A Springtime Stroll in Glen Vorlich
Back to home pageBelow are some photos with a narrative in the captions beneath each photo.
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This is is the story of our stroll in Glen Vorlich in mid-March. The forecast was for a fairly bright day with occasional showers. Our goal was to walk up Ben Vorlich at Lochearnside. When we got there we saw that the upper 500 feet was snow covered. With the risk of ice we decided to walk at lower altitudes. Glen Vorlich is Y-shaped, fairly narrow down by Loch Earn and broadening out to both sides of Ben Vorlich. We walked along the side of the ridge on the east side of the glen, the left in this photo. The estate owner lives in the large house behind the trees on the right, Ardvorlich House. This picture was actually taken when we got back to the car. Loch Earn was about 20 feet behind me when I snapped this photo.
There were Springtime flowers near Ardvorlich House, beside the fast flowing burn and the path starting up the glen.
As we were walking along the hillside (on the right in this picture) I commented, "Most of our family and friends would not understand what we do for pleasure." Rosemary's response was, "They would think us off our heads." A while later she commented on the hillside being sodden. I said that I've not heard Americans using the word sodden, we say soaked. She responded, "Aye, but soaked is temporary, while sodden has a certain permanence." It was a rainy windy walk through Glen Vorlich, with the temperature in the upper 30s. There were quite a few places where our feet splashed in an inch or so of water on grassy hillside slope (not a puddle or a stream). This picture shows a bit of blue sky with some sunshine on the other side of Loch Earn. At this time of year, there isn't much color in the hills yet. The dark brown is heather that will be a soft purple during the latter half of August. The medium brown at lower altitudes is bracken, somewhat like a fern, that is bright green during the summer. The tan grass will become more green as Springtime progresses. There are half a dozen hills in the distance with snow on the top.
From the east slope of the glen we crossed the boggy floor of the upper glen to Ben Vorlich. We joined the main path at an altitude roughly half that of Ben Vorlich, for the descent back to the car. In this picture, some pregnant ewes are near the path ahead of us. We were dressed for the wet weather: several inner layers, water/wind-proof outerwear from head to toe, plus gloves and hat. Our backpacks were nearly empty since we were wearing almost everything. We weren't uncomfortable, but we enjoyed the heated car and a warm shower when we got back home.
We finished our stroll in the glen going past more evidence that Springtime is happening.
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