Hill of the Haggis - Adventure in the Arrochar Haggis Forest

[wilkiemurray]

Vlog of Haggis Hill :

Hill of the Haggis.... Known as the birth place of the modern haggis industry , The Hill of the Haggis lies deep in the famous Scottish Haggis Forests of Arrochar. At the foot of The Haggis Massif (the name of the mountain region) is the worlds largest haggis factory/ hatchery where the worlds first "haggis pipe" was constructed in the 1940's . At the time this was a world first, leading the way in haggis innovations across Scotland.


With a late blast of winter hitting the higher summits we decided to venture deep in the world famous Haggis Forest to see if we could spot some of these elusive creatures, whilst getting up onto the snowy peaks. Outside the Haggis Stalking season, we were safe to venture out without fear of getting in the way of the catchers. The weather was ok, a few showers hit us as we walked to the bottom of the hill, but soon the sun was out and the heat of the sun was a welcome feeling. Not so good for the Haggi though as they still have their winter coats on at this time of year. With this in mind we kept an eye out on the snow patches where they are known to cool themselves when the temperatures rise at this time of year.

Arrochar Haggis Forest by Scotland's Mountains, on Flickr

Native to Scotland, the Haggis is an elusive creature and sightings are few and far between. However the skilled "Haggis Hunters" spend long nights on these wilderness areas hunting the beasts that are a delicacy around the world (apart from country's which are too scared to eat these animals. This is mainly due to the religious beliefs as some communities see these animals as sacred).
After catching their haul, the hunters gather the haggi in their kilts and transport them to the world famous "Haggis Pipes". At dawn every morning the mountain air rings with the sound of the Pipes as the haggis are rolled down to the factory where they are processed to be sent all around the world.

snow patches - haggis winter coats by Scotland's Mountains, on Flickr

As we were ascending the mountain later in the day, we knew we wouldn’t be interrupting the ghillies as they are usually back down the hill and the haggis rolling is usually done and dusted by dawn each morning. The ascent was fine though and soon we were bashing our way through the snow. At around the 800m mark, we reached the freezing point and the snow became firmer and much nicer to tread across. The chances of catching a glimpse of a haggis were now higher due to this drop in temperature. However as luck would have it, the clag decided to descend and thus reduced our chances of a spotting. Never mind, it was still nice to be out and feel the blast of the wind on our faces. We reached the summit of Haggis Hill but didn’t linger to long due to another snow shower blowing through.

swimming in snow by Scotland's Mountains, on Flickr

white out by Scotland's Mountains, on Flickr


Soon we were descending down the lower slopes and winter soon turned to spring again with the morning snow getting a rapid thaw! A fine day out and to finish it off we visited the Haggis Factory and bought our supplies for the evening tea… A fine day out…

A Chroy by Scotland's Mountains, on Flickr

[IreneM]

Brilliant!

[nigheandonn]

Where I was walking on Saturday, down by Mosspaul, the long ridge behind me was called Haggis Side I didn't see any of the beasties, though!