#SundayWalk A photo 🧵
It's years since we did a walk we used to do a lot, a circumnavigation of Lexie's Loch. This is a walk that simply means turning left instead of going straight as we leave our gate, and head up into the hills.
Soon, a glimpse of Lexie's Loch can be seen, more correctly Loch Leathad a Bhaile Fhogair, the loch of the autumn settlement.
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2. It's the time of the year for ling heather, and the entire walk smelt of honey. It's such a wonderful time, when you can catch an inkling of what it must be like for a bee. The heather is so prolific this year, though remarkably hard to photograph
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3. Soon we passed an old house. We think this house must have been destroyed by fire - notice that huge crack across the lintel.
I was fortunate enough to have been given some stories about this place from some elderly folk, now no longer with us, most notably one about the tradition of seeing death lights.
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4. On with the #SundayWalk, and as we've been climbing steadily, we turn around to get some breath back, to get a rather good view of the split rocks of Clachtoll.
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5. And so up to The Old Soldier's House. This is a place that ought to be spooky but is really peaceful. My Westie used to love it here, and want to linger. It has been unoccupied since 1945
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6. Some years back, we discovered The Old Soldier's well. Even now it's at least a metre deep, though the water is almost up to the brim. This is a bout 100m or so from the house, so not too inconvenient. It's quite well built and the stonework extends downwards, as expected from a well
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7. Some years back, I found a barn owl resting in a crack in the rockface behind The Old Soldier's House. So imagine our joy when an owl burst out of the rock face not that far from where I'd seen it years back.
Just in case this was really Jareth*, we kept our distance, in case through dangers untold we had to fight our way to the goblin city
* - What? You haven't seen Labyrinth? Say it's not so.
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8. Once, more we turn around, as again, at this point we've headed up perhaps the steepest part of the walk, steep enough to have to zigzag up. And there's Clachtoll, widely acknowledged to be the Centre of the (known) Universe, laid out before us.
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9. From this point in the #SundayWalk we can look to the right and get a view of the iconic hills of Assynt, though sadly not including the best mountain in Assynt, and the second best on the planet, Quinag. She was hidden in the mist and, perhaps like folk who like her, is way over to the left of this image.
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10. And now we have to start remembering the way, as it's such a long time since we've done this walk. But I knew where to pick up the waypoint we call Beagle Rock, just visible here in the U-shaped gap in the terrain. Can you see it?
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11. We get reminders of the glacial past of our area. This rock seems to have been carefully placed on a series of bearers. I once worked out the mass of this erratic for an article I was writing. I must have been bored.
It also looks like Douglas Adams' "Deep Thought" who came up with the answer "42". No? Oh, OK then.
Anyway, it has a nice view.
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12. We're high up now, high enough to smell the haar that's trying to make its way inland from the north, though we were never in it. Here's Water Loch, so called because it's the water supply for our area. More correctly it's Loch Poll an Droighinn, the loch of the boggy place of blackthorn
We've seen otters in this loch
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13. #SundayWalk, continuing. Walking past Water Loch, along the ridge which divides it from Lexie's Loch, we get a glimpse of the Loch around which we're inscribing a large oval.
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14. We're now at one of the may "DPs" in the walk - Decision Points. We're heading up that large hill to end up high on its right flank. We have no need to "conquer" hills by ending up on their summits, but this is hill at the head of Lexie's Loch. We could go left and then around, or straight and up the side, or a little left, and around the back. Today's we've chosen that route, though it means being cautious around boggy sections down in that glen.
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16. This is better. There's the Queen among the Assynt Hills, Quinag, and it looks like the the old peat road leads to her. To the right, at the base of that vertical hill, is The Druid's Cave, almost certainly a neolithic structure, and another wonderful place in our area. It's hard to find though.
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17. Finally we are at the high point of the walk, and we can look down on Lexie's Loch. Somewhere down there is The Last Homely House too.
This is the spot where, years ago, Helen's Yorkie, Peggy, came running back to me communicating well enough for me to follow her, and there was a fawn lying on the ground, waiting for its mother's return. Peggy was clever like that.
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18. We're heading home now, but turn to snap the head of the loch. It's quiet here, whereas previously we've heard the echoes of boats and the foghorn at Stoer Head lighthouse. But there's something special about this spot.
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19. There's so much along here, like these weird structures. They're about a metre by a metre, and we know of 3 or 4 other places around the loch where they have been built. We've spoken to archaeologists about them, though, among all the -ologies, archaeology is right up there in their ability not to say "No idea, son." Some are built into a section of living rock, some part of a wall, and some standalone.
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20. A bad pic, but you can see why gardening or farming in Assynt is a challenge. The glaciers went through, and Nature said "Righto lads, you've had your fun. Now's the time to make some soil. Grind up that rock down there." They gave it a go, and then said "You know, this rock is hard. Let's sod off. No-one will know."
Of course, geologists may put that slightly differently.
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21. Now we're close to Lexie's Loch and in front is The Bog of Eternal Stench*. It always pongs in this spot, and when we had the terriers, they'd squelch their way through alarmingly. Fortunately this was also one of the favourite paddle spots, so they'd cross then head straight down to the water.
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* - again, watch Labyrinth.
22. It's water lily time on Lexie's Loch. There's a good shallow spot for water lilies near the foot of the loch, the source of the burn that runs past The Last Homely House
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23. It seems to me there's just enough humanly built stuff to make the foot of the loch interesting. We make sure we call out a greeting before crossing the large stone crossing the outlet - you can't be too sure.
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24. We take a moment to look back up Lexie's Loch. There in the distance is the peak we looked down from a while back. It's been a lovely day to do this walk again.
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25. And now we can see The Last Homely House, nestling into the landscape, safe and quite, as she does. Not far to go to get home now. That was a lovely walk, and, as for various reasons it's been a while since we did it, it was filled with memories.
I do hope you've enjoyed coming on today's #SundayWalk with us, and I hope you're not too tired out.
@withaveeay thank you for taking us along, that was very nice.
Is the ruined house behind yours the one from picture #3?
I'm always fascinated by such ruins, thinking what stories all happened when people still lived there. And what it would take to return them to habitable form.
Colours. Yay!
Stevan
theaack
fedops 💙💛
Peter
Christine M.