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A short walk down Gleann Laoigh
Just wanted to share some photos from our walk down Gleann Laoigh today. Phew . . lucky I’m not trying to post in order anymore so I don’t have to finish my draft about trekking poles or my un-started post about a two day trip to the Cape . . . . (Laoigh is pronounced something like “luurrrrrrr” or maybe “luurrrrrre”. Gleann is glen.)
We are staying at a friend’s place at the moment and had the whole day free so I asked for a recommendation on where to walk. Gleann Laoigh, between Cul Mor and Cul Beag, was suggested, with a decent track to start with, soon petering into a typical Scottish track. Actually, despite not being on a map, it was actually better than a lot of the tracks that are marked.
The glen is incredible. The diversity of flora and habitat type is amazing, ranging from grassland, bog and even woodlands, with the plants to match. The fauna was also different to what I usually see. Then, of course, you have the scenery. Towering mountains, full of interesting shapes and multiple peaks, on both sides, with outcrops of blocky sandstone cliffs, divided by a river that varies from smooth and languid to a frantic torrent squeezing between steep sided gullies. Oh, and the lochs. Beautiful, long, winding, sandy beached lochs.
I was stunned that such a beautiful, diverse place existed within an hour’s walk of the main road, and yet is virtually unknown and certainly unexploited. I wanted to share it with the world, put a sign up, maybe even improve the path slightly . . . . and then I realised I kind of like it this way!
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- The walk starts on part of the old highway.
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- then turns down an old road into the estate.
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- There’s quite a good reason the road isn’t a road anymore! Lochan Fada – the long loch (not that long, but very narrow so deserving its name)
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- Flowering heather, grass and a wee burn
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- Loch nan Ealachan – the loch of swans. Apparently Hooping Swans visit here and may even nest. The fence is to keep deer out so the native woodlands can regenerate (the deer eat the new growth on young trees)
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- Looking NW at An Laoigh (the calf), a small hill to the side of Cul Mor. This is probably what the glen gets its name from.
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- A beautiful patch of woodland full of birds and other creatures. I stopped and looked and listened for ages here. (The end of Cul Beag in the distance)
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- Again, looking up at the woodland. The rock in the foreground looks a lot like a section of old brickwork, from a wall or chimney. I had to actually walk up and touch it to be sure it was simply a very square piece of bedded sandstone!
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- A wee waterfall, and a tree. Much of the area up here is natually unwooded (ground conditions and wind making it unsuitable for them) but this seems to be an area that would definitely be forested, given a break from deer grazing.
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- A dramatic change in river character.
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- Proving I saw blue sky! (looking up at Cul Mor)
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- Lochan Dearg (the red loch – and you can see why!) You can also see on the left another square of fenced ground, allowing natural reforestation.
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- Looking west over the end of Lochan Dearg. That is Stac Pollaidh on the left.
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- Looking northwest along the glacial valley between the ridge of high ground. Lovely open vista. (spot the dog?)
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- Cul Mor, wreathed in cloud. Quite a big, impressive waterfall coming down.
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- Again, the view northwest. Lochan Gainmheich (sandy wee loch) and the huge Loch Sionasgaig (loch of split hillocks?).
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- The Allt Gleann Laoigh mellows out again for a while.
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- A nice view of Cul Beag. This is a hill that I was going to walk over “just because it was there” and to avoid a road walk last year. I’m glad I didn’t!!
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- This is also a river that I was planning to cross the day I bailed out last year. A few potential crossing points, but maybe not with dry feet, and definitely not in the spate conditions last year.
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- A closer view of the waterfall, and imposing Cul Mor.
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- This is the burn from the waterfall and I’m wedged in between this and the Allt Gleann Laoigh. Probably a good time to turn around anyway.
Some of the things I saw . . .
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- Common Lizard – possibly the first one I’ve seen.
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- Probably a Ring Ouzel (there were a lot of them, but all a long way away)
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- Common Frog. Loads of these around today.
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- Apparently Scotland only has one species of frog, so this is also a Common Frog. I don’t believe it.
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- Bog Asphodel – lovely to see one so bright and fresh this late in the year.
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- Another Bog Asphodel flower, this one starting to die off.
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- Fir Clubmoss. Also nice to see a bright specimen as many are faded yellow at the moment.
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- White heather (exactly the same as normal purple heather, but white)
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- Finally a good picture of some Bog Cotton. This is Common Bog Cotton, not the other kind as it has multiple heads on the one stalk.
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- Devils Bit Scabious
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- A hard fern, wedged into a gap in some boulders.
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- Juniper
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- Lousewort I think.
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- And another lousewort, but this one green!
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- Pleurozia Purpurea! A liverwort, and my favourite bryophyte (mosses and liverworts)
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- A sundew with flowers. Still haven’t managed to catch one with open flowers yet!
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- A Horsetail (common probably), plus some eared willow and some other ‘woodland’y type plants. I also saw quite a few primrose (not in flower)
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- An example of different types of bog in very close proximity
And I decided that I didn’t have enough photos of Merlin, so took some more:
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- awwww. Pretty!
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- “What are you doing?”
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- Goin’ places
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- On the move! (crazy face)
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- Drying off
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- And back into the water straight away! (funny face)
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- Immediately prior to this photo he had his head buried in the grass trying to find something. All I could see was a back end and tail sticking up!
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- Just a pretty picture.
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- Demonstrating how river crossing should be done.
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- “Play with me!” As soon as we turned for home, he started hassling me to play with him. This often involved ripping heather bushes out of the ground and bounding around with them. He also decided that since we’d been walking for a few hours it was biscuit time and started asking for those. Unfortunately for us both I didn’t have any.
For those who’ve reached this far . . . I actually had to leave my county of Sutherland for this walk, something I’ve done less than 10 times since getting here (Sutherland is that big). The walk was in Wester Ross so you almost got a post starting with . . . “I went for a walk in Wester Ross today. I took The Hound with me – he likes running around The Mountain. I guess you could say the landscape was a little Stark, but there wasn’t any Snow. Winter is coming though.” Then I realised I’d struggle to fill an entire post with Game of Thrones references and I’d rather just write about how wonderful the landscape was instead!
Couer D'or 