowhere.

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Straight behind the little cairn is where we’re heading.

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The shot of the day…the very well hidden Loch Fender.

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Loch Fender with Meall Dearg behind.

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The bleakness of Glen Fender. Not one for a dreich winter’s day.

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The Fatdog on the Meall Dearg summit.

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The summit view north

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The view down the ridge to Beinn Liath – don’t bother – peat haggs – contour around the Glen Fender side.

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Everybody’s favourites – windmills and peat haggs – all in one shot!

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Heading out of Glen Fender

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The last leg back to Amulree – looking back along General Wade’s military road (1700’s)

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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.