A grand day on Mt. Battock
WHAT with rain, winds and low temperatures there is little wonder that leaves have now largely disappeared from trees.
The remaining tracery of boughs and twigs has a beauty of its own don't you think, especially if seen in silhouette against a setting sun?
A week or two since, the Monday Walkers were up at Millden in Glenesk with the intention of going up Mt. Battock (2567 ft). It soon became apparent that, with shortened daylight, were we to do this we would have to spad on. In the event half went up while the rest of us roamed the foothills at a more leisurely pace. Even so we must have covered some seven miles; the summit party rather more.
It was a fine autumn day and the gamies were out burning heather on the hillsides; this to get rid of deadwood and to promote new growth. The smell of woodsmoke from a distance is not unpleasant. The estate has erected new enclosures and feeders, presumably to rear young gamebirds.
We lunched in the stalkers' shelter on the side of Allrey and not far from the convergence of the Black and White burns. A raven croaked high overhead. If it was hoping for crumbs then it had thin pickings on that day. We returned by way of Blackcraigs in the dying light of a golden afternoon. (OS Landranger Sheet 44).
The following Monday saw the walkers tramping the hills of Lethnot; specifically at Craigendowie and on Peat Hill. At this time I was at the opposite end of the country legging it around London and the Home Counties. In rural Buckinghamshire we managed a ramble alongside the Grand Union Canal and through the Wildlife Nature Reserve at Weston Turville. "Take only photos, leave only footprints and kill only time." Beside a lake and among the osiers and bullrushes, coot and moorhen paddled.
Grey squirrel numbers have reached plague proportions down there; to the extent that they regularly plunder the garden bird feeders. My grandson, frustrated and to discourage this thievery, winged one with a sodden teabag. Undeterred the wee bandits were back in numbers within the hour.
Back in London we were invited to a party held at a jazz club. I mention this only because it was the first occasion in my life when I've ever eaten a quail's egg. I was surprised to find that it tasted much like a hen's egg but is much smaller. Like caviar I can't see it becoming a regular feature of the diet.
Back home and the day before the Monday outing the weather forecast had been dire. An Atlantic low bringing storm force winds and rain from the west was predicted. We opted for a coastal circular from Ferryden down to Dunninald and back by Usan. There was a biting wind as we set off and although you needed warm gear on we escaped the more severe weather. A walk in the hills would have been something else. The sun even appeared. Nonetheless there were white horses out to sea and the photographers got good shots of breakers throwing up sheets of spray as they battered the rocks.
We had our sannies beside the tiny cemetery at Dunninald; the ancient buildings providing a measure of shelter. A poignant tablet stands there; a memorial to one James Macdonald who died in 1822 and to his five children aged 2 to 15 years who had predeceased him. Those were hard times and child mortality was high. (OS Landranger Sheet 54).
On our return to Brechin our senior member, George Murray, had invited us all to the Bridgend Bar to celebrate his birthday. Another party! After toasting George and making short work of the dumpling and the odd beverage we finished off with music and dancing. Have you ever tried doing the Gay Gordons (P.C. The Happy Soldier if you please) in hiking boots? Choose your partner with care.
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Weather for Brechin
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 14 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 8 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: East
