February has continued to be unseasonably warm with temperatures more usually associated with late Spring than late Winter. On a "normal" February day a walk up Glen Quoich would need most of the gear required for winter hillwalking, but certainly not this year. The glen is entirely bare of snow and even the mountains only have patches of old snow. So complete is the thaw that the Quoich Water is at a low volume - most of the snow having already melted.
There are some wonderful areas of old growth Caledonian pine forest in the lower part of the glen, standing deadwood mixed in amongst mature pines and, pleasingly, lots of young trees. It's not so many years since you could walk in this area and see lots of Red Deer but very few young trees. The National Trust for Scotland took a decision to reduce deer numbers on the ground and the result is a much more healthy regenerating forest. A healthier forest will also be good for the deer going forward as they're animals of forests rather than moorland.
The spiral grain of a Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris) can be clearly seen in the dead trunk above. This is a characteristic of the species and seems always to spiral clockwise. It's thought that spiral grain is an adaptation which strengthens the tree and enables it to resist wind stresses better. Some mature pines have huge crowns and of course retain their needles through the northern winter so an adaptation to resist wind stress seems to make sense.
At the opposite end of the scale from the huge dead pine trunk, there are clear signs of the coming Spring, especially in the smaller trees like this Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia), even though the colours of the wood are generally muted at this time of year it won't be too long before the fresh greens of Spring emerge.
Much more colourful was a large granite boulder covered in orange lichen - quite beautiful in it's own way.
At our feet we noticed a number of dark brown or black hairy caterpillars crossing the path. I've not been able to identify the species - so if anyone knows what type of caterpillar this is please let me know!
As hazy sunshine began to break through we looked up to a great view. Across upper Glen Quoich the southern spurs of the sprawling Ben a' Bhuird dominate the view. We sat and "brewed up" tea, enjoying both the view and the warmth of sunshine on our backs.
We kept close to the Quoich Water on our way back down the glen. Flowing off hills of granite rocks, it's a clear lively river. As can be seen by the landslip on the bank in this image, it's also a dynamic river which thrashes around in times of spate.
Near to where the Quoich flows into the River Dee is a favourite spot of ours. A series of small falls are formed where the river drops over shelves of rock. One of these rock shelves has a waterworn hollow known as the Earl of Mar's Punchbowl. Local legend has it that the Earl of Mar had this hollow filled with punch during a hunting trip to toast the Jacobite cause in 1715. He'd be disappointed today though as one side of the hollow is worn through allowing water to pour out.
Below the Punchbowl a wooden bridge crosses over the river above the Linn of Quoich (a Linn is a narrow constricted channel) where the whole volume of the river roars onto a narrow gorge. In spate this can be a fearsome sight.
Walking back up from the Linn of Quoich we looked back up the glen to see that a dark bank of cloud had obscured any sun. The forecast was for afternoon rain and it looked like the forecast was absolutely accurate!
The rain passed through during the afternoon, and back at home we were treated to a fine show as the sun set. It had been a very pleasant winter day.....
