Expedition 221 - 26th September 2009
The Dalilea Track

 

A cloudy day, but mild and dry; we had our three stalwart explorers, Fern, Robbie and Rowan, with Howard, Irene, Philippa, Richard L., Sam, Sheila, Sharon and Thomas, making eight adults and Ellie as the expedition dog.

We parked by Dalilea Pier and had a look around the pier area before setting off to the farm. At the farm I mentioned the big oak tree outside the kitchen, only to find some of the party knew its history already, having been on the Alasdair MacMaighstir Alasdair conference shortly before. We left the farm and set off up the track, pausing to look at the old mill on the right, which Roddie Langal could remember in operation. The explorers had a look at the mill and Rowan spotted one of the old saw blades by the door. We got a good view of the walled area behind the house where Dee used to have his bee hives and then set off on a diversion along the old track towards the low road. The sharp-eyed explorers noticed holes in the boulders beside the road, which had obviously once been used for iron fence posts.
I took the party to the ruins of an old house by the stream and told them about an old lady who used to live there and had a reputation for sneaking into the fields at night and stealing vegetables. The road became very boggy and we turned and came back to the corner and started off on the old path to Kinlochmoidart. I explained how this was once the main road to Kinlochmoidart and that in 1755, a man called Nielson took a day to travel there from Strontian, crossing the loch from Achnanelan and fording the river at Brunery.

We made our way across the high ground in rather cold conditions, stopping for a wafer break at the highest point and having a quick look at the funerary cairns beside the track. Some time around here, Robbie found a strange caterpillar with horns. I looked it up later and it seems to have been a Narrow-Bordered Bee Hawk Moth. That sounds rare but there were quite a few of those moths around earlier this summer.

As we went down into Glen Moidart, we crossed the big bridge, which has a lot of stonework for a very little stream. Rowan and Fern bravely scrambled through it under the track, maybe the only ones who have been through?

We stopped for a photograph by General Ross’ Cairn and then walked back towards Kinlochmoidart while John Dove ferried some drivers to Dalilea for the return journey.

John Dye



Contact the site by email