Before the flood

Craigendarroch is Ballater's hill, it sits right above the town on the banks of the River Dee.  The images in this post were taken on a walk in mid November 2015, well before the floods which poured into the town in late December 2015. 

This image is taken from the road bridge over the River Dee at the end of the main street - a street which was inundated by a metre of floodwater in the torrential rains accompanying storm "Frank".  Subsequent prolonged heavy rain in the early part of 2016 has brought further flood risk with the River Dee reaching its highest recorded level since 1928 and in places altering the landscape completely.

The name "Craigendarroch" means Crag of the Oak Wood and that's a very accurate name; Oaks predominate on the lower slopes of a cone of granite mixed with pines higher up.

The modest summit at 402 metres/1319 feet is marked by a trig point, a view indicator and a large pink granite memorial cairn.  The climb from Ballater takes around an hour on a clear though sometime rough path and is well worth the effort......

...for the view down to the Dee and to Ballater itself.  It's sobering to note that the river flooded to nearly half the extent of the view in this image.




The town of Ballater is resilient - it will recover from the flooding.  Help will be needed from the Scottish Government, from Aberdeenshire Council and from continued visits by tourists and outdoor enthusiasts - the lifeblood of a town which prides itself on its Royal patronage and the proximity of Balmoral a few miles along the road.

The village of Braemar is in a much more difficult position.  Flooding here wasn't as newsworthy but the destruction of a section of the main A93 road and significant damage to the bridge at Invercauld will take some months to assess and repair.  In the meantime Braemar is completely cut off from its natural eastward line of communication along the Dee valley to Aberdeen.  The sole remaining road access to Braemar is the the A93 from the south, a long and difficult road from Perth which crosses one of the highest passes in Scotland at the Cairnwell (at the Glenshee Ski Centre).  Concerted efforts are being made by both Aberdeenshire and Perth & Kinross councils to protect this road access, but it's notorious for closures due to drifting snow in late winter.

The effects on the village will be profound - students won't be able to access their high school at Aboyne, access time to hospital will be much longer and subject to the vagaries of the winter weather, as will keeping the village shops stocked.  Many folk will be unable to travel to their work and the lifeblood of the village - tourists, skiers and walkers will be severely restricted in numbers.  Our own access to Braemar, one of our favourite places, a superb example of community and a base for so many fine adventures, normally takes 40 minutes or so - now it will take around 4 hours and a detour of around 150 miles.



I don't think I've featured a direct appeal on this blog before, but I'm going to do so here.  When the worst effects of the flooding are over and the situation has stabilised, please consider visiting Ballater and especially try to visit Braemar to support the businesses and livelihoods which have taken such a big hit.

Here are a few links to both places:

Visit Ballater

Royal Deeside

Welcome to Braemar

Shops and Businesses in Braemar

Where to Stay

Braemar Mountain Sports Facebook page (with updates on the situation)

Small things on a long walk

The Cairngorms in the north east of Scotland offer some great long walking routes, whether one intends to do a through-route or to do an "out and back" walk.  An appointment with a Duke of Edinburgh's Award team undertaking a Gold venture gave me the opportunity to to a little of both.

More than most wild country areas in the UK, walking the hills of the Cairngorms requires the ethos of the "long walk-in" as most summits are many hours from the nearest road.  The sense of space here is one of the features which defines the region - big views and big skies.

I was bound for the head of Loch Avon (pronounced A'an and meaning bright one), considered by many to be the heart of the Cairngorms and one of the real jewels.  After meeting with the team I intended to camp in one of the high corries to preserve their (and my) sense of being alone in a wild and remote area.

My route went from Linn of Dee and up through Glens Lui and Derry.  The view ahead in Glen Lui is long; I'd bear right at the wood in the far distance, my destination several hours away.  The car park was very busy on an August weekend, but such is the nature of the area that after the first few kilometres I actually saw very few people.

Near the former hunting lodge at the confluence of the Derry Burn and the Lui Burn a temporary bridge has been erected to replace the one swept away in the huge floods of August 2014.  You can read about the extent of the damage caused and about the building of the temporary bridge at Neil Reid's excellent "Cairngorm Wanderer" blog here and here.  The raw power released in just this one flood event serves to show just how small we are in the landscape - and in my opinion that's a good thought to have.

Perhaps this directed my train of thought to things smaller than the human scale, but nevertheless adapted to their place in the environment with all its sudden shocks.  Spotted Orchids (Dactylorhiza fuchsii) were still in flower.....

..and were joined in the damper ground by the golden flower spikes of Bog Asphodel (Narthecium ossifragum), a characteristic plant of high and late summer in the Cairngorms.

At the highest extent of the treeline I came across this Emperor Moth (Satunia pavonia) caterpillar moving purposefully across the track.  A big caterpillar at around 60mm long, it would have started black and orange before changing to bright green with pink spots (often the spots are yellow).  The only member of the Genus Saturnia present in Scotland, the moths have some unusual habits.  Male and female are differently coloured, the males fly rapidly during the day and the females much more sluggishly during the night.

The eggs are laid on food plants (mostly heather) in May, the caterpillars are fully grown like this one by August and spin a fibrous cocoon in which they overwinter, surviving even the harsh extremes of weather in the Cairngorms.  The adults live only a few weeks and don't feed as moths, spending time finding a mate and restarting the cycle.

I was pleased to see that both the tiny bridge and the Rowan tree at the Coire Etchachan Burn were still intact; the Rowan is about the highest tree in the area and has become a bit of an old friend.  It's here that I left the main through-route of the Lairig An Laoigh (Calves Pass) and branched up into the higher hills.

The "Hutchie" is a welcome sight at any time, but I wasn't intending to stay at the bothy on this occasion.  I stopped by to see that everything was in order and made a mental note to remove a couple of empty gas canisters left on the window sill when I passed on my return leg.  I still had a bit of a climb with what now felt a heavy rucsac so after a short rest I set out again up the corrie.....

....to reach a campsite in the upper corrie surrounded by cliffs and high ground.  The forecast was for strong south-easterly winds overnight and into the following day so I chose a site for the tent which would give some shelter from this direction - or at least as much shelter as can be found in this wild place.  I brewed some tea and rested for a while, just enjoying being out here.

Later in the evening I made the walk and steep descent to the head of Loch Avon to meet with the team, who were camped in one of the most spectacular locations possible.  I arrived back at my camp at dusk and ate dinner, aware of the strengthening wind.  Sleep came quickly, but it wasn't to be a restful night.....