Expedition 340, The Low Road, 5/9/15

 

This was one of the lovely summer days like we used to have before global warming: sunny with a light breeze to keep the midges away. We only had three explorers, Alexander, Maighsi and Roanna, plus helpers Kate and Mairi and Bess the dog making her third expedition.
This was a route the explorers and helpers (but not the dog) had done before so we moved pretty quickly over familiar ground and I didn't get huge enthusiasm for my studious interpretation of the coffin cairns along the track.
We made a slight detour onto a little promontory where I do my monthly bird counts, but a scan with the binoculars did not reveal so much as a feather in the place. At this point Maighsi executed a spectacular fall onto the rocky shore, but was back up to speed in no time. We carried on past the dwindling remains of an old VW van and splashed our way to the gate and took a rest on the beautiful new fish farm pier. This was a good place for a Tunnock's wafer and a photo opportunity, but soon we were back on the track and making our way towards the Dalilea road.
The explorers remembered the rock outcrop near the corner and we stopped and found some quite good mica crystals - these were the white variety, muscovite. There were some Scotch Argus butterflies and several small dragonflies around this area.
Halfway up the hill is a house called Austin's Croft where my friends Roy and Ailsa once lived and we did a detour to look at the old place, which is almost a ruin now. In the living room we saw paintings of trees on one wall, which I have since discovered were done by Jackie, who now lives in Glenfinnan. The explorers thought the house was interesting but they weren't keen to move in right away.
Then we carried on up the hill, pausing to look at the gateway where schoolchildren waited before setting off across the hill to Brunery.
There was quite a bit of traffic on the road coming down and we only stopped at one point to look at the bridge called 'Drochit a'Gorroch' where they used to say an old witch sat on the parapet and tried to grab boys as they went by. Roanna sat on the parapet but she didn't look like a witch at all.
Finally we reached the cars and went back to Acharacle, only Alexander and Mairi came since Maighsi and Roanna were involved with the Raft Race at two o'clock. Alexander did a drawing of the bridge with the witch sitting on it. He also shows the witch's cat and broom, which seems to have two seats - I presume the cat rode pillion.

John Dye











Contact the site by email