Ben Chonzie

My first winter camp and another solo summit.

I had resolved to slowly push my own personal boundaries and chip away at Winter walking experiences. Lowly aspirations by some standards no doubt, but I was determined to 'get out there' whilst staying well within my limits. Having recently picked up some winter walking and camping gear I was chomping at the bit to give them a test run and so headed to Perth straight from work on a cold winters evening.

At 3054ft Ben Chonzie is the highest point of the heathery moorlands overlooking Crieff and it's name literally means 'Mossy Hill'.

Solo camping is both a liberating and unnerving experience. I do hope the former never diminishes whilst I'm sure the latter will over time. Whilst I do enjoy the solitude of a solo walk, the jury remained out on solo camping after this experience.

The major plus was that I found myself at Coishavachan at 5.30am about to tackle Ben Chonzie via the easier Glen Lednock route. As I passed the small dam at Invergeldie Burn the first light was beginning to emerge and I was already 20 or so minutes into the walk and already aware of a fellow walker some way behind me.

Following a farm track for the majority of the first half of the route the going was fairly easy although inter-dispersed with short and steep sections. A small cairn marks the point where the track is left and the ascent over the broad heather carpeted ridge. This also marked the start of the snowline and the faint path was a combination of hard packed frozen mud and boggy ground.

The looked for fence-line was soon found, giving me my handrail to the summit and fine views down towards the longer route via Loch Turret.

Within minutes the fellow walker and his boisterous Rottweiler puppy had caught up with me and I now had good company on the descent back to the car park.