Expedition 323 - the Big Hill, 29/11/14

 

If we ever had a tougher expedition that this one, I can’t remember it; I spotted the track through the wood a couple of expeditions earlier and decided to see if we could get to the top. We didn’t make it, but that was more due to the leader than the band of strong explorers: Alexander, Isabella, Jamie, JJ, Maighsi, Roanna, and Stuart, with Adam, John, Kate and Mairi as helpers and dogs Brambles and Cody to lend encouragement in the difficult parts.

We started off well; the ground below the forestry at Camas Torsa village is very rough, with tussocks and old branches, all stitched together with brambles. I managed to find a better route than last time and we soon found ourselves not only in the forest, but at the bottom of the track, which looked deceptively easy. The young explorers set off at a scorching pace while I watched them dwindle into the distance above me. This is a beautiful section of well-grown spruce but there weren’t a lot of things to find, just the occasional fungus and some resin bleeding from one of the trunks.

We very soon got to the end of the easy bit and the route took a turn and a sudden increase in gradient. This proved to be the pattern for the rest of the climb, it just got steeper and steeper, like the Matterhorn, only with trees. Eventually I was reduced to finding deer tracks that zigzagged up the slope, but the explorers just kept charging on. Finally we reached a point where a Tunnock’s break seemed a very good, not to say essential idea and we all gathered on a slightly less steep bit and sat on the rocks, at least is wasn’t raining.

To be honest, not everyone was as bushed as me – an energetic band had pushed on ahead up the hill but they were eventually stopped by a big mass of windblown trees so they couldn’t reach the clear ground above. They only took seconds to run down and meet us as we got our breath back.

Even high in the woods, there were still a lot of big trees, but getting them out is going to be a hard job for the foresters. We set off back down, taking a little more care where there were fallen trees and wet patches. When we reached the first clearing we saw a big wall across our path, which must have been the head dyke when the lower slope was cultivated. Considering the gradient and the speed of the explorers, I was amazed that nobody came to grief on this expedition, in fact the only faller was me, and that was right at the bottom on the tricky bits.

Once again, this was a day of alternative attractions, and we didn’t get many at the Tearoom. I have picked out Roanna’s drawing of the group spread out on the hill, under some rather conventionally-drawn conifers but, to be fair, we only saw the trunks.

John Dye

 







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