Glen Stockdale

Today's weather forecast, offering the prospect of violent winds and 'snow pellets (refrozen rain)' [isn't that hail?] deterred us from anything ambitious. So we drove to a lay-by near the police house at Appin, scene of Les's former life, and enjoyed a relatively easy stroll up Glen Stockdale. The track ended after a while, but a series of wooden posts guided us towards the 300 metre bealach.

A gentle breeze, vaguely moist, wafted us through Glenamuckrach, a ruined village, where we wandered through recent snow, adding to the footprints of many red deer.

The deer were out of sight, but a buzzard was hunting and small birds, mainly chaffinches but also robins, wrens and goldcrests, were also finding sustenance in the snow sprinkled vegetation.

Our 20 km route descended through the forest to join a track that led easily to the main road and the excellent cycle path that links Oban with Fort William. Benches placed at frequent intervals soon provided an opportunity for lunch as the atmosphere thickened. A lone snow bunting followed us for a while, searching for food.

The walk back along the cycle track was pleasant enough, so far as it could be in the face of the predicted storm. Ducks, herons and cormorants were busy fishing in Loch Linnhe, and we passed Castle Stalker and strolled along the disused platform of Appin Station. More about these (perhaps) in future posts.

Back at Cruachan B&B (we are staying here, not at Creagan, Alan), Les had wisely stayed indoors and was ready with a fresh pot of tea and excellent banana cake as we dripped our way through the porch.

Izzy soon arrived, and between us we spent some time with a library of flower identification books, eventually confirming that the pink flowers beside the cycle track are early flowering Butterbur.

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