Loch Horn

It's some time since we drove up into Sutherland's open hills to take a walk so, with the weather set fair for the day, we followed the Rogart road through Backies and parked at the access point for a water board track that leads up to Loch Horn. 

Unfortunately for our old bones, the track is blocked by a padlocked gate so one has to use this ladder - which would have been fine except that one of the steps was missing.

The fishing on Loch Horn is in the hands of the Golspie fishing club and, shortly after this picture was taken, a family was out on the loch in the boat hunting, rather noisily, for brown trout.

There are several of these structures around the loch. We had guessed that they were shelters built in the days when the lairds of the estate fancied a day's fishing but we fell into conversation with a man who told us that he and some friends had built them when, as boys, they had come night fishing and needed diversion - though he said that night fishing was very successful.

All three heathers - ling (above), bell heather and cross-leaved heath - are now in flower and, once the ling is fully out, we should have a good display this year.

The moor around the loch is open and bleak, supporting a relatively limited number of plant species. After the heather, the startling yellow of the bog asphodel blooms is brightest. It's a delicate and pretty plant, and has long been one of my favourites.

On the subject of favourites, the loch had only two dragonflies to offer us, and both were only brief glimpses. One was probably a hawker, the other a chaser.

The blaeberries are in fruit but it's a poor crop this year. Whenever I see it I am reminded of walking through meadows of similar berries high in the Canadian Rockies and worrying about the bears which fatten themselves on them before going into hibernation.

We arrived back at the car too early for lunch so we drove on up the road to the entrance to the big Kilbraur wind farm, where a helicopter was shuttling back-and-forth delivering supplies, so we turned back but found a pleasant little loch to sit beside where we could enjoy our picnic in peace.