Hikers blown away by Loch Tay walks
Our Lady of Lourdes Hiking Club enjoyed two blustery walks from Loch Tay up into the hills near Ben Lawers recently.
High and low-level groups both started off from Lawers village and shared a common path northwards to the side of the Lawers burn through a small forest before reaching a dam complex.
At this point the groups’ paths diverged with the low-level walk following a course towards the east end of Lochan nan Cat.
This six-and-a half-hour, 15-kilometre walk took the group through fairly marshy ground to achieve its aim at a height of 750 metres, exposing everyone to gusting winds and a smirr of rain.
The dozen intrepid walkers tackling the onward route from the dam were also faced with streams to ford and boggy terrain to cross.
But as the blueberry moorland gave way to exposed bedrock of 500 million year-old quartz and sparkling schist, the hikers found themselves having to scramble as much as climb.
At times gusting winds of 50 to 60 miles per hour threatened to blow several over, necessitating grabbing rocks and bracing into the gale.
The group was relieved to reach the summit of Meall Garbh, a Munro at 1023m high, before tucking in the lee of the peak for lunch.
Walking in this national nature reserve gave keen-eyed members the chance to try to spot some of the rarer botanical specimens favoured by the combination of severe, alpinelike, climate and chemically basic soil resulting from erosion of schist.
The often Arctic habitat here suits a number of saxifrages including starry and purple, both of which were being carefully avoided by hikers’ Vibram soles.
Both groups returned by the same route back to the dam before separately making their way south-west along a landrover track back down towards Tambreck near Loch Tay.
A social hour in Callander, before returning home by coach, completed a windy but satisfying day hiking in the Ben Lawers National Nature Reserve.
Sign-on day for the next outing is Thursday, July 13 at 7.30pm in the upstairs lounge of Our Lady of Lourdes RC Church in The Murray.
Information about future walks can be obtained by visiting www.ololhikingclub. co.uk or calling (01355) 245123. New members welcome.