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A rainy Thursday afternoon doesn't seem like the best time to walk in the hills, but we were heading home to Aberdeen later anyway, and a short walk amongst Britain's tallest trees seemed to fit the bill perfectly. It's a very short walk, so this report is correspondingly very short too.
After getting soaked even on the dash to and from the car at Glen Ord Distillery, the rain eased off as we passed through a traffic-heavy Beauly - although I must remark that aside from the traffic, Beauly seems very nice and has a very well-stocked Scotmid...
The Moniack Burn was an atmospheric place today, with wisps of mist draped around some of the trees, below a blanket cloud base sitting at about 200m - you know, the type that spells doom for high-level walking.
It was an easy, quiet walk up one side of the glen. There are several signboards identifying the various tree types on the way up, before the path reaches an about turn by an attractive old bridge / folly with random columns. The tallest trees (glimpsed from the other side on the way up) are soon after. It goes without saying that they are tall... but in fact they are
very tall - the more you stare, the taller you realise they are. Don't strain your neck.
Photos of waterfalls never come out well, and the ones of the trees don't really get the scale either - it must be something about tall, vertical things. Shortly after identifying the tallest tree (Dughall Mor), we were delighted to see a red squirrel on that very tree - not many people will be able to say they've spotted a red squirrel on Britain's tallest tree!
After returning to the car park on the opposite bank, we headed up the stairs to the "viewpoint", which was sadly completely obscured by trees. Never mind - still an impressive place.
Previous day: Knockfarrel Ridge:
http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=35662