1. Setting off on our big adventure - Blairgowrie to Kirkmichael (28.29 km)

We’d been talking about doing a long distance walk for some time now, and once our good friends Anna and Andy said they would be happy to come and stay and look after Rubes, we were on it! So sad that Ruby can no longer walk such distances with us, but at least we know she’ll be well looked after at home ❤️

Having come across the Cateran Trail through an article in the Guardian, we’d decided that this was the walk for us. The Caterans were ancient cattle thieves, who raided the valleys of Strathardle, Glen Shee and Glenisla. The circular walk which has been developed, more than 20 years ago, covers 106km, and is often walked over 5 days starting (and finishing) in Blairgowrie in Perthshire .Not being that familiar with the eastern side of Scotland, this was going to be a whole new adventure - challenging, but hopefully not too challenging 😃

The Cateran Trail 

Having arranged this trip last December we were obviously taking pot luck with the weather, and keeping our fingers crossed that we didn’t have a week of torrential rain 🤞 And wow, how lucky were we today as we set off - a week of warm temperatures, loads of sunshine, and not a drop of rain forecast! We’ll see how that pans out 🤣

Setting off from Blairgowrie, we followed the River Ericht through gentle woodland full of wild garlic. The weather was warm, but somewhat overcast, probably a good thing really as we had a long day ahead. We’d decided to take our time, not rush, have plenty of stops, and see how much food we ate - as getting further provisions along the way may prove tricky 🤣 

Our starting point

Setting off with enthusiasm 😃

The Cateran Trail waymarker

Through woods of wild garlic 

We got into our stride, knowing that we’d got all day to reach our destination.The terrain was fairly gentle, through ancient woodlands, along old drovers tracks, across small lanes and gently rolling hills. Beautiful wild flowers dotted the fields and verges, the lilac trees were in full bloom, but perhaps the most striking were the swathes of beautiful sweet smelling yellow gorse, which seemed to go on for miles and miles - stunning 🤩 

Gentle countryside 

Starting to glimpse mountains in the distance 

Swathes of yellow gorse everywhere 

Contemplating the landscape 

We had our eyes set on the half way mark, Bridge of Cally, at @7 miles.  Having already finished our flask of tea, we were looking forward to getting a cuppa from either the award winning village shop, or the hotel. We should know by now about managing expectations - on arrival both were shut!! Chatting to people it seems like many rural hotels / cafes are no longer operating, probably the same challenge we’ve seen elsewhere in struggling to get staff 😢

Defeated - no cuppa 🤣

Information boards along the way tell the gruesome stories of the ancient Caterans

We’d only seen one other person walking the trail all morning- a Dutch guy who was carrying all his gear, and planning to wild camp along the way. That definitely sounded too much of a challenge for us - our backpacks were heavy enough as it was, and we were certainly looking forward to a good night’s sleep in a lovely comfy bed 😃 Mind you, I did feel a little envious when he, also disappointed at the shop and hotel closures, smilingly declared that he would stop en route soon and use his little camping stove to make a cuppa 🤣

Soldiering on 😃

An interesting feature along the way 

As well as all the beautiful flora along the way, we were also keeping our fingers crossed for good wildlife sightings too 🤞 Our first treat was loads of rabbits bobbing around as we walked along the river. Later we saw a hawk flying from its nest high up in a tree, and further on we were treated to a buzzard flying overhead. Butterflies and dragonflies were everywhere, and lovely to see the white with orange tip anthocaris, apparently a true sign of spring, being one of the first species to emerge not having overwintered as an adult, and often seen in Scotland. Loved seeing all the beautiful green ferns unfurling, leaving all last years brown dead growth behind 😃

Ferns starting to unfurl 

Beautiful rivers and crystal clear waters

Apart from our Dutch fellow Cateran Trail walker, we hardly saw anyone else all day. Everywhere was so quiet. It had been a long day, and we were so pleased to eventually arrive at Kirkmichael, our destination for the night. It’s definitely one of the longest walks we’ve done in ages. Our legs and feet were tired, and we were certainly ready for a rest. Staying at Strathardle Lodge was lovely. Met by our lovely host Gosia, she promptly described the food options for the evening - microwaveable frozen ready meals (from the local butcher) or alternatively they could drive us to a restaurant a mile away, but we would need to walk home. The decision was made instantly - no more walking!! Knowing about the ready meals option before we arrived, our expectations were managed - and actually after a couple of drinks in their lovely bar, the butcher’s homemade macaroni cheese was actually delicious 🤤 

Strathardle Lodge

Our well earned drinks 🤣

Chatting in the bar was both interesting and fun. It was surprising the number of people we spoke to who were all revisiting some former places they’d known, all with seemingly some emotional attachment. Dave is currently reading a book about pilgrimages, and we’d spent much time on our walk discussing whether we too were embarking on one - and whether the defining factor necessitates a religious component or not to the journey - we eventually settled on not, and that a pilgrimage can be secular, but does need some emotional meaning or purpose to it 🤣 Also interesting that our fellow Cateran walker, Pierre, also turned up at the hotel for a comfy bed for the night - so much for wild camping! He was telling us that once a year he and his wife have separate holidays - he does a long distance walk, and she spends a week in the Maldives, lying in the sun reading books. Maybe this was his motivation for a night in the hotel 🤣 Chatting with Gosia was interesting too. Having moved from Hemel Hempstead 2 years ago to run this hotel, the whole family are so totally happy here, and embracing their new lives, with no desire to return south. Listening to all the community activity and integration that seems to go on, we can certainly see why they feel so accepted and settled there.

So, after a long day we were ready to turn in for the night - very pleased with ourselves for what we had achieved. Looking forward to tomorrow we were starting to embrace a sentiment from Dave’s pilgrimage book: 

The outer journey of place to place becomes an inner journey of head to heart as you start to leave behind all the stuff in your head and focus more on your surroundings