Date: Saturday 18 May 2019
Route: Dundarave B&B in Strathtay to wild camp beyond Kirkmichael at NO 097 609, at 300 metres, near Ashintully Castle
Distance: 28 km (Cum: 204)
Ascent: 650 metres (Cum: 6800)
Time taken: 9 hrs including 2 hrs breaks
Weather: light rain, warm, calm
Rich and Jo provided breakfast in our room at 8 am. It was all we could have wished for. Chatting to them delayed our departure until 9.10, but we enjoyed the socialising.
Light rain from the start inhibited picture taking, as did the relatively boring road walk along bike trail 7. Luckily there were very few vehicles on the B898, and after passing cyclists and cowslips we soon reached the old railway bridge at Logierait. This is now owned by the community - a valuable asset as it's the only place where you can cross the River Tay for some distance. It's a single carriageway boarded crossing, one vehicle at a time.
We were soon installed in the Rivers Meet café in Ballinluig for a good ration of coffee and cake. We weren't expecting to see any Challengers, but Maggie Hems strolled in, on her 18th Challenge. She complained about rolling off her sleeping mat when camping, limiting her sleep to one hour a night!
Eventually, after about 11 km of road walking, we hit the farm track beyond Tulliemet. This took us to an old goods container outside which we lunched. A shepherdess arrived with her dog Katie, on a buggy. She was checking on her sheep, which should finish lambing in a couple of weeks.
After having discussed our route with Maggie, we decided not to take the track up towards Loch Broom, from where we had planned to yomp in an easterly direction over a minor (503 metres) summit to reach the Mains of Glendarby. Instead, to avoid deep heather and tussocks and hags, we turned east from the container up a marked path, following this to Lochan Oisieneach Mer. Surprisingly I recognised this from a bike ride I did from Dunkeld a few years ago.
We took the marked path to Kirkmichael. It doesn't go to the Mains of Glendarby, instead swinging east to skirt to the south of a big plantation, before descending to join the Cateran Trail just outside Kirkmichael.
It was 5 pm. We had had enough. Sought accommodation. None available in Kirkmichael tonight. So we carried on. Slowly. Camping here (I'll take a picture tomorrow) was a no brainer. We can easily get to Clova in two days.
We stopped just after six o'clock; the tent was soon up, and we were happy to be out of the rain. And we could reduce our load by eating some of it, which wouldn't have been possible if we'd found accommodation in Kirkmichael.
So all is now well with the world. Thanks for your comments, which are getting through despite a very iffy service. I'll respond when I can do so without draining the precious battery.
Today's pictures:
Breakfast at Dundarave
The bridge at Logierait
Lunch outside a container
On the path to Kirkmichael
Next Day
Previous Day
Index
Route: Dundarave B&B in Strathtay to wild camp beyond Kirkmichael at NO 097 609, at 300 metres, near Ashintully Castle
Distance: 28 km (Cum: 204)
Ascent: 650 metres (Cum: 6800)
Time taken: 9 hrs including 2 hrs breaks
Weather: light rain, warm, calm
Rich and Jo provided breakfast in our room at 8 am. It was all we could have wished for. Chatting to them delayed our departure until 9.10, but we enjoyed the socialising.
Light rain from the start inhibited picture taking, as did the relatively boring road walk along bike trail 7. Luckily there were very few vehicles on the B898, and after passing cyclists and cowslips we soon reached the old railway bridge at Logierait. This is now owned by the community - a valuable asset as it's the only place where you can cross the River Tay for some distance. It's a single carriageway boarded crossing, one vehicle at a time.
We were soon installed in the Rivers Meet café in Ballinluig for a good ration of coffee and cake. We weren't expecting to see any Challengers, but Maggie Hems strolled in, on her 18th Challenge. She complained about rolling off her sleeping mat when camping, limiting her sleep to one hour a night!
Eventually, after about 11 km of road walking, we hit the farm track beyond Tulliemet. This took us to an old goods container outside which we lunched. A shepherdess arrived with her dog Katie, on a buggy. She was checking on her sheep, which should finish lambing in a couple of weeks.
After having discussed our route with Maggie, we decided not to take the track up towards Loch Broom, from where we had planned to yomp in an easterly direction over a minor (503 metres) summit to reach the Mains of Glendarby. Instead, to avoid deep heather and tussocks and hags, we turned east from the container up a marked path, following this to Lochan Oisieneach Mer. Surprisingly I recognised this from a bike ride I did from Dunkeld a few years ago.
We took the marked path to Kirkmichael. It doesn't go to the Mains of Glendarby, instead swinging east to skirt to the south of a big plantation, before descending to join the Cateran Trail just outside Kirkmichael.
It was 5 pm. We had had enough. Sought accommodation. None available in Kirkmichael tonight. So we carried on. Slowly. Camping here (I'll take a picture tomorrow) was a no brainer. We can easily get to Clova in two days.
We stopped just after six o'clock; the tent was soon up, and we were happy to be out of the rain. And we could reduce our load by eating some of it, which wouldn't have been possible if we'd found accommodation in Kirkmichael.
So all is now well with the world. Thanks for your comments, which are getting through despite a very iffy service. I'll respond when I can do so without draining the precious battery.
Today's pictures:
Breakfast at Dundarave
The bridge at Logierait
Lunch outside a container
On the path to Kirkmichael
Next Day
Previous Day
Index
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