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Whittle Wanderer|
Pitlochry, Ben Vrackie, Perthshire, Scotland. |
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OS Grid ref: NN 94422
59813 Lat/Long: 56.718016, -3.726604 The night wasn’t as cold as I was expecting but there had been some snowfall, which I wasn’t expecting. As I need to drive home today I set off early at 6am to walk to the summit of Ben Vrackie. It’s a walk I’ve done before but never in the snow. The path is well used all the way but the recent snow fall made it a bit slipper at first. It was dark when I left and I needed my head torch for the first section through the woods and shrubs. When I reached the open hillside it wasn’t quite light enough to see properly as the path was snow covered and slippery. |
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 Sunrise from the climb of Ben Vrackie |
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| Eventually I could see OK and enjoyed the solitude as I approached the dam and frozen reservoir behind. The temperature had dropped to -8degC but there was no wind so it didn’t feel bad. Across the dam I put my ice studs on to start the steep climb up the final km or so. The snow was soft and before long I was floundering in the deep sections. I’d brought my snow-shoes so it I put them on while still wearing the studs. They made a huge difference and didn’t present any problems on the sections where stone steps were available. | |
 Summit of Ben Vrackie with the trig post on the right |
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| The temperature began to drop further but I was sheltered by the mountain. The final section was fairly steep and would have been very difficult without snow shoes. Just below the summit I was hit by the ice cold wind as the temperature had dropped to -10degC. It was just after sunrise and I had some nice views all around. I didn’t stay long and soon stated by descent along the same route I’d climbed. The steep sections of snow slopes were difficult in snow shoes so I sat on my backside and slid down with a controlled descent. I reached the dam and met the first walker of the day on his ascent. I kept my snowshoes on and they made a huge difference as I progressed easily. Many more people were coming up as I descended and I was back at my car around 11am. Near the car park I made a short diversion to look at stone and adjacent information plate. It referred to Eck and Dougie arguing over a swede. It took a while to thaw the car windows and clear them for the drive home. | |
 View on the descent |
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This stone was erected to
commemorate the skirmish o Ben I Vrackie on the 5th February 1864. Eck and Dougie fell out over half an acre of swedes. Eck fell here after being hit on the heed we a frosted neep RIP Eck. |
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