Loch Barnluasgan and Bellanoch Viewpoint

This started out as a short, flat walk, just round the loch along a path suitable for baby buggies or wheelchairs.

 

It's a pleasant spot with water lilies flowering in the calm waters of the loch, trees covered in weird and wonderful lichens, and in summer dragonflies flit around. 

It's close to the main Knapdale beaver watching site, and their activity - distinctive gnawing of fallen trees and such - can be seen here though I've never spotted them themselves.

Things got more energetic - and tiring  - when I decided to add on a walk to the Bellanoch viewpoint. 750 metres can't be far, I thought. And anyway, it's uphill, so every return step is downwards. I can turn round when I start to feel I've gone too far.

The route follows a forest road - in fact cars can allegedly use it to reach a wildlife visitor centre but it's loose gravel and while it's a good path, I'm not sure it's a good road unless you've got a 4x4. After the visitor centre the road deteriorates but is still clear  

 But having gone up ... and up ... and up it turned out that I then had to walk DOWN to see the view. 

I nearly gave up then. I could see the view - sort of - and didn't expect it to be much different at the viewpoint. But worried about missing something wonderful I sent my more energetic husband ahead to check how much further I had to go, and how good the view was, and he came back with photos that inspired me to walk that bit further, even knowing I was going to end up walking back uphill. 

So I, not quite inched, but walked gradually downhill, ready at any moment to turn round if I thought the walk back would be too much, till the trees fell away and the horizon opened up before us with the most amazing view out over Crinan Ferry past small islands to Mull.

Closer to hand, though partly hidden by the hillside, was Bellanoch canal basin, with Crinan canal winding past it on its way to the sea, and the river Add running alongside while the tide moved in over the wide expanses of sand and mud-flats.

Inland the river snakes across the tidal flats that lain Banks in The Crow Road turned into Upper Loch Crinan, with his fictional town of Gallanach situated somewhere on the edge of the distant hills.

It was definitely worth making the effort for, though my legs weren't too happy at the first uphill section as we walked back, but at least the remaining bits were downhill then flat around the loch!

 

Tayvallich

I first holidayed at Tayvallick about 30 years and, although we've visited in the intervening years and stayed at other places in the surrounding area, this is the first time I've been back to spend more than a day in the village.

It lies on one of those long spurs of land separated by fingers of sea that characterise the Knapdale area, facing east towards the shelter of land. We stayed in a flat overlooking  the curve of the bay and passed a couple of lazy mornings walking from one end of the village to the other, and sitting to watch the goings-on. 

For a small place, there's a lot to occupy visitors. There are boats to watch bobbing in the harbour, a passenger ferry to Jura, a cafe with decking overlooking it all (sadly only open for takeaway during our stay due to staff shortages but I've eaten there in the past and it's a lovely spot to spend an hour or so), and at the opposite end of the village a restaurant. There's even a community centre with tennis courts and such that visitors can use, but we didn't.

A short walk from the main harbour took us over a slight ridge to another bay - Carsaig; a more untamed place with a shingley/seaweedy beach which looks west towards Jura, and has wonderful sunsets, and although there's no cafe there's a cake honesty box. A good place to just sit and watch the water lap at the shore.

And at Kyle Scotnish picnic place just north of the village, we spotted an otter swimming and diving for food. There are beavers in the area, from the Knapdale release scheme, but I think to have spotted one of those would have been too lucky*, and I'm happy to have seen an otter. Slightly further afield there are walks through Knapdale forest (more of that another time) and the Taynish Nature Reserve, more boats to watch along Crinan Canal, and historic monuments to puzzle over at Kilmartin Glen. 

One of the snags about re-visiting somewhere you know well is having to curtail the things you could do if only you had time. I'm already planning a trip back to catch those missed-out things.

* I've since watched the video of a near-to-home release of beavers at Willington in Derbyshire, and I'm still not certain what I saw. It could have been a beaver but an otter seems more likely.

Loch Fyne and Crinan - part one

After our brief stay in Edinburgh we picked up our youngest daughter from the train and headed west. While so many tourists in Scotland are heading off round the North Coast 500 route, or tracking down Outlander locations, we headed off the beaten track, to Argyll, specifically the narrow strip of land where the Crinan Canal cuts through the Kintyre peninsula to provide an easy passage from Loch Fyne to the open sea of the west coast.

Find the Mull of Kintyre on a map and head north where the land looks ripped to ribbons, with long fingers of sea reaching between - that's where we were.

We stayed in a cottage next to Loch Fyne, waking each morning to views out across the water - sometimes cloudy, sometimes gloriously blue.






The shoreline was pebbly, so I gave up on the idea of paddling there, but on our last evening my daughter persuaded me to swim! After a day of sunshine, the water was lovely and warm, and I realised how much I've missed swimming.










It's a quiet area, with lots to do outside. There are strenuous walks and cycle routes through Knapdale Forest but we settled for short gentle strolls, looking for dragonflies and beavers near Loch Barnluasgan, along the Crinan canal, through the Taynish nature reserve, and (the most strenuous) in Crarae gardens.

I seem to have taken a tremendous amount of photos - as usual - so I think it's best to split this post into two - Loch Barnluasgan and Crinan now, the others to follow.




Loch Barnluasgan - This is a place where the air is so clean lichen grows freely on trees, giving a fairy-tale feel to the woodlands around the loch, and also the site of a beaver re-introduction project.

We didn't spot the beavers, though they have a den not far from the place below, but did see signs of their tree-felling activities. 

There used to be a dragonfly trail here, with boards explaining which types you might see etc.

Although the boards have gone, we still spotted dragonflies in the dappled sunlight under the trees. They just wouldn't stay still long enough for a photograph.

Crinan Canal - I could spend days, maybe even weeks, pottering around Crinan, watching the boats coming through the locks, walking along the canal, gazing out to sea and the islands - oh, yes, and eating at the conveniently situated Coffee Shop with a view of all the comings and goings.

I'm a bit of a lazy walker, so canals always appeal because of their reliable flatness. Crinan is special though as the canal path also affords a view out to sea in one direction, or across the tidal expanse of Loch Crinan in the other.










































One day I might decide to walk the full distance from Ardrishaig on Loch Fyne through to Crinan - or cycle as that would be quicker - but I'd need to be fitter! Time to get started on my exercise plan ready for next summer!!