Southern Highlands

Milngavie – Corrour Station
29^th April – 3^rd May 2013

Introduction

This was the 2013 edition of our annual 100 miles along our end-to-end route from Lands’ End to the North Coast of Scotland. Last year I had finished a traverse of Southern Scotland when I dropped off the Campsie Fells onto the Glengoyle Distillery. Now we were picking up that end point and continuing for another five days into the Highlands. As my daughter and family live in Scotland, I went north early to spend time with the grandchildren, waiting for Mike to arrive for our walk

 

Monday 29^th April       Milngavie – Drymen

A Day on the West Highland Way

I took my grand-daughter to school and then walked on to the station and caught a train to Glasgow Central. Mike soon joined me, having travelled up from Crewe on the Virgin Pendolino. Then it was a descent into the depths of Platform 17 for the suburban train out of town. It was a cold but beautiful spring morning as we left the Milngavie station and walked into the pedestrianised town centre, completely missing the post and sign that indicated the start of the West Highland Way (WHW). However we were soon walking north into quiet woodland beside a small stream (or do I call it a burn from now on). Within an hour we were watching an Osprey fishing in a small lochan and we seemed a million miles from civilisation. We walked for a short while with a group of Americans  
who were just setting out to walk the complete WHW. We then pushed on to the distillery where I had finished last year. Dropping my sack, I jogged the 500 yards to the point on the main road where I had actually reached last year. I then returned the same way to pick up my sack and continue up the WHW. Mike was rather critical of this, arguing that I should for completeness carry the sack everywhere, but I argued that it was me that was doing the end-to-end walk, not my sack (which is falling apart and may not last the course).

In the afternoon we were hit by a series of cold sharp showers, necessitating the donning of waterproofs. The route followed an old railway for some miles before it turned off across a river bridge where a fridge, outside a house, promised ice cream at an ‘honesty shop’. As we sat on a wall eating our choc ices, honestly paid for, a Brisbane couple walked by and we accompanied them for the final two miles along the lane into Drymen. We were later to meet Julie and Jim Woodyatt again in the pub and join them for a meal. There was a long crocodile of folk trailing into town. We had in all the years we had been doing long distance footpaths never seen such a sight. The b&b's were busy, the pubs were full and there seems an industry in driving bags up and down the route. We were the only ones carrying our kit. We were not convinced this sort of regimentation was for us. 

Milgavie dep. 11.25, Drymen arr. 15.45, GPS 13 miles in 4hr 17m 12s

We stayed in the Braeside Guest House on Main Street and ate at the Clachan Inn, the oldest inn in Scotland, lamb burgers and chips, no real puddings and little real ale. The local brew was off and after a pint of Greene King IPA, I turned to red wine. 

 

Tuesday 30^th April 2013       Drymen – Callander

Mort Safes and Cappuccino

It was a beautiful morning. There was not a cloud in the sky and the air was like cold wine. The start of the Rob Roy Way (RRW) was along four miles of road but it was a very quiet road and a relief to be on our own away from the hundreds of walkers on the WHW. We found our first RRW symbols which we followed to the point at which we turned left into the water catchment system. The initial forest road was tarmacked as it followed the line of the aqueduct which carries water from Loch Katrine to Glasgow. The aqueduct was exposed as it crossed side valleys and re-entrants and was at its most spectacular as the Corrie Aqueduct, spoilt rather by the scaffolding of the maintenance team. After this the track became stony and grassy for a while and then became wide a forestry track for the decent into Aberfoyle.  

The lane into Aberfoyle passed an old church, Kirkton Church which had had its roof removed many years ago to encourage villages to use the parish church in the centre. An interesting feature of this ruin was the two steel coffins, ‘mort-safes’, that sat either side of the entrance, designed to discourage bodysnatching. A lovely coffee shop on the main road provided cappuccinos and Victoria sponge. This refuelled us for the climb into the Montheith Hills and a lovely balcony route that gave us splendid views over the golf course and the now distant Campsie Fells. The wide forest track eventually came to an end and the route continued on a narrow and muddy path that ran through forest and meadows and a lovely section of tree-lined lochan. We pulled out onto another wide forestry track for the long descent to Callander. As we hit tarmac, we came across a council vehicle stuck in a ditch. Then we went passed a delightful old river bridge, Gartchonzie Bridge, where another council vehicle passed us obviously on its way to pull out his colleagues. 

The route took a loop around a plantation before it finally dropped into town at the local secondary school just as the students were pouring out. We followed the pupils through the sports fields and over the footbridge which took us into the main street. Calling into the visitors centre we noticed that a video show was available about Rob Roy so we quickly showered and changed at the b&b and returned to watch an interesting, but not particularly informative, reconstruction of his life. Not much is known about the man besides the fact that he kept cattle and was not averse to stealing more. 

Drymen dep. 08.45, Callander arr. 15.55, GPS 21.06 miles in 6hrs 39m 43s plus a 35 minute coffee stop. 

We stayed in the Southfork Villa Guest House in Cross Street, Callender and ate in the Waverley: steak and kidney pie and chips with apple pie and custard and two beers from the Inveralmond Brewery, Ossian (4.1%) and Lia Fail (a darker ale at 4.7%).

 

Wednesday 1^st May 2013    Callander – Killin

A Day on Old Railway Lines 

It had been raining during the night and it was still damp as we left the guest house. So with waterproofs on, we set out westwards out of town and onto an old railway line, now a cycle route. Soon it dried up and we were able to take off some layers and make good time along the side of Loch Lubhnaig. It was not flat all the way. Two sections were waterlogged so the route diverted 100ft or so up the hill to a forest track. It was lovely gentle countryside to walk though, reminiscence of the English Lake District. After nine miles, the way came down to cross the river and crossed another footbridge to reach Strathyre. There is not much there so we were glad to sit outside the village shop and have coffee from a machine.  

Then there was a rather gratuitous loop up the east side of the valley, a loop into the forest to avoid walking up the main road. It made it even more gratuitous to find that the loop was officially closed for forestry activities and we walked through stacks of wood from freshly cut trees. The descent back to the road was down an enormous zigzag that seemed to take forever. Eventually though we were down at the Kingshouse, which is not called the Kingshouse and more. It is now a trendy cafe and b&b. Passing under the new road, the RRW turned along an undulating cycle path, tarmacked in its entirety, that followed the busy road. Here we met three ladies over from Amsterdam, a mother, daughter and friend who were walking the RRW because the accommodation on the WHW was fully booked. We left them as they took the diversion into Lochearnhead. We climbed to a stunning picnic and viewpoint overlooking the loch and sat in the sun and ate our sandwiches. 

It was time for sun-cream as we set off up Glen Ogle on an old railway line giving fabulous views of the valley below. At the bealach, the road had climbed up to railway level. We then crossed the road and went off passed the memorial to the two pilots of a crashed Tornedo. The way through the woods was again closed and a diversion took us on a high level loop round into Killin. We came out into the village right opposite the Falls of Dochart, a marvellous and dramatic end to the day. 

Callander dep. 08.55, Killin arr. 16.45, GPS 23.09 in 6hr 48m 39s plus a 30 min coffee stop and a 20 min picnic. 

We stayed in Breadalbane House an ate at the Falls of Dochart. The food, black pudding for starters and fish and chips, was very good and the real ale was superb. Strathbraan Head East (4.2%) rated in a very high score (8 out or 10) and Fyne Maverick (4.2%). 

Thursday 2^nd May 2013     Killin – Rannoch Station

Trouble with Trees 

We were down before 8am but the breakfast room was locked. We really needed an early start today as we had a very long and desolate section awaiting us. The breakfast took what seemed an age to arrive and even though we had our bags packed and waiting in the hall, it was after 8.30am when we finally got underway. A quick stop at the Co-op secured some butties for a picnic lunch and then it was off up the road, first north and then west to the hydro-power station. Here we turned up a steep tarmacked track that zigzagged up to a power station compound. We failed to find the path marked on the map and spend an uncomfortable half hour contouring into the upper part of the Allt Dhuin Criosg. Eventually we came to flatter ground and a long tramp across boggy ground passed the shielings and over the Lairig Bhreislich. Our decision to descent the left bank was the correct one but it was a long and steep decent onto the easier slopes and it came as a relief to see a footbridge over the river below. We quickly dropped onto this bridge and crossed it to the road. We were soon down in Glen Lyon and, lo and behold, there in Innerwick was a tea shop. It was rather busy with walkers and cyclist but we found a table and had our tea and cake whilst talking to a couple who liked climbing and short wave radio, a strange but interesting combination. 

Then we set off on our second big climb of the day, this time with the weather closing in. The lower track up the Lairig a Mhuic was wide and well-made but came to a sudden halt and then became a sparse and slippery trod. My route guide for this section was the Scottish Hill Tracks publication. This suggested that we should scale a beallach to the west and drop onto the Rannoch Forest track at its earliest point.  Mike pointed out the advantage of continuing to the east of Meall nan Sac and contouring round to pick up the track lower down. What I did not realise was that Mike was using a 30 year old map which did not have the forest extension that was shown on mine. So we ended up with a mixture of our two ideas, not ideal, but it did avoid 500ft of climbing but entailed a long and tiresome detour along the new forest fence to get back to the forest entrance.  

It was a great relief to reach the forest track and commence the decent into Loch Rannoch. But soon some problems arose. Tree damage from a recent storm had not been cleared and we came to a huge pine, lying across the track, which could only be passed by crawling commando-style under the branches. Mike went first, and then I handed over the sacks and followed as he scrambled for his camera to record the scene. The continuation into the lower forest was surreal. The entire landscape had been clear felled, and it looked for all the world like the scenes from Hiroshima. The logs were piled up beside the track in huge (20ft high) stacks that ran for half a mile.  

As we exited the forest and crossed the river, another choice faced us. We could either turn north for the road and have a 10 mile road walk or go round to the south of Leagag and reduce the amount of tarmac. As the second option was shorter, we turned west into worsening weather and it started to rain and blow. The path round to the Allt a Mheanbh-chruidh became wet and slippery and we were glad to reach the track and get some easier walking down to Bridge of Gaur. As we turned west on to the long lonely road, the weather deteriorated further. We were 90 minutes walking the five miles to Rannoch Station, into a cold and wet gale, with only one car passing us on route. When we finally arrived, the hotel door was locked but it was soon opened to give us a warm welcome, a lovely bath and a marvellous meal. 

Killin dep. 08.37, Rannoch Station arr. 19.30, GPS 31.55 miles in 10hrs 20m 06s plus 35 minutes in the Innerwick tea shop. 

We stayed in the Moor of Rannoch Hotel, on Scott’s first day. He had bought the hotel and had moved in the previous day. He likes to stock bottles of Scottish brewed real ales and, out of his large collection, we drank Bitter and Twisted (4.2%) from Harviestoun and Sheepshaggers Gold (4.5%) from Cairngorm. We easily managed a 3 course meal as our clothes dried by an open fire. 

 

Friday 3^rd May 2013     Rannoch Station – Corrour Station

A Dreich Day on Rannoch Moor 

Listening to the rain driving against the window through the night had convinced us that it might be a good idea to abandon the last day’s walk and jump on the first train home in the morning. However the wind had dropped when we awoke so we stayed with plan A and breakfasted early, paid our bill and ventured out into the rain once again. Back down the road we went, to the track that led northwards across Rannoch Moor. The clag was hiding the high mountains and all we could see was colourless wet grassland stretching away into the mist. The path was wet, made worst in places by attempts to upgrade the route with heavy machines. The small streams of yesterday were now raging torrents and even small side streams provided interesting crossings.  

At breakfast, two ladies from our hotel had been telling us of their plans to take the early train to Corrour and walk back along the route we were taking. So it was no surprise to us when a pair of figures appeared on the track in front of us, moving slowly towards us. A quick exchange of information prepared us for the fact that the track ahead did not get any drier. We at least were now heading down out of the mist, turning left at Peter’s Stone and down towards the loch. Soon the youth hostel came into view, tucked serenely on a peninsula out into the loch. And there in the distance were the white buildings of Corrour Station. 

At the youth hostel, we joined the wide track out to the station and the rain seemed to get heavier now we were totally exposed to the huge expanses of the Moor. A Czech car was parked up at the station. Did this belong to the new owners of the restaurant? The cafe was busy with walkers all waiting for the lunchtime train and we had to slip over the line onto the platform to find a quiet shelter to change out of our wet gear. I only just managed to attain a modicum of decency before the restaurant emptied and they all came over to join us. But I was in dry clothes and feeling a bit warmer when the train pulled in and we were on our way south. It took at least an hour and several hot drinks before I felt fully comfortable by which time the train was running down passed Bridge of Orchy to Crianlarich, surely one of the most spectacular sections of railway line in the country. What a pity the mist and the water running down the windows made it hard to appreciate the scenery. 

It was 3 hours back to Glasgow then a short walk to Central Station and the train to Ayr. Rachel picked us up from the station, took us home, fed us royally (bread and butter pudding) and we slept long and well ready for the drive home.   

Rannoch Station dep. 08.35, Corrour Station arr. 12.05, GPS 11.34 in 3hrs 29m 42s