5.56 miles 2h 31m ascent 178m
Trossachs Pier-Glen Finglas Visitor Centre
“There is no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing”
Alfred Wainwright
Wet ground, wet air, wet shoes, wet jacket, and wet hair. Constant rain, heavy to start with and then drizzle.
Rain. The shortest of our Great Trossach’s Path outings, this section took us from Trossachs Pier at Loch Katrine, through the Queen Elizabeth Forest Park, Gleann Riabhach, the banks of Loch Achray, the woods of Bad Biorach, Brig O’ Turk, and the wooden walkway into Lendrick Forest.
Rain. This was a day for full foul weather gear. When we set out it was raining so heavily that we wore rain-capes over the usual waterproofs. I have a bright orange rain-cape so it doubled as Hi-Vis for our short walk along the A821, which is definitely required on grey days like this. Soon enough we turned off the road. A forestry track led us beside Achray Water which we crossed on a footbridge that reminded me of those seen in Japanese gardens. Achray Wee waterfalls beside it. Loch Achray is sometimes said to take its name from loch an achaaidh reidh, loch of the level field but I wonder if the alternative ath-chrathaidh, ford of the shaking might refer to this burn with its waterfalls.
Rain. We tramped along the forestry tracks in drizzle, through a variety of woodland types, or bracken where I presume there had been trees not so long ago.
Rain. It would be easy to dismiss this part of the walk since it was so similar to the forests I walk in close to home. But, both the bracken and the trees were beginning to show their autumn colours which was impressive even in the low light of a dreich day. I enjoyed seeing larches, branches drooping with foliage the colour of straw. The larches in D&G have been felled to prevent spread of larch disease.
Rain. The forestry tracks turned this way and that. My sense of direction was soon flummoxed but there were sign-posts at virtually every junction. The OS map marks this as Gleann Riabhach, one of many Grey Glens in the country.
Rain. We swapped forestry track for footpath to make our way up towards the Duke’s Pass Road. A sign warned us to take care crossing the road, which we did. I had already looked up which Duke this was so when we crossed I knew it was a Duke of Montrose. He had the road improved in 1885 to allow better access to his estates. This was to cope with an increase in tourist traffic following the publication of The Lady of the Lake (Walter Scott’s poem – which I classified as TL;DR – perhaps I should give it a go sometime).
Rain. More forest tracks took us north towards Loch Achray. We decided to have a coffee break beside a small burn. The pine needles under the large trees there seemed relatively dry though I could still feel raindrops falling. It was good to take off the rain-cape for a short while and give my jacket a chance to breathe.
Rain. We walked past a great many “No Entry” signs. I started counting but gave up at six. We were following GTP signs so presumed the signs were aimed at vehicles.
Rain. Loch Achray was mysterious in the mist.
Rain. The Loch gave way to marshy grassland and we came to Achray Farm. My farm-fu failed me as I pointed to some animals saying “Those sheep look very white.” Audrey responded with “The one on the left has funny ears”. I agreed, “yes looks like a spaniel”. The animals walked towards us. Goats, not sheep. Ladies then a billy.
Rain. A sign read “Brig O’ Michael cottage” so I presume the nearby bridge was the actual Brig O’ Michael. (The bridge in the photo at the top of the post). Given our recent
Rain. The track up to the A821 runs through an area labelled as Bad Biorach on the OS Map. Bad, has several meanings, it was originally a clump of trees but came to also mean a thicket or a knoll on which the trees stood. Biorach could be a heifer or horned and from that, sharp. I hadn’t expected to find a London bus, the “N92 via Camden Town” in Bad Biorach.
Rain. I was pleased to find a pavement for our short walk along the A821 into Brig o’ Turk. I had wondered if the Brig had been named for some saracen traveller but I find that tuirc means boar. Now I understand why the signs for Brig o’ Turk have a boar’s head on them.
Rain. We did see a pheasant on the pavement, but thankfully no wild boars. The final stretch included a woodland path then we crossed the road and onto a wooden walkway across marshy land before more woodland reaching the Glen Finglas visitor centre. Through the whole of this walk I had been hankering after an information board with a small roof that we could shelter under to have our coffee. And there was one at the visitor centre.
The walk ended. It was still raining.
