helloo!

[fraochydug]

hi all. new to the forum, obviously, but ive been wandering the hills most of my life.
love the walking, not a fan of climbing etc. although ive done a bit where necessary.
i really hate midgies, which is unfortunate because i live in the Highlands

[spiderwebb]

You won't be alone hating the midgies, so make the most of this time of year.

Don't seem to be a problem higher up (usually), that said this was August 2010 at the summit of one the Glen Affric munros, poor dogs suffered equally !!

[fraochydug]

nice! im scratching just at the thought.

[spiderwebb]

Don't panic, they seem to bugger off at altitude once you get moving as eben on a wind less day there still seems to be enough breeze on the move.

Not so lower down though and these sorts of days you can count on a couple of fingers !

[starrynights]

Helloo Fraochydug, welcome to the site.

Quite agree re hating midgies, but last summer up at Inchnadamph, I encountered another wee beastie to beware of - a greenhead fly. Not so 'wee' actually, and with a bite like a shark. Can even bite through clothing, as I found out to my cost, and leaves a nasty painful swelling. One to look out for, if you haven't met them already. You can't miss them, they are fairly slow, albeit very persistent - and have a bright green head - which I believe is actually their eyes.
Little horrors

[fraochydug]

i know the fly all too well Starrynights. i made the mistake of feeding the stalkers pony that was hanging around Glenbain cottage a couple of years back, and it followed me as far as Uamh An Uisge with a flying entourage of the blighters. interestingly (or so i thought) the eyes lose the green colour when you kill them.
i am convinced they stalk you, landing when you turn to look at them, and creeping closer when you turn back around. and yes, they do bite through fairly thick clothing too!
personally i recommend crawling down a deep hole to avoid them.

[starrynights]

That's the exact place they attacked us, from the car park and up past the cottage. And yes, definitely have stealth capabilities. I made the mistake of having a top tied round my waist. Nasty buggers set up camp under the top!! Believe me, rump is on their menu and they like it rare I read up about their feeding technique afterwards - they gouge the flesh out and let the blood pool Will be looking forward to confirming your 'interesting fact' re their loss of eye colour when dead. (They aren't included on my animal loving list!!)

[fraochydug]

have you ventured into any of the caves Starrynights? about 1km into the cnoc nan uamh system are some deep pools with white brown trout and occasionally crayfish. there are a few large spiders but nothing that bites.
the last 2 times i ventured in there was flooding so we didnt get as far as the fish. ill get some pictures this year hopefully

[starrynights]

No I haven't Fraochydug, but since my walk last year I definitely intend having a go. I could just about tear myself away from just the entrance - did consider venturing in a little, but with no idea of what to expect, and more importantly no ropes etc common sense took hold.
What entry point did you take for those pics you've posted? I put a post on here a while ago re the Traligill caves and the possibility of cave-diving (have done that before, a fair bit). I'm not too sure if these caves would involve that. Nevertheless, I'd definitely do some caving instead.
Hang on a mo - spiders you say, eeeek!!! Give me snakes, rats, toads, mice - anything but spiders

[starrynights]

and ps ...... spiders don't bite eh!!! This is a photo of a bite from a brown recluse spider, found increasingly more frequent in the UK. Not for the squeamish!!!! BE WARNED!!!!

Think I might start a thread on what creepy crawlies us outdoors folk are scared of. Nay, terrified of.

Still want to try out those caves though Fraochydug. Let me know when you are going.

[fraochydug]

haha, you will cave-dive but are afraid of spiders! ive never done any cave-diving as of yet, although i have a mind to do the Uamh An Claonaite system to see The Great Northern Time Machine. that will take some organizing though.
the easiest and driest entrance to the Cnoc Nan Uamh System is the Uamh An Uisge (cave of the water). you can do the whole system without ropes, with care, as there are only a couple of easy climbs on clean-ish limestone. i would call it a "safe" cave, if that means anything.its long though at ~1400m
if you have some caving experience i recommend it. Grampian Speleological Group have a booklet covering the Assynt area with plans etc. thats worth a read.
i had these photos on Google Earth but closed my panoramio account as some of my pics were being used in advertising with no mention of panoramio or myself

[fraochydug]

l:

Still want to try out those caves though Fraochydug. Let me know when you are going.

i will do that Starrynight. its surprisingly difficult to find willing... cavers among my friends. wish for dry weather!
i'll introduce myself next time i see you, too. i recognize your face, and have seen you quite recently but dont remember where(i didnt want to say before in case you thought i was a stalker!)

ive been bitten by spiders a couple of times. im just glad it was never a Brown Recluse. thanks for the warning, my American friends have told me about them and i never want to meet one

[starrynights]

Stalker not a good word for a website!!!!

Sorry, I was a bit impolite on my previous posts, just inviting myself along dont normally do that, i just really do want to try out those caves. So, if you and your friends are arranging a trip at some point and don't mind me tagging along, I'd very much appreciate the chance.

Have no idea where you saw me - unless it was in Scotland. And my hairs purple now!!

[fraochydug]

no worries Starrynight, ill give you notice when we next plan a trip. winter is the best time because all the water is locked up as snow and ice, but i have a small catalog of injuries to get over first and everyone else has commitments, so it may be during the summer if we get one. you are very welcome though.
where did you cave-dive, if you dont mind me asking? i started caving and diving at 13, but have never had the bottle to cave-dive