Dunkeld Lochs, Oct. TB

Sunday 30th Sept.

Isobel B posted some photos on facebook of a run she did near Deuchary Hill, North of Dunkeld, saying it was one of her favourites for scenery. Her photos were fab and immediately I set about finding out more about the route and how I might incorporate it as a Tynecastle Bronze. With her guidance I plotted out the route and uploaded it into my Suunto. There were a couple of iffy bits but that would make it all the more of an adventure.

heading into those hills

Nick was up for it so we caught the train to Dunkeld. There was much to discuss on the train; not so much about possible route variations, but more about life circumstances. Nick was moving house from Dunbar to Edinburgh, had sold his Dunbar place but his new Edinburgh home is that new build on Porty main street, yes that one, the one that burned down recently! So meanwhile he has gone back to the future, or rather forward to the past, and is living in his parents place, his wife and family elsewhere, and is somehow coping with all the ups and downs that this is provoking. He is looking remarkably well, given those circumstances, and even managed to fit in a sub3 marathon the other week in Berlin. 

We got off the train in Dunkeld and Birnam, a little after 11am and just round the corner ticked off the war memorial which sits on top of a rise just before the bridge over the Tay. The weather was pretty good and I was really looking forward to exploring this part of the world. I had checked the road to the hills on googlemaps and it was a bit lacking in pavement. There seemed to be the possibility of a riverside trail past the Hilton Hotel and Nick confirmed it was a good idea, having stayed there for a work thing or wedding. 

the silvery Tay

riverside trails

First Loch of the day, Polney Loch

The overall route was about 28 or 29 miles on the Suunto which isn't normally a problem as the up-to-the-station mile and back down make the total 30+. However Nick had cycled. So any extra miles along the way would be welcome. The hotel diversion was good and we had only a short distance on the "main" road till we passed a huddle of parked cars, marking the trail up into the hills. In no time we were climbing through very pleasant scenery in the sunshine. Gloves and hats weren't required although it wasn't weather for hanging around in, and the other hillwalkers we saw were all wrapped up well.

Loch 2, Rotmell Loch

Loch 3, Dowally Loch

It was all very pretty but if I had been on my own I might have paid more attention to it, and which Loch was which. Instead, having not seen Nick for a while we chatted constantly and the miles flew by. I tried to remember to take a pic of each Loch as we passed, but if I've labelled any wrongly it was because there were so many. The trails were mostly dry underfoot with occasional sploshy bits, but largely it was possible to keep feet fairly dry. When there was a junction, and there weren't many, I had the Suunto on sat-nav mode to keep us right and most of the time this, and the obvious Lochs appearing at the right places, confirmed we were keeping to the original plan. The iffy bits, up till the turn off for Deuchary Hill, never became problematic and I'd follow the same route again a second time. Thanks to Isobel for doing the ground work and working out a suitable route.

Loch 4 Loch Ordie

Loch 5, Lochan Oisinneach Mor

Loch 6, Lochan Oisinneach Beag

We knew this point was the turning point and about half way. I think we were about 14miles. We might have stopped running to have a sandwich near here though we kept walking - it was a little too cool for stopping. At one point we passed a girl pushing a not-very-high-end mountain bike over the lumpy heathery muddy track and we both agreed we thought it looked hard work and were glad to be on foot. 

bothy?

This looked like Deuchary Hill though we would be going right (West) of it before ascending. 

Loch Ordie again

The trail went round Loch Ordie which we had passed already, but on the other side. I got a bit mixed up about here (one of the few parts where the trail wasn't marked on the Suunto maps, so we were left guessing) and nearly steered us back towards the path we had been on earlier. We wandered around a bit and discussed the route before we committed to the ascent which turned out to be the correct line. And a very pleasant one, although Nick was more keen on running it than I was. I could feel the miles (about 20 of them so far) taking their toll and was happy to walk the steeper bits, while Nick, mountain goat-like, leapt on ahead.

Loch(an) 7, Lochan na Beinne

After a twisty turny path quite steeply upward we came upon this very pretty lochan which was also absent from the Suunto map but not google maps. The trig stone is just visible on Deuchary Hill, left.

Nick looking for his running companion.

Deuchary Hill summit

There were great views although worrying large dark clouds homing in on us. We got hit by an occasional shower but apart from putting the camera away there was nothing that felt it was worth getting the waterproofs out for.

Loch 8 Mill Dam

We knew we were getting towards the end of the trails and had planned a diversion if we hadn't clocked up sufficient miles. However we never did find Cally Loch to circumnavigate and so, near the car park, Nick suggested we run up a woodland trail off to the left. Knowing I'd be doing the full mileage either way and feeling tired I was defo dragging my feet and wasn't as keen to run a mile "up" the trail and shouted to Nick I'd see him on his return, following slowly behind. Unfortunately the trail then turned back down the hill and I wasn't sure which direction Nick ran off in. I could see this turning bad and wondered if we were going to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. I flagged down a passing car and asked them to run Nick over if they saw him on the way out. 

Happily after a short while Nick came down the trail and I called off the search and rescue. He had clocked up enough mileage and we ran back into Dunkeld to buy beers at the coop. We were in plenty of time to catch the 5.05, so instead of sitting in a pub in Dunkeld we had a couple of beers on the train and got back to Waverley for about 7pm. One of the shorter and faster TB runs and one of the prettiest. We had the feeling that the best of the Autumn colours were yet to grace the area but were pleased it was a great sunny day out on fab trails. Big thank you to Isobel who inspired this run and pointed us in the right direction. Excellent place and highly recommended. Shout if you want a gpx file. I think it was 29.9 miles at the station. Nick did a bit more!

29.9 plus 2