Ride - Scotland, Tyndrum
Do you know that you can turn the brightness of an iPhone screen so low that it is unreadable in daylight? I do. In an effort to reduce the drain on my battery I turned it way down and couldn’t read anything on my screen. I did this in the middle of my ride and was faced with the prospect of having no backup navigation if map-reading skills and sense of direction let me down. After much unsuccesful trial and error, I calculated that my best chance of success lay in trying to read the screen in a low-light environment and the only option lay inside my tee-shirt. I pulled my shirt over my head and looked at the screen in the gloom and bingo, I could just read the screen…for a second before my breath, sweat and body heat clouded my glasses. That second wasn’t long enough to make the changes to my screen brightness. I didn’t want to wait long enough to cool down and reduce the impact of sweating so that meant I had to stop breathing. After a big breath in, I pulled my shirt over my head and tried again. Success, I could see the screen for about three seconds before my glasses steamed over again. This was long enough to locate the main screen and after a couple of in-and-out-of-teeshirt cycles, I’d recaptured sufficient screen brightness for daylight use.
Do you also know that there is an active gold mine in the Trossachs National Park in Scotland? I wasn’t aware of it, or indeed the history of mining in the area, until I rode from Tyndrum to the pinewoods at Coille Coire Chuilc. The mine is referred to as the Cononish Project by the operator Scotgold Resources Limited. The mine is situated in Glen Cononish in the lower slopes of Beinn Chuirn and the shadows of Meall Odhar and Ben Oss.
This area has a history of mining that goes back to the early eighteenth century when the village of Tyndrum was built for the purpose of housing lead miners. The area also supported iron smelting in the late 1700s and then a mini gold rush in the 18th century before the price of the precious metal fell. It’s likely that the natural pinewoods were felled to produce mine supports and fuel for smelting.
Like most of the Scottish open countryside, this area has been heavily grazed by deer and sheep for the best part of 200 years. That, of course, also applies to the pinewood where there is little (none?) natural regeneration. However, Scotgold Resources Limited is undertaking a number of land improvement projecrts including fencing to exclude deer and sheep and replanting with native species, which I assume include Scots Pine.
Where
I parked in the huge car park at the Green Wellie Stop in Tyndrum. For future reference, this is the best place to stop because there is a huge space to park and unload, there is petrol and loads to eat. From there I dropped onto the West Highland Way and took the bridge across the River Fillan (OS Explorer OL39; 346 287) and followed the gravel road towards and up the eastern edge of Coille Coire Chuilc. The wood isn’t very big and I soon reached the southern edge heading up the hill.
I doubled back downhill (after fixing my iPhone) and turned right up the single track that follows the western edge of Allt Gleann Auchreoch. This track is unrideable in many places and gets steep quickly.
The pictures below give a sense of the place
Pic 1 - from the West Highland Way north of Coille Coire Chuilc looking towards Crianlarich
Pic 2 - a beautiful old pine next to the single track
Pic 3 - my attempt to show the diversity of the place. Heather is growing through sphagnum moss on the lower damp areas and the pines grow on the raised dryer areas. Note the absence of young trees due to over-grazing
Pic 4 - looking up-stream on the Allt Gleann Auchreoch
Pic 5 - looking up-stream on the River Fillan
Pic 6 - a small lochan just off the West Highland Way
Gallery
Gear and Nutrition
The weather was glorious and I was able to stick with a light jacket over a long-sleeved tee and shorts. After a brief warm-up, the jacket was removed and stored in my backpack.
Stupidly, I did not bring enough to eat mid-rides (I did two today) but had packed a couple of Ucan energy bars which kept me going.