Ride - Scotland, Black Wood of Rannoch
Where
The forest lies on the southern shore of Loch Rannoch. I started at the Forestry Commission car park in Carie and followed the yellow trail up the hill as it traced high above the Allt na Bogair. I followed the trail over the Dall Burn and headed west until I crossed the Allt Camghouran when I headed north toward the southern shore of the loch.
On my way down the hill towards the Allt Camghouran, I managed to get stuck in a rut and made things worse by trying to exit at a great rate of knots. Everything ended badly with me flying ungraciously over the handlebars and landing on my upper back and left shoulder. Even through the adrenaline it felt nasty. Time, ibuprofen and red wine should see all back to normal.
This wood has suffered its fair share of felling and like most of Scotland’s natural landscape is still being scraped clear by over-populated deer with no natural predator. One small area adjacent to the main wod has been fenced off from the deer and the contrast between the protected and unprotected areas is really stark. In the latter, there is nothing between the old trees and the heather. In the protected areas there are dense stands of young trees everywhere.
The native woodland ants are very much in evidence but most of the other expected wildlife were not spotted today.
I returned eastward to Carie along the surfaced road that traces the southern shore of Loch Rannoch. Pretty much every space along the shore was occupied by campers or motorhomers. The campsites are still closed here for some inexplicable reason so people are filling every space they can find. I fear things won’t end well between the locals and the campers.
Gear and Nutrition
All gears on SurPug appear to working again after I fiddle with them a bit yesterday and they don’t appear to have been affected by today’s ignominious tumble.
Gallery
