It's Saturday morning and the sky is clear, we pack the car and 8am head off to Loch Earn in Perthshire. We have one of our daughter's Catriona and boyfriend Brett accompanying us today.
Driving along the banks of south Loch Earn we pass many cars that are parked, we thought that this may cause a parking problem. We were lucky to squeeze into a place.
Footwear changed, jackets and bags on off we set at 9.55am.
Pass through the gate at the farm, (the calf that was there last month is getting bigger) and onwards we go.
Brett and Catriona looking enthusiastic at start
After a couple of kilometers we cross the Allt a'Choire Bhuidhe via a footbridge
We then head up the path up into the open heather clad slopes, this is quite an easy walk with a few steps that remind us of the Inca Trail, ok maybe not so high steps. With the sun beating down on our faces it is warm but the cold wind is getting up.
After a while we reach a plateau bit where we gather or breath before the next steep climb.
The ground is covered with snow, increasing as we climb higher. It's blustery, but possibly 35mph in comparison to the 80mph on our last attempt.
The hill is busy with walkers (and not the zombie kind that you see in The Walking Dead either, haha) though some seem to have stopped below, they may head up later, but we want to get to the top.
We plod onwards and it does not take long to reach the summit. It was really steep at the end but the path was good, I did not fancy the drop on the left however!
Photo below - Looking down onto Loch Earn...
...and then some hills.
And Loch Earn again. :)
Roy and I reach the top first!
We decide to have our lunch and the views are great. It's a bit chilly with a few gusts of wind but nothing that we mind. We wonder what happened to Brett and Cat. We soon find out as my phone rings, Cat informs me they had stopped for a snowman building break and that Brett is now heading up.
Brett with Mr Snowman...
...and Cat with Mr Snowman!
A little while later, Brett finally reaches the top looking tired, but pleased with himself. :)
After having a look over to Stuc A Chroin we decide that there was still too much ice and snow to tackle along with the known scramble we had to do last time so we decide to leave that munro until a later date.
Pictured below deciding that it is time to get prepared for walk down. :)
Because of the steepness and the snow it's a bit tricky going down at the start and quite sore on the knees, this is where poles help to take the strain. We carry on down where we pass the lonely snowman, and continue back through the open heather where we meet up with Cat who is sitting having lunch.
The end is near and we think of the cool drink that we are heading for. We get back to the farm and to the car. It has been a good walk and taken us about 4 hours.
Time for our cool pint before heading to our B&B James Cottage, and then later for a great meal at The Gurkha's in Crieff.
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