Edinburgh & The Cateran Trail: Day 1 ~ Blairgowrie to Kirkmichael

When I went round for a brew one evening early in 2013, Hazel told me about her and John's plans to walk the Cateran Trail that May. She asked if I wanted to go. As it fell the week before the Edinburgh Kiltwalk, I figured it'd be a good final training session, & said Yes please.
I left John to organise the digs & the bloke to transfer our bags, & so just had to book my trains. I'd found out  there was a dance on the 11th and 18th, so I planned to go up on the Saturday, go to the dance, stay over at the hostel on Shandwick Place*,  go up to Stirling on the train & hook-up with H&J who were driving up on the Sunday.
* The hostel came complete with 2 Albanian managers who looked awfully like Daniel Craig. Before I knew their names were Albert & Nas, I'd called them Daniel & Craig ~ but not to their faces ;-p 
So, I caught the train at Blackpool North, changed at Preston, & pulled into Haymarket at 1411. It's only a 5 min walk to the hostel, & having dumped the bags (& the frock!) went for some dinner at my usual near Tollcross. The dance was out beyond the Botanical Garden, so I packed the frock & shoes in a little ruckie, & set off walking. It took about 40 min, & on passing the Botanical planned a look round at some point. 
Dance over, I walked back, defrocked & went to bed.
Next morning I missed the 1039 so sat in the Pumpkin & knitted while I waited for the next one. Incidentally, I started knitting that jumper when Rob & I went to Colorado in 2006! 
It'll be finished 1 of these years. 
Probably! ?
I met H&J who wanted a bit of a mooch round Stirling before continuing up the road. Eventually we set off with the SatNav telling John where to go. It took him the long way round, but he was driving ;-)
We arrived In Blairgowrie, found the hotel ~ I had a Eeenormous bed!, & did a bit of a Charity Shop shop before they all closed at 4. Before we had dinner Bob Ellis came to meet us. He was the bloke who would be ferrying our bags by road while we walked the Trail. He knew all about the Trail & told us what to expect the next day.
Dinner was hearty, & the Barman, Liam, sponsored me a fiver for the Kiltwalk.
Next morning, after porridge & kippers ( well I was in Scotland ;-q ), we set off.

The weir at Blaigowrie

This is a pic of J&H at the first Cateran Trailmarker - down by the river Ericht. All the markers had hearts on. There was an info board a bit further along. We also crossed the river on a bridge to look at an old mill.

J&H on Cochrage Moor

Eventually, after Ages on country lanes :-(, & seeing a limping lamb & telling the farmer, we were up on the moor & headed towards the Bridge of Cally. It alternately rained & didn't rain, & was quite soggy in parts, but it was nice to be up high for a bit & not waking on tarmac.

Once arriving above Bridge of Cally we turned left & sat down on some felled logs for lunch. Then it rained again.
We then walked through Blackcraig forest & came out of the tree above Blackcraig Castle ~ now a ruin.

John getting athletic~complete w map!

We then walked along above the Ardle, saw Ballintuim below us & left the trees behind as we traversed an exceedingly boggy hillside.

Strathardle was not to H's liking as we kept having to detour round people's gardens. This meant quite a lot of upping & downing on very wet ground, & adding quite a bit to the distance.
On one extended traverse I fell on my arse - well, L butt actually, but fortunately the salopettes I was wearing kept the wet on the outside.

We crossed this burn, before having our afternoon break by a cute little lochan.

John & Cateran Trail marker

No Idea what the burn's called. 
I can't find it on Gmaps :-/




However, my hieroglyphs for that day mention a Loch Dalvey, & Gmaps shows there's a Dalvey Loch between Ballintuim & Kirkmichael, so maybe John gave me that info from his OS map?? 

While H&J sat in the little hut, I went for a wander round the lochan, took some pics, & had a small kip in the sun on the little boat.

J&H having afternoon tea

Then we set off again in a more or less northerly direction & the route went over farmland. At one point we saw some deer taking some exercise below us, but they were out of sight before any of us got our cameras out. 
Bugger!

Another bugger was that I couldn't find my purse, & recalled seeing it at lunch on a log when I'd walked away from H&J for a Rule10.
After a bit of a panic, we decided that maybe Bob could take me back to Bridge of Cally, & I could look for it where we'd had lunch.
So off we went again.

My hieroglyphs tell me there was a 'race to Kirkmichael', so maybe we split up on the last bit?
Dunno?
But I do remember the last bit after we turned left in the village & headed to our digs. It was about another mile trudge up hill, & not great after walking 15 miles :-/

The good thing was, while I was walking up I decided I needed sustenance and dug in one of the many pockets, only to dig out my purse. 
Weird. 
I'm sure I looked in that pocket at the lochan.
Obviously not!

Our digs were Pine Tree Lodge, & we had adjoining rooms. This is mine. 

The day sack is a kid's ruckie that belonged to Rosie when she was about 13. When she grew up, I purloined it. Great colours, & just right for a day's hiking/skiing :-)
I also had a bath in my room (at the end of a corridor, so maybe that's why?)  :-D

I had a lovely soak (the water was a bit brown, but that's par for the course up there!).



Hazel came through the connecting door to have one as well.

John declined. It seemed he was satisfied with a glass of malt!

The picture of the lounge shows 2 peeps playing pool. My notes say they were Lorna & Graham. 
My notes also say there was a cute Barman called Gil ;-p   I guess that's him behind the bar?



I got a malt & sat knitting on the nice comfy sofas while I waited for H&J . 


When they came we all ordered & waited for dinner.

It took a while. 

Apparently the cook hadn't turned up?
When it arrived it was, sadly, very average, but at least chips were involved :-q
After that, it was time for bed & I slept like a log :-)
Next morning I took some pics of the view outside my window.

It was May, but there were still daffs out?

Just goes to show how late spring is in the Highlands!

Then it was time for breakfast, & I fancied porridge again ;-q
OAO