Culkein Drumbeg, the compact maze

After leaving Loch Ardbhair I turned west, heading towards Culkein Drumbeg.   Yet another aspect of Quinag began to open up, this is the end of Sail Ghorm (the blue heel) which is the northernmost part of the mountain.

 The area around Culkein Drumbeg is a confusing maze of small islands and channels which change almost hourly according to the state of the tide.  At high water it's possible to paddle around most of the islands whilst at low water it becomes challenging to find a way through the maze.  I had about half tide conditions and so had a bit of both here.

 Along the shore there are small headlands......

.......under which caves can be explored.  The low entrance to this one opened into.....

...a green pool and inner grotto.  The sound of waves could be heard though there was almost no water movement on the side through which I entered; I thought that there might be another entrance to this particular cave.

Narrow clefts and channels between the islands frame views of distant mountains.

And there is the odd enticing white sand beach too.  A full day could easily be spent paddling around this compact area while staying within two kilometers of the jetty at Culkein Drumbeg, it's just so full of variety and interest.  The best way to do this would be to time a startfrom the jetty at about half flood tide, to get the maximum options for exploration.

Looking back, the views to the northeast were superb, the ash grey quartzite hills of Ben Stack, Foinaven and Arkle crowding the skyline.

A two thousand year old view - the Broch of Loch Ardbhair

After leaving Loch Shark I crossed back over the mouth of Loch a' Chairn Bhain and along the coast, where the map indicates a channel between the mainland and Eilean Rairaidh.  ou really have to believe in the map, because the channel seems hardly to exist, but it's there!

Beyond the island, the mouth of Loch Ardbhair seems to be blocked by a rocky arm, but this channel is also there and leads via an "S" shaped entrance into a shallow loch about 1.5km long and 600 metres wide.  Right at the head of this loch, the map has marked on it "Broch".  Well, this was certainly worth exploring further....

On a small tidal island, the remains of a circular structure can clearly be made out.  There seems some debate as to whether this structure was a true Broch, or some other kind of building, referred to by the generic term "roundhouse".  Brochs appear all over the north of Scotland and particularly in the Northern Isles, and mostly take the form of a tapered round tower type construction with massive walls with well fitting stones, galleried inside and with more than one floor.  They mostly date from 600BC to AD100, a quite considerable period of development.

This "Broch" (also referred to as "An Dun" - the fort) has a single skin drystone wall 8 meters in diameter and up to 3 meters thick at its base.  The quality of construction isn't that good in comparison with some Brochs, but it seems meant to have beeen a defensive or protective structure of some sort.

A drystone dyke, noted by the surveyors as a "causeway now partly displaced" runs down the hill and into the water, emerging at the base of the outer wall.  Whilst I don't have the level of insight that specialists in ancient structures have, I couldn't see this a primarily a causeway.  When looking at ancient structures or ruins I try to put myself in the place of the folk who built and used it.  While this could have had use as a means of access, it's quite narrow and would have been precarious; perhaps it had another use as a means of keeping back some water at the head of the loch on the falling tide, maybe as a fish trap or holding area?

The site of this structure probably hasn't changed that much since the Broch builders constructed and used it nearly two thousand years ago; this would still have been a shallow, Curlew-haunted arm of the sea, hidden from view to those who didn't know it was here.........

....and this view to Quinag from the narrow entrance way can hardly have changed at all in two millenia.  This continuity of place occupied my thoughts as I left the tiny island and headed back out of Loch Ardbhair to the sea.

Taking lunch with a Shark

Near the mouth of Loch a' Chairn Bhain is the house and garden at Kerrachar.  This was the site of a remarkable garden project for over ten years where the owners proved that with patience and imagination, a prodigious range of plants could be grown in the sheltered site despite the northerly latitude and exposure to salt laden wind.  Over ten thousand people visited the gardens during the period it was open to the public, which is all the more notable as the place has no road leading to it and is only accessible via a 30 minute boat trip.

Eventually the workload in maintaining the garden in a condition to be a visitor attraction became too much, and though much is still grown here it is no longer open to the public.

Across on the north side of the entrance to Loch a' Chairn Bhain is another sheltered location, also only accessible by water and this time via a narrow channel.......

....which opens out into an almost completely enclosed lagoon with the intruiging name of Loch Shark.  Enclosed, sheltered and surrounded by trees, I imagine that on a calm, overcast summer evening, naming the loch after another fearsome predator might be more appropriate - "Loch Midge" perhaps?!

I managed to find a spot to land on weed covered rocks for first luncheon - the colours of the weed were really zinging in the sunny conditions.  Out of the breeze, the sun was warm and pleasant.

To the south,  Quinag had completely changed appearance from this angle.  When I got back on the water I would heading out of the shelter of the sea lochs and into more open water in Edrachillis Bay, but not for long as my next destination had given shelter and protection for millenia........

The most beautiful bridge?

After paddling from the bothy back down Loch Glendhu and past the hotel, the Kylesku Bridge comes suddenly into view as a corner is turned.  The ebb tidal stream had just started in my favour and I had a gentle push into the narrows (Kylesku is Caolas Cumhann or Cumhang - the narrow strait).

Can a thing of concrete be beautiful when placed into a landscape like that of Sutherland?  I would say that in this case, it most certainly can; and that actually for me this is the most beautiful bridge anywhere......

Seen from drectly up the narrows it certainly looks slender and perhaps graceful, but from this angle the bridge hides its true nature until the last moment.

Passing underneath shows the graceful arc of the deck which forms a single sweep across the Kyle, but even here the best view is denied.  For that, and to understand the designers (Ove Arup Partners) vision, you have to see it from above.  The graceful arc compements the setting perfectly; any straight-line industrial style bridge like the one at Ballachulish would have spoilt this spot.  Both the designers and Highland Council, for whom it was built, deserve huge credit for their vision increating something truly beautiful.

Work began on the bridge in 1978 and it was opened by HM Queen Elizabeth in 1984.  It is 275 metres long and carries a continuous box girder section deck 24 metres above the water of the kyle.  The bridge replaced a ferry service here, one of the two final vessels on the service, the Maid of Kylesku. was simply beached at the north side of the kyle, the other vessel, Maid of Glencoul, remains in service as a relief vessel on the Corran ferry on Loch Linnhe.

My own favourite view of the bridge is from high up on Sail Garbh of Quinag, where the fit into the landscape is even more striking - I've no good images of this view; surely a reason to climb the hill again?!

Heading out of the narrows and into Loch a' Chairn Bhain (loch of the white cairn) another stunningly beautiful view opens up, this time the natural beauty of Quinag.  Really a mini range of hills with three Corbett summits (those hills between 2500 and 3000ft with a 500ft drop all round).  The most striking and obvious is Sail Garbh (rough heel) which gives the whole hill its name of Quinag - the milk stoup- as it's said to resemble a milking pail.

With this view for company and a gentle wind and tide behind me, the paddle towards the mouth of the loch and the sea beyond seemed effortless.....

Blazes of light in "the dark glen"

 The Mountain Bothies Association sign on the door of a bothy is always a welcome sight.   Then there's the anticipation - what will the bothy be like, will there be other folk staying?  One of the joys of bothying is in the people met, pretty much always like-minded outdoor enthusiasts.  Each bothy represents a leap of faith by the owner and continuous effort by the MBA to keep the place in good condition. Glendhu was one I'd not previously stayed in and I found it in great condition with four clean, dry rooms.  There were no other visitors staying that night so I picked  a room upstairs to sleep in and settled in.

As I unpacked the boat and carried my kit the few metres to the bothy from the loch shore, the western sky was ablaze with a glorious sunset.  I gatthered driftwood from the shore and spent twenty minutes with the saw to produce.......

A different kind of blaze in the grate. Although the evening was pleasantly mild, a bothy isn't quite the same without a companionable fire.  All done and I prepared my dinner of home-made cicken and corgette casserole featuring green and yellow courgettes gifted from a neighbours garden at home accompanied with saffron infused rice.  A small dram of Jura 12yo malt went very well with the food.

Before going to bed I took a walk outside to find a third blaze; that  of a dark sky full of stars with a huge swathe of the milky way overhead - just beautiful.  I slept soundly and comfortably.

The morning was bright and fresh, the southeasterly breeze would be at my back down the loch.

After breakfast I repacked the boat, tidied the bothy and cut some more driftwood for the next visitors.  Glendhu can be anything but "the dark glen" and I'll be back to visit this lovely spot soon.......

Thrusting out from Kylesku

For various reasons, it had been a while since I'd crossed to the west coast of Scotland.  A window of settled weather for the northwest seemed a good opportunity and a plan formed for a couple of days sea kayaking in this striking landscape.

On the day I travelled over it was forecast to be windy, reducing later in the afternoon which allowed for a leisuely start.  As I arrived at Kylesku, the wind had dropped away to a breeze and the air had that bright, hard look which follows a frontal passage.  The view up Loch Glencoul was enticing, but I was bound for a different loch.....

 

The boat was loaded and ready before the rising tide had covered the end of the old ferry slip at Kylesku. I'd have to wait, but this was no hardship as the Kylesku Hotel adjacent to the slip was open and serving some fine real ales!  We've stayed here and eaten here before, the food is particularly fine - fresh, local and superbly cooked.  Today I had time for just a pint before preparing to set out for my evening accommodation.

Out on the water and I paddled into the breeze with a great view of the Stack of Glencoul to my right.  This area is justly famous in geological terms, the Stack itself is one of the most prominent examples of the Moine Thrust belt; indeed the thrust zone here is given its own name of the Glencoul Thrust.

The planes of rock are really obvious on Aird da Loch  (point of two lochs) which separates Loch Glencoul from Loch Gleann Dhu.  It's a very complicated structure of rock which led to huge controversy in interpreting the sequences.

In short, Lewisian Gneiss (some of the oldest rock on the planet) is on the bottom, as you would expect. Next comes Cambrian Quartzite and Pipe Rock - again this is not unusual as these rocks are younger than the Gneiss.  Overlaid onto this is a plane of Fucoid beds, then a double "overthrust" of Sole Thrust (Cambrian) and , right on top, a plane of Lewisian Gneiss.  The process which placed the very oldest rock on top of and between younger rocks remained a puzzle until the early 20th century.

All this complicated geology is explained in admirable and entertaining simplicity in "Hutton's Arse" - a book which really must be read if for no other reason than the title! 

I wondered at the deep time involved in the geological upheaval all around me in this primal landscape - but I was also interested in a rather shorter timescale; my immediate prospects for dinner  :o)

Just an hour's paddle on a beautiful evening brought me to the head of Loch Gleann Dhu (Glendhu).  the translation is "loch of the black glen", which seems something of a misnomer as for the majority of the year the top of the loch is lit by both morning and evening sun. The rocky and twisting glen leading east from here is indeed a darker place though.  My "home" for the evening would be the building on the left of this image.....

Belatedly climbing Benaquhallie

Benaquhallie is just ten minutes drive from home - in fact I can see the hill from the end of the road, but for some reason I'd not previously climbed it.  An attempt to cross right over this high ground from the north via the forested slopes of Corennie Moor two years ago had ended up with me sweating and cursing among tangled fallen trees, then deep heather.  Climbing it from the southwest looked a much simpler propostion.

And so it proved.  Just 45 minutes pleasant walking on a grassy and rarely used access track brings the 494m/1621ft summit, and a spacious view.

Just below the summit is a very large and unusually shaped cairn.  The view to the south takes in Deeside and across to the distinctive hill of Clachnaben which has a prominent tor. 

Turning to the north east, the equally distinctive outline of Bennachie is well seen beyond Corennie Moor.

Clachnaben and (particularly) Bennachie are much loved north east landmarks - so distinctive that an old rhyme says that "Clachnaben and Bennachie are twa landmarks frae the sea".  I always feel that I'm home when I catch the first glimpse of Bennachie after having been away.

I hung around for a while to enjoy the views from Benaquhallie - wondering why on earth I hadn't climbed this super little hill sooner!

 

Harvest time

Harvest time has arrived in the Aberdeenshire countryside.  The view from our back garden shows fields of gold, and one already cut. 

The barley is ripe and ready; a forecast of several days of dry weather to come for north east Scotland has set the scene.....

...and the farmers, including our neighbour, have started the harvest.  The Combining machines can be seen everywhere as farmers try to get their "corn" in while it's dry and settled.

Several strips of a large field cut and the Combine is emptied into the waiting trailer, chaffs blowing in the wind.  Each trailer load represents a hard-won success from a late, cold and wet Spring followed by a much drier Summer than those of the last few years. At this point last year much of the barley was yet to ripen in a cold Summer. 

It's an anxious time; the success of the harvest is critical to farm viability and the plans for the following year. 

Grain tank emptied, the Combine heads off on another run up the field.  There will be long days (and nights) to come while the bonus of the good weather lasts.

This is what it's all about.  This barley will actually be largely converted into beef - winter feed for the beef beasts for which the north east of Scotland is noted, including the famous Aberdeen Angus animals, long associated with our local area.

Some of the better barley will be bought by maltsters to be converted into another great Scottish gift to the world....

As the last trailer loads of barley leave the fields, the baler is straight in to start baling the "ends" to make "Tractor Egg" bales of additional fodder and bedding for the cattle.  The evening will be long turned dark before just this field is done - it's a busy time.