Back in December we had a good cold spell and I was hopeful for a decent winter. But sadly that hasn't materialised so I was happy I got a camping trip fitted in when the weather was more wintry. Those cold temperatures at the end of the year also created a phenomenon that I was very excited to find - hair ice. It's quite rare as the conditions for it to develop are very specific - it only forms on dead wood in broadleaf woodlands when the air is moist, the temperature is just below zero and a particular fungus is present. It is also confined to latitudes between 45 and 55 degrees north. So it really was a special find.
I was out in the Obney Hills, west of Dunkeld. It's always a walk I enjoy in winter time. Snow was lying from about halfway up Birnam Hill and was glistening in the low sun of a mid winter afternoon as I pulled myself up the hill. On the top, the snow was dry and powdery so that it squeaked under each footstep.
Dropping off the other side took me to a small, hidden valley where I knew a good spot for the tent. A cold night followed but the air was crisp and clear, affording good views of the stars.
A blue sky day followed for my walk up and over Craig Obney. A rough pull up through deep heather gave way to a pleasant high level amble to the top of the hill. The view was superb to Ben Chonzie above Crieff which presided over a snow-dusted landscape of woods and undulating hillscapes.
But it was perhaps the walk on from Craig Obney that I enjoyed the most. An ancient track passes through Glen Garr, a natural route slicing through these small but steep hills. There are straggly birch woods and pasture which is divided up by old stone walls. There is an overwhelming sense of quiet, of peace and of the past. Perhaps this is because I'm always here in mid winter when there are few people around and when the light covering of snow quietens the world around me.
I ambled slowly north through Glen Garr, enjoying the open views and trying to make its special atmosphere stretch out for as long as possible. But eventually the old path came to an end as it joined the farm road to Balhomish. There was a choice here to walk back to Dunkeld via the Hermitage or to follow the Inchewan Burn back. I chose the burn route so that I could marvel again at the fascinating hair ice.
Fact File
Start/finish: Dunkeld and Birnam train station
Public transport: Edinburgh/Glasgow to Inverness train
My route: At the bottom of the station steps, turned left uphill to pick up the path up Birnam Hill. Descended a little way of the far side of Birnam Hill then turned west at an open bealach to the head of the valley that runs southeast from the farm at Balhomish. Next day up and over Craig Obney and decsended into Glen Garr. Walked north, turning off the farm road onto the forest track at Tomgarrow which eventually joins the Inchewan Burn to return to the station.