Fiona and Graeme had spent the previous weekend in the Cairngorms.
Sadly Graeme had to return to work in London so I joined Fiona for her second successive weekend in the Scottish hills.
It was good to be back on Scottish Hills. Initially I spent a couple of days collecting Marilyns and Donalds helped by Graham Nash. Then I joined Fiona and we climbed Ben Vorlich and Stuc a'Chroin, 2 Munros above Lochearnhead. These are straightforward and enjoyable hills apart from the very boggy path back to Loch Earn from Stuc a'Chroin.
Our afternoon was spent bagging tops on lower hills to avoid the mist and before doing so there was time for an excellent bowl of Cullen Skink soup at the Fortingall Hotel after which we tackled Drummond Hill, a Marilyn above Kenmore on Loch Tay.
The approach to Drummond Hill was on easy forest trails. The kick came at the end as the final part was really tough, crashing through pathless forest in wet, boggy conditions and negotiating some steep slopes while clambering over fallen trees. Oddly all this was very satisfying especially as after a real struggle, we found both tops.
Our final day was in brilliant sunshine picking off a couple of Marilyns above Crieff and Perth and rounding off a five day trip in mixed weather with 16 hills climbed including 11 new ones for me.
