#ben vrackie

[tommymacsblog]

Saxifraga oppositifolia (Purple Saxifrage), a great favourite of mine. Partly due to it’s early season flowering status in our upland habitats and hills, generally the first montane angiosperm to flower in the British Isles. Here showing off on Ben Vrackie 28/3/2019, near to Pitlochry, Perthshire. Photo by Tom MacDonald.

[on-misty-mountains]

Craigower, Pitlochry

When we woke up and saw that there was some fresh snow outside, we immediately prepared for a walk and went to explore an area we were eyeing for a while. Craigower is a small hill near Pitlochry. You can get there by parking in Moulin, either at the designated car park or the Ben Vrackie car parks. The top of the hill offers a sweeping view towards Schiehallion and Loch Tay. But I wanted more. So we took the forest track along the other hills until we got to the other side and had a view of Ben Vrackie. There was snow everywhere and I was pretty happy. Initially, I was worried that the persistent cloud would interfere with the view, but the day turned out beautiful and sunny and the low clouds provided just the right dramatic accents for the mountain landscape.

The whole walk is up on my channel.

[benvironment]

Perthshire appeared to be at Peak Autumn yesterday, for a lovely walk over the Bealach Path from Moulin to Killiecrankie, with Strathtay Ramblers :) And with still no storms to speak of, the trees were still holding their leaves and putting on the best show possible. Really beautiful!

As I'm always saying, part of the joy of walking with all these Ramblers Scotland groups is discovering new places that I've previously overlooked or been unaware of. I must have been up Ben Vrackie a dozen times but I've never approached the hill from the Pitlochry side, so it was nice to see what I'd been missing. And I have to say, the weird wee rocky path under the A9 offered some nice photo opportunities too!

Strathtay is a small but active and friendly group with a fortnightly programme of walks all year round. Walks alternate between Saturdays and Sundays, with the programme ranging between munros and low-level local walks, mostly in Highland Perthshire where they have a huge variety of scenic walks. New folk always welcome, and their next walk is on 3rd November to Pine Cone Point near Dunkeld. Details on the Ramblers website: https://www.ramblers.org.uk/…/forth-v…/groups/strathtay.aspx

[katarinafotidosupliku]

[on-misty-mountains]

Revisiting places: The Birks of Aberfeldy

This walk is near the village of Aberfeldy in Perthshire, Scotland, and is best enjoyed in autumn when all the leaves are in their brightest colours. The name comes from song lyrics published in 1788 by the national poet of Scotland, Robert Burns, who went for a walk here and felt inspired to write. There are quotes from the song all along the walk and even a statue of Burns himself on a bench. There is one large waterfall and many, many smaller ones, so plenty to feast your eyes on. This time we went right at the end of autumn and a lot of leaves were gone, but you could also see more of the large waterfall, which is partly obscured by trees in the summer. Refer to last year’s post if you want to see the Birks in all their autumnal glory.    

The Birks on Youtube

[on-misty-mountains]

Walking the Scottish Highlands - Ben Vrackie

Scottish weather is changeable, especially in the mountainous areas, and so we found ourselves amidst rainy and sunny intervals. You could see the rain clouds being dragged across the land while the sun would light up green meadows for contrast.  

Some footage here. 

[on-misty-mountains]

Footage of walking up Ben Vrackie. Just to practice my editing skills. Lo-fi, but I hope you still enjoy. ;)

[on-misty-mountains]

Frozen Vrackie