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With the gradual easing of restrictions and recent permission to go further afield I decided a day out on Conic Hill would suit me fine. At only 361 metres or 1,184 feet it's not a particularly big hill but it was an overcast murky day in the Scottish Highlands and the higher peaks were in the clouds.. There was also a chance it would rain as the two month long sunny weather of Spring had been replaced by a similar long run of cooler unsettled conditions.
Raindrops on a leaf. Natural Jewels.
Conic Hill sits on the edge of the Scottish Highlands at Balmaha with fine views over the southern half of Loch Lomond and its 23 islands. Another reason for picking it was that I'd checked online first to see if it was open after recent reports of traffic jams and police moving visitors on in the nearby crowded Trossachs area so I did not want a longer drive only to find the car park full... or out of bounds... or visitors unwelcome. The car park at Balmaha is also very large, with space for almost one hundred cars at a guess so a safe bet for getting parked as one thing I have noticed is a steady year on year increase in tourists with car parks increasingly full earlier on in the day.
Out on the water Loch Lomond at Balmaha was fairly quiet and serene, just a few private boats moving on the surface and a few privately owned kayaks paddling around as I do not think the hire places were open yet by the looks of it.
By contrast the hill and village appeared totally packed with visitors. like a closer to home Skye, and I was lucky to get a space in the car park, despite its size, by 10:00am - only half a dozen vacant spots remaining. I set off up the hill with 1000 others- almost like an Irish religious pilgrimage mountain. I enjoyed the crowds for a while but the novelty soon wore off so I found my own less frequented path up the hill, away from the mass ascent.
One benefit of following this less trodden route was the variety of alpine plants still thriving on the more deserted slopes. Moss Campion here.
Purple Bell Heather. After the initial early Covid 19 experience of a much quieter world with most folk staying indoors the reverse seems to have happened throughout the last month. Probably with families not fully at work or school yet, no holiday breaks abroad, and a pent up release of energy plus a somewhat false feeling that the worst might be over.... means there's more people than ever out and about. That's what I've noticed anyway. Cycle tracks and canal paths are far busier than pre covid levels, twice as many joggers, cyclists, and folk walking than ever before and roads and car parks back to being really busy. I almost miss the first two months of Covid when you could glide through a silent, near empty cityscape or parkland setting and feel like you were living in a post apocalyptic world. The last few humans left alive. A unique experience I have to admit, as a sometimes natural loner, I secretly enjoyed. Nature was and always has been my main 'support bubble' in life so I was scarcely affected by the pandemic or not seeing anyone for months on end.
And nature did seem to thrive... so I did as well...
It's the getting back to normal thing I can't handle very well :o)
A microlight over Conic Hill. Far from the Madding Crowd.
Microlight Pilot.
Crowds ascending Conic Hill. Loch Lomond Islands below.
For me, still proudly keeping my 50 metre distance well apart from humanity, I was remembering another past era.... one where I first explored the twenty three islands of Loch Lomond in my newly purchased kayak. A wonderful archipelago that was as captivating to me then as any Greek island tour. Each new trip by myself or with friends opening up a little more of this secret world every time. Islands full of wonder and mystery... discoveries of fallow deer herds swimming between islands, Australian wallabies, an island pub, (Oh, joy of joys!) , feral goats living like smelly outlaws, a mail boat, a deserted summerhouse, fantastic, mature deciduous woodlands, various game trails, sandy beaches, a nudist colony, a prison island, an island with a dungeon on it, a castle island, ancient crannogs, occasional ospreys, buzzards and golden eagles spotted overhead , an inquisitive seal at one point...far from the nearest salt water habitat, and a dozen fondly remembered camping trips long before the National Park took it over and put restrictions down. Even free diving occasionally on my own with a mask, snorkel, and wet-suit in my hasty ill advised youth, discovering yet another realm under the surface of caves, secret fish movements, and deep currents.
Tour boats like this one here are fine but with your own kayak or boat you can explore anywhere, or could then, and the sheer joy of discovery on each new trip was a great feeling. Easily the equal of any exotic trip abroad yet only an hours drive away from Glasgow and £40 paid for the kayak. The long distilled chapter in Autohighography about these islands was fun and very easy to write about as I had so much material to draw on in reality and so many great trips to look back on. Just wish I could discover them all again, anew, with fresh eyes, or capture that youthful innocent zest and energy for life a second time round but that would be asking far too much. I've had my slice of heaven already and cannot complain.
The start of the magical archipelago of islands from Balmaha.
Some of the island chain seen from Conic Hill.
Cruise Boat on Loch Lomond.
Blue Hydrangea.
Kayakers setting off to explore the islands.
The first and original service industry at work. When you study nature closely it also operates with mathematical precision at every turn.
Tom Weir at Balmaha. Outdoor TV presenter, Writer, Rock Climber, Scottish and Greater Ranges Mountaineer and Naturalist. 1914- 2006.
A beautiful song and stunning video that seems to capture my feelings perfectly. A true modern classic that deserves to be far better known than it is.
20 comments:
Tom Weir's 'Highland Days' book is one of my favourite outdoor books. Didn't know there was a statue to him anywhere...
Those islands do look fun but it's a bit similar to Derwent Water and that's nearer for me to take my little inflatable. I'm planning to go rowing soon anyway but the crowds in Keswick now - especially down by the lake - are horrific!
I'm like you - I really enjoyed the peace of the lockdown and am hating it now. People don't seem to want to keep the 6 foot social distance now either.
Always wanted to go up Conic Hill - I've no intention of going up with so many folk though. It's like the final slog up Kilimanjaro or something that!
Goodness, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a crowd like that going up Conic Hill! We’re definitely avoiding anywhere remotely touristy for the time being.
Yeah Carol,
That's a great book. His generation must have been among the first ordinary hill-walkers to explore the Scottish peaks when many of the districts up north were still unknown to tourists and most of the bothies had crofter families still living in them.
Stay safe on the water- you get cold really fast if you fall in for any reason. A second hand life jacket is a good investment, just in case...
Tom statue sits in its own wee park/garden with benches and flower beds. I think he'd be pleased. Met him a couple of times on the hills, including one of his last visits to The Cobbler when he was a good age but still scrambled up onto the summit block.
Hi Anabel,
it's getting harder to find any place that's not popular these days. On the drive back the A82 was blocked from Balloch to Clydebank due to two separate car crashes, police putting it down to one lane only. On a separate solo trip on a different day Alex had a similar traffic jam at the same place which seems to be a regular summer bottleneck simply due to car numbers. Puts you off going up north when you know you'll be stuck in traffic at that point coming back as it was two different times as well nowhere near the usual rush hour peak. It's also a good advert for self driving cars as many folk drive like maniacs, roaring past you then cutting in, causing tailbacks or potential crashes even when they see the road down to one lane 200 yards ahead. If they didn't do that you would not have the stop- start motion that's so frustrating for everyone else.
When we lived in Milngavie, another lifetime away now, we used to love going out to Balmaha. We would take our young son, pack a picnic, and spend the day walking in the area. It was quiet then, we could enjoy it almost to ourselves.
Hey Hi ... The microlight pilot here :-)
Loved your pictures for years and FINALLY our paths cross, lol....
Love the picture of me and the hill...
Hoping it's not me and my machine that you "... can't handle very well ... " :-(
All the best
Don't worry, I have a life jacket for my boat adventures!
Cheers Rosemary,
It's still lovely there, just more popular like everywhere else these days.
Hi Carol,
I loved my inflatable (boat!) when I had it and it got me over to some great places. Another benefit is you can still have a great time in soft drizzle, mist, or clag when the hills are grim but bagging islands then is fun- as long as it's calm with no wind its often magical. Loch Lomond was perfect for that. No boats, no jet skies, just me and my kayak and loads of empty silent wooded islands and wildlife appearing gradually out the mists. Far better than when it was full of tourists in mid summer making the water choppy with boat wash.
Cheers Michael,
Thanks for the comment. Not at all. As a keen photographer I'm always delighted to capture action shots of various outdoor sports I encounter on my travels as long as it's not too intrusive and captured from a distance. You were one of the highlights of that day. I always like to see flying angels on the wing above me.
All good to hear :-) ...
I do like flying to a crowd, climbing high and then powering back, swooping and soaring downward. I never stay anywhere too long, as you say, I don't want to be "too intrusive" ...
I love taking pics of people on top of the hills and mountains from the air, but unfortunately all from Monday were no good :-(
Check out my FB page (search for 'G-BZIM' on FB) or my Flickr page (URL on my name) for many pics taken from the BZIM :-)
Happy to have added to your day :-)
What WAS intrusive was when my mother and I were on a Lakes hill and dying for a pee... we looked up and the sky was full of people with wings. In the end, we just dropped them and went anyway!
Hi Michael,
I meant me being intrusive with my camera, not your flying being intrusive, as most folk don't mind a distance shot but are not happy with being photographed close up as I would not like that either. I have dozens of action photos of Kite surfers, Wind surfers,gliders,hang gliders, rock climbers etc but I keep my distance and their own privacy out of common sense politeness so I would not show clear faces for example as that's overstepping the mark with people I don't know. I'm not on FB but I'll try to see your photos on Flickr tonight.
T.M.I....
Just had a look Michael.
You have certainly been places. Some great photography. Faroe Islands and London France trip look really special. Never seen so many basking sharks at one time. They can grow really big as we saw one going to Eigg that looked as big as the boat- over 20 feet long at a guess as it passed right under our seat. Gave us a shiver even though they are harmless just by the size alone gliding past so close. Surprising how dry and yellow the East Coast landscape looks in the Bass Rock set. A very different climate to the soggy green west coast. I'll have a longer delve into the rest of the sets later.
Men just pee anywhere (even very obviously by the roadsides) so no-one can complain if 2 women eventually decided they just had to go and went!
How lucky you have been to kayak in this area! I have been on a kayak just once in my life! It was in 2014 and they had some kayaks for free to use on a small lake (the same one that was the misty lake in my last post!) They only had one paddle and they asked me if I thought I could handle the kayak with one paddle or if I wanted to wait until one of the other kayakers came back. Uh, it was too hot...I said I would take the kayak with the one paddle! See what an exiting life I lead!
Lovely photos as always. Loch Lomond! I would love to see that area but I have never liked crowds and I like them even less these days.
A small hill that demands my attention. I loved your stories about exploring by kayak when a youth. Such a sense of pleasure and fond memories through the writing. I had no idea that deer swam between the islands. Can you still set foot on the islands or have they been "privatised"
Thank you Kay.
Hi Andy,
It was probably that sense of first exploration of a new world as well but I got a real buzz from the early kayak visits and camping trips Later, when the national park took over there seemed to be more boats, more people, more restrictions and some of the uninhabited islands were off limits due to osprey and capercallie restrictions, neither of which I've spotted on Loch Lomond but are apparently there. We landed on one uninhabited island, just to walk around and an NP patrol boat immediately stopped and asked what we were doing so the vibe felt different. I like the Lake district National Park but cannot make up my mind about the Loch Lomond one. National Parks seem to attract more folk into one area, them as some of the number misbehave, restrictions come in the did not exist before, probably due to larger visitor numbers. Also National Parks usually have money to spend on 'Improvement projects' which can also alter what was there before.
First three chapters of my book Autohighography, see link on right hand side bar, free to read, gives you a feel of those early days and has a full, hopefully humorous account of a camping trip on Loch Lomond's islands. Worth a pound for the kindle version of my hasty youth.
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