Wednesday May 22nd was a wet day from the start so I booked myself into the hostel in Pitlochry. For various reasons: I was feeling fatigued, there was heavy rain forecasted for a couple of days, and I’d heard that Pitlochry is a lovely place, I decided to stay two nights.

The ride from Kinross to Pitlochry was quite long but not too much climbing 48 miles and 2,221 feet. Despite getting up around 5:30am, I got a fairly late start as I decided to try to dry my tent in the heated bothy. I left the campsite at 8:20am. The route took me through some small villages and the larger town of Perth. I decided to get coffee and breakfast on the way because my milk looked like it had turned into cottage cheese overnighted so I only had a cup of black tea before leaving.

The first village I went through was Milnathorp and I was able to catch a glimpse of Loch Leven through the mist. Alas, no cafe! The rolling countryside took me through a number of small villages none of which had coffee shops! It was only when I entered Perth that I was able to get some food.

The cafe that I located on Google maps was a transport cafe in an industrial area. It looked nothing like a café and was consequently hard to find. I was a bit dubious about what the food would be like, but I ended up having the best bacon and egg butty of my life with a big mug of coffee all for around £3.50!!

After the much needed late breakfast, I followed the River Tay avoiding going through the center of Perth but skirting around the edge along a lovely bicycle and pedestrian path.

After a few miles the bike path took a detour because of construction but it felt like we were being diverted through the actual construction site. There were a few spots where I definitely hurried along to escape what I perceived as an accident waiting to happen!

After the rather startling detour things went smoothly. My path skirted the A9 and away from the river until meeting the River Tay again just outside the pretty town of Dunkeld.

The path continued along the River Tay into Pitlochery. At one point I was traveling through the grounds of the very fancy Dunkeld House Hotel. The grounds were immaculate and I enjoyed a fabulous display of bluebells.

As the afternoon wore on, the clouds gathered and the sky became darker. I still had a few miles to go and hoped to make it to the hostel before the storm came. The countryside was lovely with rolling hills and wooded lanes. I crossed the Tay Viaduct at Logierait and then the rain started 🌧️

Around 5:00pm I crossed the pedestrian swinging bridge from Port na Craig into Pitlochry. From the 12th century a ferry connected Port na Craig and Pitlochry but in 1913 this pedestrian bridge was built.

I arrived in Pitlochry with full rain gear as it had poured most of the afternoon. I then made the mistake of heading to the one of two hostels that was up a steep climb. However, I had booked into the hostel in the main street that was at the bottom of the hill Ugh!

After showering and hanging all my wet weather gear in the dry room, I went to the local pub to sample a Scotch whisky and then to the local supermarket to buy ingredients for a healthy dinner of stir fried veggies.