Date/Time
Date(s) - 22/07/201212:00 am
Walk Details
Pub Stop?: No O/S Map Sheet No.: 42 Grid Ref. Start: Grid Ref. Finish Walk (Miles): 8 Walk Hours: 4 Bus Time to Walk: Bus Time from Walk: Departure time from walk:Walk Notes
Today, we head into Central Perthshire, where our main objective is the ascent of the fine 1083m conical peak called Schiehallion (translation – Fairy Hill of the Caledonians). Our Club last climbed this mountain in September 2004, doing today’s intended route in reverse. Quite a few members included this mountain in their “suggestion sheet” for 2012 and, this walk was included by your Committee in this year’s Programme. Because this walk is a through-route, any members who require a shorter walk would have to travel to the finishing point with the bus and do their own thing in the Loch Rannoch area. This is possible, so if any member(s) should require a shorter walk, please advise your committee member in charge of the bus so that early discussions can take place with the driver.
The walk commences just east of the Braes of Foss farm where there is a Forestry Commission car park (NGR 753 557). At it, a plaque commemorates the experiment carried out on the slopes of Schiehallion by Maskelyne, once the Astronomer-Royal, to determine the earth’s mass by observing the deflection of a pendulum caused by the mass of the mountain itself. From the car park, follow the “John Muir” route marked “Schiehallion path” and go WSW on a newish path which has replaced the original badly eroded track over the peat hags from opposite Braes of Foss farm. This new path ascends the northeast shoulder of the mountain on to its stony plateau. The upper part of the mountain is covered with angular quartzite boulders giving rough walking and in wet conditions, quite slippery. The last 1.5 km of the route along the broad ridge to the summit (1083m) is marked by many small cairns. From the summit descend westwards on steepish ground to eventually reach a good path heading northwards down the east side of the Tempar Burn towards Lassintullich on the unclassified road to Kinloch Rannoch.