At the end of the week we are returning to coastal walking for three or four days and needed a wee leg stretcher to get in better trim. The walk from Glen Artney, just outside Comrie in Perthshire to Callander in Stirlingshire was, at about ten or eleven miles, just the job. That our two companions on the walk were very keen to do it was all the inspiration we needed despite a dire weather forecast.
The walk follows old drover roads and estate tracks across the rolling Perthshire hills. This is typical Perthshire countryside with glens within glens and we have earmarked a number of them for further investigation in the future. Along the route we passed below the peaks of Ben Vorlich and Stuc a'Chroin, both 'Munros', with other only slightly minor peaks alongside them.
We had a slightly late starting time because the weather forecast was for heavy rain and gale force winds earlier in the day. Leaving just after 10.30am we avoided most of the rain. Despite the late start we did have to contend with very strong winds for most of the walk and, as it was blowing towards us, it did make walking difficult at times and more tiring than it should have been. However, it did not stop us enjoying glorious, if brief periods of sunshine and as the walk went on the wind died down and we saw some blue sky. Neither did the weather prevent us from enjoying some splendid views across the peaks and down across Stirlingshire as far as Grangemouth.
The first half of the walk from the Glen Artney side is for me the more rewarding. It is still a fairly wild landscape and the deeper in to the glen you go, the greater the sense of isolation. Apart from one solitary walker, sitting in the middle of nowhere waiting for a group on the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, we did not see another soul until we neared the outskirts of Callander.
Our walk started from the church car park at the top end of Glen Artney, although the recognised route starts back in Comrie and goes up the other side of the glen. After parking the car by the church we had a walk on a minor road for about a mile before moving on to a track that runs alongside the Water of Ruchill. For the most part the walking is on good solid track. It is an undulating walk and at times, particularly in the high winds, can be challenging. For that reason we probably had a couple of wee rest periods we would not normally have had in such a short walk.
The only tricky part on the walk is at the confluence of a couple of burns about three quarters of the way through the walk where landslips have resulted in the loss of the path. It is reported on other walk sites that when the waters are low it is not a problem to cross here by boulder hopping or paddling. However, the recent rains had resulted in the waters being in spate and it was clear to us that paddling was not recommended. Instead, we made our way back up the side of the burn to where there is a small reservoir where we were able to walk across the top of the small dam.
At this point of the walk the quality of the scenery is dire as they are driving in a road that seems to be heading up a side glen in the direction of Loch Earnhead. What the purpose of the road is for was not as clear as the detrimental effect it has on the landscape. Joanna and I have noticed on a number of recent walks the number of bulldozed tracks that are appearing in some of the wilder areas of Angus and Perthshire and like this example they are not a pretty site.
Leaving behind this scarred landscape we continued on towards Callander and were rewarded with wonderful views across the Stirlingshire countryside with Stirling Castle, the Wallace Monument and the power plant at Grangemouth clear in the distance. The escarpment at the Strathblane Hills looked like something out of Africa as the late evening sun highlighted its golden face. On this occasion we declined to visit the well-known Bracklin Falls and the Callander Crags on our descent but I suspect this is an area we will visit again.
As part of our planning for the walk we had left a car in Callander the night before and were grateful we had done so as we walked through the town towards the car park. A wee cup of tea and we set off back to our start point in Glen Artney and then for home and a wee rest and a contemplation in front of a coal fire