Scotland 2025 - Sept 26 - Blair Atholl

There was a frost last night, the air was crisp and the sky clear this morning. We packed up and said goodbye to our lovely (and a bit quirky) Bed & Breakfast host and headed for the train station. 

The Inverness town hall looks like a castle.

We had time to shop (Victorian Market) and visit a post office and get some train snacks at Marks & Spencers. 

There was a Miles of Mystery car rally going through town, so lots of small fast fancy cars going through. 

The train station was once again busy, and even a bit chaotic, but we were able to get seats with a good view for the ride south.

We had some crazy cloud formations roll in, but no rain drops. 

This east side of Scotland is definitely very different than the West. Less dramatic but still lovely rolling hills and more farming. 

We arrived in Blair Atholl just after noon and walked to the Ptarmigan House, our home for our final two nights. Ancient curling stones greeted us at the front door. This home is managed by the Muirhead family - Eve, the daughter is a two-time Olympic medalist in Curling!  Duff is very happy. 

We decided to explore the Blair Castle for our hike today. A long walk up the driveway and another chance to see Highland Cows was a fun beginning 

We watched as these two cows approached each other and we thought they might fight but no. They actually were grooming. We watched as the larger bull licked the neck hair of the smaller cow. It was quite interesting. 

Once again we were mesmerized by these animals. 

The castle itself is quite large and white and striking. We didn't venture in (we didn't buy a ticket) but we enjoyed the grounds and the incredible forests.

Some of the UK's tallest trees are here. And trees from all over the world. The Atholl's have had this land for hundreds of years and have worked to make it remarkable. 

The site of these church ruins dates back to the 1200's. 

We then left the castle property and enjoyed a hike in the surrounding hills. 

There was a side trail to The Whim. We thought, hmmm let's do this, on a whim 😉

 

What's a whim?

Well, we are not really sure, it is sort of a wall / gate to nowhere / monument?? Very cool but??

It did have a great view of the castle. 

Back to the hike.  We took an old road (we encountered no cars) that was a very popular dog walking route.  We found this lovely old bridge. 

We found ourselves walking with Willow the dog and her owner. The dog owner was a chatty guy, here on holiday from England, with lots of knowledge to share. As an arborist he explained that many of the pine trees are not indigenous to Scotland - and neither are rabbits! Who knew?

We walked for several kilometers with Willow and her owner, looping back to the castle to see the deer. 

Here we said goodbye to Willow, and her owner. 

It was nice to have company. 

 

Duff is hiding in this photo ...

At the front door! 

It was a nice easy hike today. And we have a wonderful room at the B&B. We raised a toast to another successful day of exploring Scotland. 

Tomorrow we will do our final Scotland hike, but more importantly, we will find a place to watch our Canadian Women's rugby team play England in the finals. 

🇨🇦

Go ladies Go