Cascades & Serenades..........Day 8

 After yesterday's exciting adventure we decided to have a more relaxed day today, so it is going to be a shorter, more wildlife free blogpost than previous ones. If you're concerned about the title, don't worry as it's not me doing the serenading 😂

 We had a little lie in and planned to spend the afternoon travelling just South of Fort William to Kinlochleven. While Majella was getting ready I had time to go out and have another chat with Georgie, Shadow & Neville.

 It's less than an hour from Roybridge down through Fort William to Kinlochleven and the last 15 minutes involves driving along the shore of Loch Leven to get to the East end of the loch where the village is.

 We parked up at the Ice Climbing centre and popped over the road where we had an enjoyable meal at the Highland Getaway Tavern and the headed for the Grey Mare's Tail Waterfall to walk it off.

Photo in Kinlochleven

 From the car park, it's only a short walk but does include a few steps. Grey Mare's Tail Waterfall can be seen through the trees as you follow the path down.

 About half way along the trail you reach the bridge over the brook, modelled here by Majella. From here the track turns left and just round the corner to the falls.

 The falls drop around 40 feet into an Alpine like gorge. You can see the cascading water well enough from the path but if you want a closer look at the abyss it requires some plank walking along the edge of the river. If you see the 4th photo of this sequence, you will see me stuck between a plank and a hard place(a rock). With my lessened mobility I couldn't reach the rock and then I couldn't turn around to come back up the plank. I felt a bit like a cat that had got himself stuck up in a tree, but Fire Brigade Marshall Majella came to my rescue and pulled me back 😂

Slow-mo video clip of the falls.

 On the way back, a separate trail heads right from the bridge and up the steep side of the hill to the top of the falls. We managed to get quite a way up the path but regretted every step lol For more adventurous people you can join the via ferrata climbing challenge up the waterfall.

View looking down on Kinlochleven.

 My knees had definitely had enough by now so we headed back down to the car. On the way back we were serenaded by a Robin. 

 A much shorter blog as promised 😉 and unfortunately no trail cam out tonight as it poured with rain all night.Tomorrow though will be back to searching for Scotland's amazing wildlife as we head to the windy wet West coast.

Photos by Stuart Pike & Majella Fox

Thank you to everyone who takes time out of their busy lives to have a quick browse of my blogs. I hope you find some of it interesting and maybe useful for your own trips.

 

Return To The Highlands....Day 2

 We left Kinross and headed North up the M90 to Perth and then onwards to the scenic town of Pitlochry. After a 2 year hiatus we were finally back in the Highlands.

 A quick return to Motorway Raptorwatch produced 2 Buzzards on the M90 and 6 Buzzards on the A9.

  Pitlochry is a place we have visited frequently, for browsing the charity shops, the woodland walk up to the Falls and of course the fish dam. As we were driving all the way up to Elgin we only had time for the high street. We parked up and on attempting to buy a parking ticket I noticed the time it gave us. The ticket lasted for only 30 minutes, a bit less than expected for the £2 fee. I then noticed that 30 minutes was free parking and then that the machine had taken the money but not registered it as payment :( After a loud argument with the ticket machine and several presses of the cancellation button, coins started to spill out like a slot machine. It had obviously kept numerous people's coins and gave them a free 30 minute ticket. We went back to the car £8.20 richer and had a quick look at a closely parked car and noticed they too had a 30 minute ticket which was already past it's time. Hopefully a warden didn't arrive and give them all a fine.

 We had a browse at the charity shops which are becoming more like antique shops by the day and too costly to get any bargains anymore so left to continue our journey, but did notice this great Stephen Moss book in The John Muir Trust shop.

   As we travelled up the A9 the snow got ever closer to the roadside. A scenic lay-by gave me the chance to jump out of the car for a photo. The wind nearly blew the door from it's hinges and the icy blast gave me the look of someone who had just returned from getting a botox injection.

 

 An hour later we were parked in Aviemore and tucking into some Smiffy's chips 👌

  After feeding ourselves we thought it would be a good idea to go feed the birds so we drove the short distance to Loch Garten Osprey centre. Still too early for the ospreys but always great to see the woodland birds close up and the chance of seeing a stunning Crested Tit.

 Majella was in her element interacting with the Coal Tits and Great Tits whose trust we always cherish.

 I couldn't let her have all the fun so I took my turn connecting with Nature.

 The woodland was alive with Great Tits, Coal Tits, Blue Tits, Chaffinches, a Great Spotted Woodpecker and Siskins, but no sighting this time of a Crested Tit.

                                                             Siskin

Relaxing on the shore of Loch Garten before leaving.

 We took another quick detour to Nethy Bridge in hope of finding the recently sighted Hawfinch but as every other time searching for this bird, no luck.

  Another day, another Travelodge, this time on the outskirts of Elgin. This would be our base to explore the Moray coast and further inland during the next 2-3 days where our real adventure begins.

Thank you again for viewing the blog. Hope it is enjoyable.

More to come.....