Another fabulous day, calm and not a cloud in the sky; and matched
by a good turn-out: Angus, Anna, Duncan, JJ, Lexi, Michael and Ruaraidh;
plus Anna, Claire, Izzy, John B and Kathryn as helpers and Brambles,
Skye and Treacle as expedition dogs, all on their best behaviour.
We assembled at Mingarry Hall and set off up the track beyond the
bridge. I had some hopes of seeing squirrels but I think the dogs
put them off, apart from a jay in the distance I didn't see any
wildlife at all. However, we had a good look at the trees, including
Colla's den, and we saw a lot of deer hoof prints along the track.
There was still a bit of frost on the ground and Lexi pointed out
some frosty moss, which looked very pretty.
I was a bit slower than the majority, but we all met up at the top
bridge; I didn't go on but cut through the cleared forestry and
followed the burn up to the high ground. It took a bit of time to
negotiate the brash and I was surprised to find we were all standing
on a little fortified structure that now looks quite different without
the conifers. After a pause to let the stragglers catch up, we pressed
on upwards through the birches and then the oaks and finally out
onto the open ground.
I must have been on that ground dozens of times but one always finds
something new and this time we found a little stone house, so I
assembled the explorers to get a photograph. Then we pressed on
up a deer track and through a gateway in the stone wall, after which
it was a short climb up to the bridge.
After crossing the bridge I got the party together and explained
how the bridge was said to have been constructed by Domnhuill Dubh
Laitir Mingarry, one of a family of MacVarish brothers living in
High Mingarry.
We descended to a rock I call the Toad Rock, which we used as a
sighting point when the History Group did a survey. This was a convenient
place for our Tunnock's Wafer Break.
Then we went carefully down the steep slope to what I had thought
was a quad bike trail, but I was assured by Duncan that it was made
by an Argo-Cat. We cut across some rough bracken and paused at a
couple of nice houses near a burn before carrying on to the main
track. As in the last expedition, I thought I was on the way back
but there was a request to see the Struck Tree so we went up to
see if it was still alive.
Somehow the tree is still living, although it fell several years
ago. Most of its roots were destroyed when it was struck by lightning
in 1998, but we could see healthy leaves and several explorers were
able to climb into the branches.
Finally we set off back down the track and most of us got to the
Tearoom, where several drawings were made. I have picked out Ruaridh's
picture of the bridge and Izzy's photo of the explorers on the Toad
Rock. m
John
Dye
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