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3 walks that are usually impossible

3 walks that are usually impossible


Postby HalfManHalfTitanium » Tue Nov 23, 2021 8:27 pm

Route description: Loch an Eilein, Rothiemurchus

Date walked: 29/12/2008

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It was a cold spell in the Cairngorms.

ImageIMG_4197 by Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr

ImageIMG_4506 by Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr

I was reminded of these walks that we did by a comment on my recent Beinn Bhuidhe TR (https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=109202) and an unusual thing that we saw, hidden from sight for perhaps nearly 60 years.

The car thermometer was averaging around -15 each morning, for our stay at Carrbridge. So when we visited Loch an Eilean, we were treated to the sight of people walking out on the ice. After some initial careful testing, we decided to try it too.

ImageIMG_4242 by Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr

The WH website advice "Summer routes may not be viable or appropriate in winter" can occasionally be reversed.

ImageIMG_4229 by Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr

The walk along the lakeshore, and the views of the castle and the Cairngorms, were magical.

ImageIMG_4198 by Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr

ImageIMG_4205 by Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr

I got the location wrong (it's Ruthven, apparently), but the children loved the story of being able to see across to the castle at night and glimpse the Wolf of Badenoch playing chess with the devil for his soul (https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/otd-1394-wolf-badenoch-dies-after-chess-game-devil-583594. I had to tell then in the strongest terms that we were NOT going to try to walk across the ice to the castle.

There was no need for black magic. There was plenty of white magic to see from the shore.

ImageIMG_4195 by Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr

ImageIMG_4193 by Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr

ImageIMG_4194 by Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr

ImageIMG_4250 by Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr

ImageIMG_4196 by Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr

Late afternoon sun on the castle.

ImageIMG_4279 by Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr

The next day was just as cold, and after a morning at the excellent Landmark, we explored Loch Garten in the afternoon - these are the woods approaching the loch.

ImageIMG_4404 by Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr

ImageIMG_4338 by Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr

Wonderful scenes at the loch.

ImageIMG_4448 by Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr

ImageIMG_4425 by Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr

ImageIMG_4483 by Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr

ImageIMG_4498 by Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr

ImageIMG_4542 by Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr

ImageIMG_4513 by Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr

ImageIMG_4538 by Half Man Half
Titanium
, on Flickr

ImageIMG_4450 by Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr

ImageIMG_4501 by Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr

A spot of sledging to round off the day

ImageIMG_4589 by Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr

ImageIMG_4587 by Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr

The next day we visited Loch Morlich before the long drive south.

ImageIMG_4605 by Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr

The northern corries in the distance

ImageIMG_4598 by Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr

My daughter called us over to look at something she had spotted under the ice

ImageIMG_4617 by Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr

ImageIMG_4622 by Half Man Half Titanium, on Flickr

In the war, Loch Morlich was an SOE training area for Norwegian operations, including the amazing Telemark sabotage. I had read stories of military debris being found on the shore (see e,g, https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20170111-the-surprising-place-where-wwii-agents-learnt-to-fight-nazis) but it was remarkable to see this shell casing lying on the floor of the loch, perhaps unseen since it dropped into the water all those years ago.
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HalfManHalfTitanium
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Re: 3 walks that are usually impossible

Postby Mal Grey » Tue Nov 23, 2021 10:24 pm

Beautiful
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Re: 3 walks that are usually impossible

Postby Colin1951 » Wed Nov 24, 2021 2:55 pm

Marvellous set of extreme weather photos. Somewhere I have a pre-digital photo of my oldest daughter standing beside a full size tree trunk, lying on the surface of the ice about 50m out on Loch Lubnaig - very similar conditions.
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Re: 3 walks that are usually impossible

Postby HalfManHalfTitanium » Mon Nov 29, 2021 6:50 pm

Colin1951 wrote:Marvellous set of extreme weather photos. Somewhere I have a pre-digital photo of my oldest daughter standing beside a full size tree trunk, lying on the surface of the ice about 50m out on Loch Lubnaig - very similar conditions.


Thanks very much!

Sounds like the Loch Lubnaig day was quite something - a photo to dig out!

Tim
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