Saturday 2 May 2026 - Perth parkrun #570

On our way home from Persie House, Sue and I paused our journey in Perth. Phil and Sue would have joined us, but Phil fell off his bike yesterday and hurt a leg. He tells of being confronted by a giant rock (perhaps the size of a paperweight?) that threw him off the bike and down a steep bank next to the track. Anyway, he went to a hospital in Aberdeen, where his bones were deemed to be intact, and not in the separate bits that concerned him.

It was a pleasant morning in Perth.

399 runners and walkers assembled at the start, where a large number of pacers were there to help people to better their PBs.

I set off gently, as did Sue, as we were due to take part in a 10 km race the following day. I stayed near the back and took a few photos on the 'there and back' course next to the River Tay..

Our leisurely pace saw me home in 38:29 in position 354 out of 399, and Sue finished in 27:07 in position 177. Full results are here.

Friday 1 May 2026 - Carn Aosda, The Cairnwell and Carn a' Gheoidh

For our last day based at Persie House, Keith took a crowd to Monamenach and I joined others for a walk from the Glenshee Ski Centre. This always reminds me of a brilliant day out on 24 June 1989, when John Mansell (RIP) and I climbed seven Munros in a day from this pass. I had new boots that gave me blisters, and we were carrying full rucksacs in preparation for camping near the summit of Beinn Iutharn Mhor. The trip was also memorable as we had only decided to do it the previous evening after a meeting in Jackson's Boat to sort out arrangements for a  memorable AV2 expedition in the Dolomites, so our day had started with a 310 mile drive to Glenshee.

We soon passed the last of the ski buildings, as we headed up to the Munro summit of Carn Aosda - a short but steep pull up from the car park.

We were soon looking back down to the pass from the 917 metre summit.

Our next objective was The Cairnwell, an easy walk past Loch Vrotachan.

I had a short rest by this bench constructed from old skis.

The 933 metre summit of The Cairnwell is not the most exciting Munro summit, though it may be the easiest to reach - just a 40 minute stroll from the vast car park.

We soon set off towards our next objective, the slightly higher, at 975 metres, Carn a' Gheoidh.

A spot out of the cool breeze was chosen for elevenses.

Then we continued to the summit cairn of our third and final Munro of the day, this one also being of 'Marilyn' status.

Pictures were circulated by various people at various times - here on the tops of The Cairnwell, Carn a' Gheoidh, and the lower summit of Carn Mor.

A large bird studied us at length.

We were rewarded with good views from the broad ridge along which all of us except Mike (who went back down to the car park) descended to the Spittal of Glenshee where Julie's car was conveniently parked.

There were good views across the valley to Glas Tulaichean, where the little dot pottering along the ridge could well have been David.

To the east, a good view of the hills to the east of the pass, where Dan had chosen to go today.

We milled around and finished our flasks on the top of the lesser summit of Carn Mor, before finding a good track down to Julie's car.

This route, courtesy of Julie, proved to be much better than heading straight down to the car park, and was enjoyed by all of us - me, Sue, Julie, Simon, Jenny, Richard and Roger. 

16 km, with 650 metres ascent, taking about 6 hours.

Later, a speech from Keith, celebrating 40 years of marriage, and a few well chosen words from David.

Then our last dinner together, followed by indoor and outdoor photos.

Subject to a bit of editing of earlier diary entries, that's it from Persie House, a good venue for up to 24 of us, with perfect weather and hearty meals provided by chef Heather, helped by her mum, Moira.