Walking Highland Perthshire. Ronald Turnbull

      

      Walking Highland Perthshire

      by

      Ronald Turnbull

      2 POLICE SQUARE, MILNTHORPE, CUMBRIA LA7 7PY

      www.cicerone.co.uk

      About the Author

      Ronald Turnbull was born at St Andrews, Scotland, into an energetic fellwalking family. His grandfather was a president of the Scottish Mountaineering Club, and a more remote ancestor was distinguished as only the second climbing fatality in Snowdonia.

      In 1995 Ronald won the Fell Running Association’s Long-distance Trophy for a non-stop run over all the 2000ft hills of Southern Scotland; he still likes to mix some fast and challenging outings with gentler walks. He enjoys multi-day treks, through the Highlands in particular, and has made 21 different coast-to-coast crossings of the UK. He has also slept out, in bivvybag rather than tent, on over 70 UK summits. Outside the UK he likes hot, rocky areas of Europe, ideally with beaches and cheap aeroplanes. He has also started trying to understand the geology of what he’s been walking and climbing on for so long.

      Ronald lives in the Lowther Hills of Dumfriesshire and most of his walking, and writing takes place in the nearby Lake District and in the Scottish Highlands. He has eight times won Outdoor Writers & Photographers Guild Awards for Excellence for his guidebooks, outdoor books and magazine articles. He has a regular column in Lakeland Walker and also writes in Trail, Cumbria and TGO (The Great Outdoors). His current, hopelessly ambitious, project is to avoid completing the Munros for at least another 20 years.

      Other Cicerone guides by the author

      Ben Nevis and Glen Coe

      The Book of the Bivvy

      Not the West Highland Way

      Three Peaks, Ten Tors

      Walking in the Cairngorms

      Walking in the Lowther Hills

      Walking Loch Lomond and the Trossachs

      © Ronald Turnbull 2013

      First edition 2013

      ISBN: 978 1 85284 673 2

      Printed in China on behalf of Latitude Press Ltd

      A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

      All photographs are by the author except that of the author, which is by Thomas Turnbull.

      

This product includes mapping data licensed from Ordnance Survey® with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. © Crown copyright 2013. All rights reserved. Licence number PU100012932

      

1:100,000 route mapping provided by Lovell Johns www.lovelljohns.com. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2013. NASA relief data courtesy of ESRI.

      Advice to Readers

      While every effort is made by our authors to ensure the accuracy of guidebooks as they go to print, changes can occur during the lifetime of an edition. If we know of any, there will be an Updates tab on this book’s page on the Cicerone website (www.cicerone.co.uk), so please check before planning your trip. We also advise that you check information about such things as transport, accommodation and shops locally. Even rights of way can be altered over time. We are always grateful for information about any discrepancies between a guidebook and the facts on the ground, sent by email to [email protected] or by post to Cicerone, 2 Police Square, Milnthorpe LA7 7PY, United Kingdom.

      Warning

      Mountain walking can be a dangerous activity carrying a risk of personal injury or death. It should be undertaken only by those with a full understanding of the risks and with the training and experience to evaluate them. While every care and effort has been taken in the preparation of this guide, the user should be aware that conditions can be highly variable and can change quickly, materially affecting the seriousness of a mountain walk. Therefore, except for any liability which cannot be excluded by law, neither Cicerone nor the author accept liability for damage of any nature (including damage to property, personal injury or death) arising directly or indirectly from the information in this book.

      To call out the Mountain Rescue, ring 999 or the international emergency number 112: this will connect you via any available network. Once connected to the emergency operator, ask for the police.

      Front cover: Meall nan Aighean and Glen Lyon, from the old path above Dericambus (Route 21)

      Route rating

      The type of walk in terms of landscape encountered – low-, mid- or high-level – length and difficulty is shown by icons which appear at the start of each route description. See also ‘Using this guide’ in the Introduction.

      CONTENTS

       INTRODUCTION

       Jolly green giants

       Trees, please!

       When to go

       Safety in the mountains

       Maps

       Compass and GPS

       Using this guide

       PART 1: COMRIE AND CRIEFF

       1 Meal na Fearna to Ben Vorlich

       2 Beinn Dearg

       3 Water of Ruchill

       4 Comrie: Deil’s Caldron

       5 Glen Tarken tracks

       6 Ben Chonzie and Auchnafree Hill