My Highland Travelogue
Welcome to my Highland Travelogue Page. My passion is to explore the Scottish Highland Upland Lochs. When time permits, I will drive to a remote location, park the car, fasten on my backpack and trusty camera, and trek a few miles to discover a hidden Loch or Lochan. My pleasure is to explore the smaller, hidden Lochs and Lochans, rather than the larger, well known ones that are already well documented.
I think that certain places are "healing" , and I begin to understand why when I sit by a lonely stretch of water, with nobody and nothing around for miles. So far, most of my expeditions have been in Highland Perthshire, for logistical and economic reasons, but I hope to travel further as time passes. I think that maybe I am frightened that my Highlands are threatened and that they may vanish. Perhaps to record them on photograph is my mission? When I stumble unexpectedley on one of those jaw-dropping views, I have mixed thoughts - firstly, I want to share it with the world, then, when I think on, I selfishly want to keep it all to myself. Often I just stand a while in wonderment.
I am no scientist, but many of our small inland Lochs and Lochans are in decline.
Each has its own mini eco system, and it is the decay of this that is the problem.
Each eco system is made up of many interactive and interdependent parts - water,sediment,fish,insects,animals,weather. Eutrophication (chemical and acid pollution) is causing serious problems to our smaller Lochs and Lochans that do not get the same level of monitoring and protection as those larger and better known examples adopted by S.E.P.A.
The decline of insect life affects the fish life, which affects the Lochan itself, which affects the bird and animal life.
This then causes (some) of the Lochans to be affected by Algae and Reed cover, which then affects light penetration, photosynthesis and the general "life" of the Lochan goes into a rapid decline.
This is happening now. Already, some of the large Raptors are coming down to road level to find food.
I dont know how long they will be there for us, but I have to record them as they are now.
I hope I am wrong.
Above all, I feel priviledged to be allowed the honour to walk on this sacred land - I am finite, my footsteps will soon vanish, but this wonderful place will stand for millions of years.
I will try to describe my adventures as best as I can and I hope that I can share my wonderful Highlands with you.
"Enjoy Life's Journey, But Leave No Tracks" (Cherokee Wolf Clan, with thanks to Sue)
"Your travelogue helped to influence our choice of destination as your pictures and details are superb and really do give that `get away from it all feeling`- Martin Rutherford
If you have any questions about the places I visit, please e-mail me and I will do my best to help!
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Duntanlich Lochan |
| Posted by Graham Lumsden (highlandp) on Jun 14 2009 at 8:31 PM |
Duntanlich Lochan and The Quiet Woods. Friday June 12th 2009. Weather: Warm and sunny, gathering cloud in the afternoon. Temperature: 14 - 16 degrees. Wind: Nil at car park to Pleasant at 1900 feet.
This was another of those rare "slipped-in" sunny days. I had been lucky enough to get a day off work and decided to bag Duntanlich. Set in the hills between Tummel and Breadalbane, Duntanlich must have been an Oasis for Cattle Drovers and their charges. Above Pitlochry, I took the road signposted for Foss, along the South side of Loch Tummel. The narrow, single-track road takes you past Clunie Dam and through some wonderful scenery at the Lochside.
You park in a tiny layby on the left. Leave the car park and turn left, follow the road for a few yards until you come to a 4 x 4 track leading uphill.
The going is steep and hard for the first hour, through Birch Woodland and a few Fords (you will need waterproof boots).
Eventually, you will come to open Heather Moorland - my second home, as my regular readers will know!
The going is easier now and the track bears sharp right and uphill again. The path splits - hillwakers bear left, Lochwalkers haud gane!
The approach to the Lochan is like no other - usually you come to a Loch over the brow of a hill, but Duntanlich is set above the path, and you climb up to it. The first things you see are two weirs and their outflows - it's wet feet time again!
The Lochan is tiny, even smaller than it looks on the map, and enfolded on three sides by hills. I was lucky enough to find it on a beautiful, quiet day, and it was serene and peaceful.
I met not a single soul. The only sounds were the sighing of the gentle breeze and the song of the Skylark. For anyone who has not done a Lochwalk, Upland Lochs do not end - they merge into the surrounding land in the form of bog, graduallly changing from water to reed, to deep bog, to marshland. I had to tread carefully as I made my way around. There is the customary boathouse and fishing boat.
The far end of the Lochan shows the usual signs of Reed Encroachment.
Some ecological points of note: I encountered only two tiny groups of Midge - highly unusual - I would normally have expected to have been eaten alive. All through my journey I saw only two Bumble Bees - a disturbing ommission because of their importance in Pollination. A fair part of the journey is through deciduous woodland, yet I heard only one Cuckoo. These latter two are being treated as species under threat, and the former is currently the subject of debate. When I recall woodland walks from my youth, I always remember the woods being alive with sounds - the hum of bees being paramount, yet these woods are strangely silent.
Because of the heat, I decided to head for higher ground to find a breeze. I settled down below a large rock and had lunch. An overpowering weariness came over me and I lay down on a bed of Heather and fell fast asleep. I was awoken by a chill breeze and heavy cloud that told me it was time to break camp and head home. The walk in took 1.5 hours with breaks, and 1 hour out, it being mostly downhill. The traffic jam at Bankoot remains a nightmare. As mentioned before, I did not see or meet a soul. I found the track of a Badger.
I found myriad species of insect, including a vivid green flying beetle (update: Green Tiger Beetle) that seems to be indigenous in these hills. The high ground supports wonderful , tiny wild flowers that lit my journey. I watched a lonely Buzzard circling on a Thermal high above Loch Tummel.
This is a wonderful trip on a sunny day. I would not recommend it in the wet season however, as there are several potentially difficult Fords to cross.
As usual, I would love to hear your comments and stories
BackComments
| Hi brother! | By ANON on Jun 21 2009 at 9:56 AM |
| just enjoyed the walk with you Graham. Beautiful colours. My favourite thing is the silence too. There's a great place on Dava Moor I used to stop, and just listen to the quietness. Put in some more detail of plants. Best wishes, RJL. |
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| Dava Moor | By Graham Lumsden on Jun 21 2009 at 12:01 PM |
| Hi, and thanks for stopping by. I have driven through Dava Moor, but never stopped. I will try to put that to rights as soon as I can. I dont know much about plants, but I will try describe what I see better. I hope you stop by again! | |
| Enjoyed by cattle drovers? | By ANON on May 11 2010 at 10:41 AM |
| Hi there. Fantastic account of your great day out. But I don't think the lochan would have been even seen by cattle drovers - in the days of crofting. Mostly because Duntanlich Lochan is man made and was only created in the late 70s or early 80s. I live nearby and remember all the equipment going up the hill to create it as a stocked loch for fishing. Alasdair | |
| Drovers? | By ANON on May 02 2011 at 8:09 AM |
| Fantastic images of my home area. Not sure about the drovers though - Duntanlich Lochan is man made and was constructed for fishing in the 1980s by the local estate - Pitlcohry Estates. Alasdair ( Mains of Duntanlich - just 1 mile away from the layby you detail which incidentally is an old house site - Netherton. ) | |
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