There is no denying that I am an official hill bagger, especially when I spent one day walking to two diferent summits, with a short drive in between. To be honest, the two walks, when added together, provided a great day of walking and it would have seemed like a long drive along the A9 just for one of the routes.
Fiona 1: Blath Bhalg
I met my friend Ben in Pitlochry and we headed together to the first walk on Blath Bhalg. The total distacne was 7km and a height gain of just 375m. We were delighted that there was a path and/or trod to the top at 641m. The Fionas rarely have a decent path but this mountain must be a fairly popular attraction for local people.
After climbing up to Blath halg west top, we continued south-east to the summit of Blath Bhalg.
The view from the small cairn offered a panorama of rounded Perthshire peaks. It was fine although not breathtaking!
We chose to walk an out-and-back route and we were back at the car in lass than 1hr and 45 mins.
Ben and I then returned to Pitlochry and collected my vehicle. We both drove north on the A9 to reach the second Fiona of the day.
Find out more about the “Fionas”
Fiona 2: Creag Ruadh
This route was another out-and -back and totalled almost 10km. The height gain was 334m and the summit rose to 658m elevation. It took around two hours to complete.
The route starts at the side of the busy A9 and it follows the same glen path as for the Munro Meall Chuaich, which I ran with my friend Cath last summer.
You cut off north earlier and after crossing a rough piece of ground, we found a trod that headed up the first part of the lower slope in a north-easterly direction. There were bits and piece of trod after this but the direction was obvious as we headed towards the wide ridge higher up.
Having reach around 600m elevation, we tracked east and came across a small cairn on rocks that marked the top. The views were wider than the previous Fiona and although they still featured mainly rolling hills and mountains there was the addition of some fine lochs to add to the scenery.