Home   News   Article

At last! Signs of spring in the Flow Country





The glorious Peedie sands by Dunnet Head.
The glorious Peedie sands by Dunnet Head.

AN old drove route went, I believe, from Dorrery out to Loch Caluim then over by Skyline Loch to Altnabreac, continuing along the line of the railway to Forsinard.

The five-mile route from Dorrery to Caluim has been a good track for many years and always makes a good walk or run, though it’s a bit rutted and wet to enjoy as a bike ride.

In former days the estate owner would watch out for anyone taking this route and likely come haring after you in a Land Rover to turn you back. Now, most of the land is owned by the RSPB but it still seems strange to be able to walk the track without needing to be prepared to dive for hiding into the heather at the sound of an approaching vehicle!

It was sleeting as I drove up the Dorrery road but the forecast was for a steady improvement and so it turned out. A morning is ample time for the round walk to the loch, an outing which takes you through some wonderful places in the heart of the Flow Country.

Given more time or energy, a better route still is to continue on for miles up Glen Urlan to Loch Torr na Ceardach, one of the remotest of Caithness lochs, then return via the long Shurrery track.

Mist hung over Dorrery and the Beinn nam Bad hills as I tramped the track round the side of the hill and down to the bridge over the Torran water, where the Flow Country proper begins. Then just a simple, peaceful walk over the moors for another three miles, the latter part of the walk close to the banks of the Cnocglas Water which becomes the River Forss.

There are some attractive stretches of the river where it runs through little rocky gorges.

It must be spring – a primrose gleaming yellow above Dwarwick.
It must be spring – a primrose gleaming yellow above Dwarwick.

A fine fishing hut at Loch Caluim had been falling into decay but has now been re-roofed by the RSPB. It would make a great base for birdwatching. It boasts a picture window overlooking the sandy shore of the loch and the upturned boat which has featured in many a calendar photograph.

This is one of the more accessible of the wonderful Flow Country lochs yet only once, in many visits, have I met anyone else here. It is a spot which simply exudes peace – there will likely be a sandpiper trilling or a diver quacking and wailing later in the spring.

Look at the map and you will see other, remoter, lochs and lochans nearby, all well worth the effort to visit. Many times I’ve been here with the bike and carried on by wheeling it over the old drove route to pick up the new forest tracks at Skyline Loch.

But this was just a gentle morning’s outing and I walked back the same way, detouring to the top of Dorrery Hill for the superb views – out of all proportion to its modest height – as the clouds gradually broke and gleams of sun appeared across the moors.

After all the grey windy weather, a few days of clear air and sunshine with early frost came as a complete contrast. On one morning the radio weatherman mentioned a big temperature inversion, –6C in Aboyne and +7C on top of Cairn Gorm. Cold air pools and on clear nights it is indeed often much colder in the glens.

The air was very clear indeed and the inversion bent the light so that the distant mountains looked much taller. Several far hills which are normally invisible from my house popped into view – a sliver of Ben Armine, a peak of Foinaven and the top of Ben Hee. The other mountains, Hope, Loyal, Spionnaidh, Cranstackie, Klibreck showed much more of themselves than usual, while from the hill the snowy ridge of Ben More Assynt sparkled some 60 miles away. Such rare days are too good to waste on chores!

I’ve treated myself to a new mountain bike, admittedly the old one should have been scrapped years ago. The easy Altnabreac circuit was a good place to try it out, most of the route is pretty smooth but there are a few rough stony bits. On a clear, sunny morning with the frost melting from the heather, the low hills of Ben Alisky ahead and the blue of Loch More to the left, you can really enjoy the track out to Dalnawillan.

The kennelled dogs at the lodge burst into their usual chorus, audible for miles. I turned up the track to Loch Dubh, passing more fine moorland lochs before reaching the former hotel, now a private residence with its own swimming pool and looking resplendent in the sunshine.

At Altnabreac I detoured over the level crossing (the notice says “authorised users only” but this is a public track!) and climbed up out of the forest to where the track enters the open with a view for miles and miles over the top of the world.

The most amazing thing here is the sheer scale of both the 1980s Flow Country plantings and the recent felling operations to restore the peatlands, many square miles of land have been affected.

Well, when so many others at the time were praising these new forests for the economic benefits they would bring to Caithness I did tell you… but perhaps did not expect to be proved quite so right.

The wind farms will go the same way, once the subsidies are withdrawn nobody will put up another turbine and the existing ones will have to be decommissioned and removed at yet more expense to the bill payer.

With a light following wind and a lot of downhill the forest road took me quickly back to Loch More, once again there are some very fine lochs such as Loch Eileanach and Loch Gaineimh which are just off the track and well worth the visit.

Another rare glorious morning was just too good to spend sitting at the computer. Instead we enjoyed a favourite short walk, from Dwarwick Harbour over the hill to the Peedie sands then back by the Northern Gate House.

Signs of early spring. The sunshine raised the aromatic scent of the bearberry from the hillside above Dwarwick, the fulmars were claiming nest sites near the cliff tops and the very first primrose gleamed yellow in the sun on the sheltered south-facing grassy slope near the top of a geo.

A couple of surfers played in the waves off Ness Point. The air would have been warm enough to dispense with wetsuits – but not the water. Miniature daffodils in a row, crocuses bright yellow by Mary-Ann’s Cottage.

The Peedie sands were deserted, the sand level high after a stormy winter, you could have sunbathed as on a tropical beach. Such a glorious spot on such a day and so easy to reach, you just need to take a little care on the cliff tops and when scrambling down. But it seems that fewer and fewer people visit such places.

Then at West Dunnet, somebody was actually cutting their grass. In shorts. And a tourist campervan was driving down to the harbour. Only mid-March, but it must be spring!


Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.


This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More