This weekend has been a relaxing one….sort of, it started on Saturday with a passing thought about doing a hill walk, and after a cup of tea and a few household tasks, I decided that would be a great idea, but decided I needed company so promptly woke up hubby! He obliged and 30 minutes later we set off to the Turret Dam car park from Comrie to do one of the smaller hills Choinneachain Hill. It’s not listed as a Corbett, and following some discussion on a walking site I have discovered it’s a Corbett top, now I wasn’t sure what a Corbett top was so after a bit of research it’s to do with the drop. Corbett tops are subsidiary summits that are between 2500 and 2999 feet high with a drop of at least 30 metres on all sides. It doesn’t really matter, well it does but we enjoyed the walk anyways! It was a long one, 8 km, in a wending loop up the hill. A very good track all the way, with superb views on a cloudy but dryish day. Skys rolled long across the patchwork of green fields it was a stunning sight.
As always once sighted the top seems to move further and further away rather than nearer…..there’s maybe something to be said for a misty topped mountain! But today it was clear and the last km was the hardest and longest, but we got the stone cairn and views all around were spectacular. After a quick refuel, we walked across to the other large cairn that’s maybe the official top (I’m not sure). From here you follow a little sheep path back down to the Dam car park. The start of the path was marked with a wooden post. It was steep in place, boggy and slippy in places, overgrown beautifully with ferns and heathers and tiny yellow and white flowers. There’s a burn to cross, with what looks like a fab wee pool accessible;it overlooks the Turrett reservoir, I may be back up at some point with my swimmers! The views over the water were breathtaking, we felt a bit exposed at times, almost balanced on the side of the hill as it ran parallel to the Loch. I was very glad to see the flat track when it arrived, 8 km up, just over 3km straight down!! Legs had turned to jelly by the bottom and I was very glad of my poles to keep me steady. My legs are really looking forward to tomorrow’s soothing swim…..
….Sunday swim, ahhhhhhhh now relax. The water was chilly, the company warm, eight of us in Loch Earn, the water temperature sitting about 14c. I’m a skins swimmer in other words without wetsuit (unwrapped) but there was an autumnal feel in the air so I donned the neoprene socks and gloves this morning. Wet shoes are necessary in Loch Earn, it’s quite a stoney walk into the water. I hadn’t swum for a couple of weeks so wasn’t sure how it would feel, but once in it was magic. Leg aches from yesterday soothed, stress from life dissipated, just a wonderful feeling. There is nothing like the cold water to level you, bring you to a place of peace, washing away all the rubbish that we all carry heavy in our shoulders. Now I feel ready for the week ahead.
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