13

Walk 13

Sunday 5th October

Tarmachan Ridge

This walk is now closed to further bookings.

Very Strenuous

Distance: 11km/6.5miles, 800m ascent
Start: Royal Hotel, Blairgowrie. 08:30

Finish: Bus leaves for Lawers Hotel at 15:30. Bus leaves for Blairgowrie at 17:00
Limit: 12
Notes: Very Strenuous. Hillwalking gear required. Packed lunch (and snacks) required.

Maps: Landranger 51, Explorer 378

About the walk:

This is probably the most entertaining hill walk in Perthshire; a winding, sometimes narrow but never really exposed ridge high above Loch Tay. At one end is the Munro which gives the ridge its name, Meall nan Tarmachan (hill of the ptarmigan) – 1043m. Our route uses an unusual approach from the north which will take us, on the return leg, along the little-walked Creag an Lochan high above the dam and Lochan na Lairige.

Look out for traces of the many shielings in Coire Riadhailt. There are many of these shown on the OS map for this area but are often difficult to make out on the ground. Shielings were temporary dwellings used by women and children in the summer months when cattle were brought up the hill to make use of the seasonal pasture and keep them from damaging the crops growing along the loch side. This system of transhumance ended with the introduction of sheep and the clearance of most of the population, which in the eighteenth century numbered several thousand.

Meall nan Tarmachan from Ben Lawers nature reserve