Gairloch January 2012 2

The end of our week in Gairloch had classic winter weather – chilly, clear and therefore excellent light. As the weather in NW Scotland is often not forcasted very well and is also changeable you need to grasp every opportunity, even more so when there is only about seven hours of daylight.

On one of the good days we did the circular walk (from the excellent WalkHighlands website. There is a link on the Websites list on the right) around Loch Kernsary which is south east of Poolewe. This is an easy six miles though I think it is best done clockwise as the last few miles are on hard farm track or tarmac.

Very quickly after the start you are in open moorland with a good view back towards Loch Ewe. This is the first view of Loch Kernsary stretching away to the south east with mountains of the Letterewe Forest as a background.

Walking by the loch side, either on open hillside or through birch wood, is typical of a lot highland Scotland but in the distance is the farm of Kernsary. Such areas are not unusual but it is always a little surprising to find these areas of woods and grassy fields.

 

We had a rest close to Kernsary and were fortunate to see a sea eagle flying over the loch. My wife took the opportunity of doing a quick watercolour of the view down the loch.

Although the walk back towards Poolewe is a bit more difficult on the feet than the walk out there are some good views. This is looking southwards down the Inveran river with Beinn Dearg in the distance.

An already excellent day ended with another view of an otter swimming and catching a fish in Loch Ewe.