Perthshire | PK PERSPECTIVE

Myself, Father and my eldest sister, decided to go for a wee walk on the last day of 2011. As the weather left a bit to be desired we decided to not go too far and agreed to have a wee trip up to the Hermitage and walk through to the Rumbling Bridge. Ian had been up there recently and he was rght about the mess the place was in. There were blown down trees all over the place, and not little trees, but big muckle ones. Most had been sawn up and moved out of the way, but the further you moved away from the car park, the more the fallen giants were left where they fell and a little bit of climbing was needed.

Rocks in the fast flowing Braan

Photo wise i decided to keep the ISO low at 100 and use the tripod, choosing the shutter speed, leaving the aperture to be decided by the camera. The River Braan was full and fast so the shutter was kept about 1sec to capture the movement but without whiting all detail out. Main problem was getting a different shot in such a well photographed place. The main falls are so often shot, as is the viewing hall and hermits cave. So settled for some more detail shots of the smaller falls and some of the low cloud snaking through the trees of Craigvinean Forest.

Low cloud in the Craigvinean forest

Although the ground was muddy and there was a dusting of snow we continued over trees, down paths and ignoring fathers idea of direction until we passed through a clearing, where a selection of bouders overlooked a rather Scottish looking, baran, mist filled clearing. Very atmosphereic in the winter weather. Then it was on to Rumbling Bridge, which we could hear well before could see as the river was so full and fast. However didn’t get many shots as the spray from the falls was pretty intense and couldn’t get down to usual vantage points due to high river and very slippery stones. So after a wee trip along the riverside we headed back to the car, taking the main path, which was also strewn with fallen trees and debris. So although cold and covered in mud by the time we got back, it was a good outing and was very glad to be out and about with the camera again.

Boulders overlooking the Misty Clearing

On my Sunday off (yesterday) I grabbed the family and went for a walk at Dunkeld’s Hermitage area, a hugely popular tourist spot. Despite the cold, snow and ice, it was quite busy with well-wrapped peeps.

First thing I noted was the sign warning of closed areas due to storm damage from the recent high winds, courtesy of Hurricane Bawbag (gotta love the way Scotland names things), but I didn’t think much of it as an area has been closed for years due to a land slide.

The land slide was not the issue here at all. Many trees of all ages have been knocked over and in turn have taken others with them.It’s not surprising when you see how shallow their root systems are!

The area to the bridge crossing was also closed off but I could clearly see a safe enough path over – the one fallen tree was nowhere near where I was going) – so i ducked under the cheap tape barrier and captured this:

The bairn was greeting a lot so we bailed out early. Too early for my 5 year old so I took her to the North Inch in Perth to cycle around on her new birthday bike.

Here she is doing 384mph!

Category Archives: Perthshire

Winter Walk, last day of 2011

The Hermitage – what a mess!