Ben Chonzie & Loch Turret circular adventure

I discovered when buying suntan cream in Crieff I had only £7 cash and no plastic, not a good start. Parked at the Loch Turret dam car park and headed off along landrover tracks. I took a gamble with one track and it ended as per the map but the height allowed me to drop down and pick up a lower track and after missing another track/turning eventually riding into Invergeldie at the foot of the climb. Refilled the bladder and had a chat with a walker, took him 6hrs, it was now around 1pm, hmm times getting on. Good chat with the walkers going up and down, eventually the surface becomes rocky and it is a long push. Once on top there is still a long way to go over grass before reaching the shelter and the most amazing views all around. You can now see down into Loch Turret and the dam, but no sign of any path coming up from it. I could go back the way I came but this was meant to be a circular tour. It looked steep & rough and you couldnt see the final drop of the burn into the lochan at the head of the glen. Oh well, here goes, with brakes squealing for the second time – setting off all the deer. Down through the heather and over peat cliffs, aiming for grassy, hopefully smoother sections, brought me down to and along the burn to the lip. We all know that water finds the quickest way down, so that was no surprise. But what I wasnt  prepared for was the huge rocks covered in heather so you couldnt see your footing. The SMC Munro book describes this as a grassy slope, not in my book. With a few scrapes and a sore knee I eventually made it out on to the track along side the Loch Turret.

Lessons: dont forget the plastic; dont take too literally the SMC book and go for the adventure, it will be worth it