Friday 8 April 2022

Southern Highlands - Backpacking from Callander to Aberfeldy

I love a multi-day walk. It conveys the sense of a proper journey with a start and a destination. And using ancient paths on a walk provides a connection to the past, to a time before cars when people made long journeys by foot. I love the simplicity of it as well. Everything I need for a few days out is on my back and all I have to do is to walk, to put one foot in front of the other. I did have to map read as well though on this trip as I had not walked much of this route before and even where I had, it was many years ago. It looked fairly straightforward but that was deceiving as the tail end of winter created challenging underfoot conditions and some adverse weather to contend with. 

It was pleasant enough though when I set out from Callander in early afternoon. The track to the farm at Braeleny climbed into the hills and crossed to the south of the snow-dusted peaks of Ben Vorlich and Stuc a'Chroin. The inseparable pair provided the backdrop for the first night's camp spot above the river. It was a hard spot to find as the ground everywhere was saturated from the recent snow melt and I had scouted up and down for well over an hour.

Once I had left Callander, I hadn't seen another person and that was the case the next morning as well as I walked through to Comrie. The night had left a fine dusting of frost on the tent and I lingered late until it dried off. Once on the move, I really enjoyed the day's journey. The track dropped down to the farm at the head of Glen Artney then picked up an old, rough path that headed towards Comrie on the north side of the river. It was a delightful route that switched between woods and open pastures, sometimes beside the river but often high above it. 

At Comrie I picked up the beautiful woodland path to the Deil's Cauldron waterfall. The snow melt may have made the walking routes boggy but it also filled the waterfall which was a thunderous presence in the gorge. A short road walk then took me to Invergeldie and from here I was climbing into the hills again on another old path that connects Glen Lednock with Loch Tay.

I wasn't going that far but still had to cross a high pass that was clogged with melting snow and hard going underfoot. The hills here now were streaked with snow and though the scenery was bleak, there was a peace and wildness out here, and I enjoyed having this to myself. The descent from the pass put me at the head of Glen Almond and a river crossing took me to an old, drystane sheep fank that provided the second camp spot of the trip. 

I can't really say exactly what it was but this was a wonderful camp spot. It was relatively remote but the old walls gave it a sense of place. Snow-covered hills rose above the tent and there was no sound except the rush of the river. Temperatures plummeted in the evening and my damp socks turned as stiff as cardboard. But the clear, crisp night created an inky sky full with stars and I lay for ages with my tent door open gazing up at them.

It was the last of the clear weather though. The next day I started walking down Glen Almond under ominous, grey skies. In keeping with this, the glen had a quiet, empty feel in its upper reaches and there was nobody around. But further down farm buildings and cottages appeared with dogs barking outside and people working away in outbuildings. I left the glen via a wonderful route that climbed up through Glen Lochan. The cloud had lowered further, obscuring the hills, and the path wound its way through a tight pass where you could have imagined a pterodactyl swooping through out of the mist. Before I descended to Loch Freuchie on the other side, the rain came on and would accompany me for the rest of the way to Aberfeldy.

The route from Loch Freuchie used the single track, summer hill road to Kenmore to the top of the pass before picking up a track to Urlar and on to Aberfeldy. The road is closed in winter so I'd no need to worry about dodging traffic though I don't think it's ever busy. As the road climbed into the hills, the now torrential rain turned to snow and I found myself grinning. I do love a tussle with the weather. Having said that, I was still glad when the turn off appeared out of the blizzard and I started the descent to Aberfeldy. It was late in the day though and the light was fading, so I spent another night out in the tent.


By morning, it had rained all night and was still raining, so the final part of the journey down through the Birks of Aberfeldy was accompanied by the roar of the swollen river. But it was satisfying to complete my journey and to have covered the miles on foot.

Fact File
Start: Callander
Finish: Aberfeldy
Public transport: Train to Stirling and bus from Stirling to Callander. Bus from Aberfeldy to Dunkeld then train back to Edinburgh.
My route: Took the hill road to the north out of Callander which is signed for Bracklin Falls. It becomes track at Braeleny and passes over to Glen Artney. At the head of Glen Artney passed through the farm buildings and walked the rough route on the north side of the river which eventually meets a quiet road into Comrie. Took the path signed for the Deil's Cauldron and then joined the road in Glen Lednock above the falls. At Invergeldie took the track heading northeast which is the route up Ben Chonzie but left it where another track branches off to the northwest. Descended to the Glen Almond and crossed the river. The bridge marked on the OS map is no longer there and the bridge just downstream was not one that I would cross! Down Glen Almond then through the farm buildings at Auchnafree to pick up the path through Glen Lochan. Where it meets the road at Loch Freuchie, turned left and walked up and over the hill road to Kenmore until reaching a loch with a hut on the shore. Took the track on the south shore of the loch and it eventually reaches Aberfeldy via the farm at Urlar.