Deuchary Hill.

24th October 2010

We fancied combining a bit of autumn colour and a hill today.Well,to be more exact,Bob fancied a bit of autumn colour and I fancied a hill.The Dunkeld/Pitlochry area seemed to suit the bill for both requirements if the forecast did indeed remain stable overnight.I still get excited about hills so the usual routine while waiting Bob`s arrival is cup of coffee,check BBC news 24 to see that the country hasn`t gone completely to the dogs,have another cup of coffee and wander outside to the garden for a calming cigarette and check that the weather is behaving itself.
If I wander around to the lane at the back I can usually see as far as the Ochils and Tinto but today there was no need to even go that far.The small hill across the field is as good a barometer as any.

View from the front doorstep...

We headed north negotiating our way through the interminable M80 roadworks before reaching the A9 and a speedy journey from thereon up to Dunkeld.A quick stop for food at the Co-op and we parked the car at the Cally Loch car park.The car park was surprisingly busy given the early hour with a mixture of walkers,dog walkers and mountain bikers.We`re not used to busy places as we much prefer a
bit of peace and quiet.We can navigate over the hills in whiteout conditions but the profusion of paths and signposts here almost scuppered us at the start as we were completely enveloped in trees.None of the markers made any mention of Deuchary Hill,our destination, and there were so many to choose from.It didn`t help matters that my OS map was so old that it didn`t show any paths at all in the area.The map was so old in fact that it still showed the A9 passing through Dunkeld. I kid you not


See what I mean about the signs ?

We followed a path in the general direction of the hill through the forest and as the sunlight had yet to reach in here it was a bit on the parky side...

A couple of miles further up we reached the Mill Dam...

Soon followed by Rotmell Loch...

It was fairly level walking now on a good path for the next three miles along past Raor Lodge and all the way up to the outflow of Loch Ordie.

We had a seat here for a bite to eat and watched the a couple of Whooper swans,some Canada geese and a mixed selection of duckery.Thank god for ducks....where would I be without my duck down sleeping bag
We then headed back the way we had came for half a mile to look for the path that branched off and led up to Lochan na Beinne which lies just under the summit of Deuchary Hill.It`s a big six foot wide gate if you are looking for it although it looks a bit misleading as you can`t see the path beyond it.It is there however and easily picked up once you are through.The intention was to have a wee break at Lochan na Beinne but it was in the shade when we arrived ...

....so we carried on up to the summit where we found a wee bit of shelter from the bitter wind.Not enough shelter to keep us there for any length of time though.! A
quick bag of the trig point and a few pics and we were off.

Bob caught the sun bouncing off the summit of Schiehallion amidst the darkening skies twenty miles away to the west...

We took the quick way back to the car, straight down the southern slopes of the hill and we were soon back at Mill Dam.It might not look like the most inspiring of hills from a casual glance at the map but if you go the way we did then you get your moneys worth.A nice wee corner of Scotland at this time of year....