Expedition 384, High Mingarry, 24th November 2018.

 

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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