It’s my birthday today, so I decided to head to my favourite place – Schiehallion. Having gone out for a meal with friends on Friday night (to the excellent Cafe Andaluz) I was all on my own today!
It was dry and overcast when I set out from Glasgow this morning, and when I started up the path to Schiehallion it was clear there’d be no view today – the cloud was very low and covering the top of the mountain, although the summit was just visible.
![](https://www.stravaiging.com/photos/albums/places%20in%20Scotland/mountains/Schiehallion%2C%20Perthshire/schiehallion016.jpg)
Once up on the main wide, flat back of Schiehallion the clouds looked almost close enough to touch, and they were doing a good job of framing Loch Tummel below.
![](https://www.stravaiging.com/photos/albums/places%20in%20Scotland/lochs/Loch%20Tummel%2C%20Perthshire/lochtummel006.jpg)
![](https://www.stravaiging.com/photos/albums/places%20in%20Scotland/mountains/Schiehallion%2C%20Perthshire/schiehallion017.jpg)
Climbing up onto the secondary ridge meant passing into the clouds, and it became progressively mistier the higher I went.
![](https://www.stravaiging.com/photos/albums/places%20in%20Scotland/mountains/Schiehallion%2C%20Perthshire/schiehallion018.jpg)
On this rocky section there is some amazing lichen – some if it entirely natural (like the bright red colour below) and some of it given a helping hand (the ring patterns below were probably created by “painting” yoghurt onto the rock, which the lichen then grows on).
![](https://www.stravaiging.com/photos/albums/miscellaneous/wildlife/lichen/lichen001.jpg)
![](https://www.stravaiging.com/photos/albums/miscellaneous/wildlife/lichen/lichen002.jpg)
The summit was quite busy and relatively cloud-free, with views through patches in the clouds visible from time to time.
![](https://www.stravaiging.com/photos/albums/places%20in%20Scotland/mountains/Schiehallion%2C%20Perthshire/schiehallion019.jpg)
By the time I started making my way back down, the cloud had lifted slightly, although the wind had picked up and it was moving huge sections of cloud across the mountain quite quickly.
![](https://www.stravaiging.com/photos/albums/places%20in%20Scotland/mountains/Schiehallion%2C%20Perthshire/schiehallion020.jpg)
![](https://www.stravaiging.com/photos/albums/places%20in%20Scotland/mountains/Schiehallion%2C%20Perthshire/schiehallion021.jpg)
![](https://www.stravaiging.com/photos/albums/places%20in%20Scotland/mountains/Schiehallion%2C%20Perthshire/schiehallion022.jpg)
Back on the flat near the bottom I stopped briefly to take a picture of some stunning foxgloves against a back-drop of heather, before heading to the car and setting off south.
![](https://www.stravaiging.com/photos/albums/miscellaneous/wildlife/flowers%20and%20plants/foxglove001.jpg)