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This was the first time we had been up the west side of the
Camus Choirce Burn although we went up the east side in late
2001. This was an expedition unusually rich in helpers, we
had seven explorers: Adrian, Benjamin, Edward, Peter William,
Rebecca, Ritchie and Thomas, nine adults: Ann, Barry, Cherie,
Clark, Craig, Pamela, Penny, Peter and Philippa plus our regular
dog explorers: Bruce and Chrunchie.
We parked at Donnie and Anne's, there were more cars than
we ever had before, and crossed the road to look at the site
of the old mica mining trials which took place during WW2.
Then we slowly moved up the side of the glen with the burn
roaring in full spate below, pausing at one stage to stand
next to a noisy waterfall. We saw a new enclosure to test
the effects of grazing animals and found a wood ants' nest
recently destroyed by badgers and quite a few fungi. Zigzagging
back and forth through the oakwoods and Sitka plantations
we finally reached a super recessed platform which seemed
a good place to stop, but since everyone was still full of
energy, we pushed on right up to the top of the wood where
we had our break close to the site of an old settlement.
Coming back down was a lot quicker and we had time at the
bottom to look at the old ivy-covered Parliamentary Bridge
before we drove on for our first visit to the new hide at
Ardery. We saw about seven seals and they put on a fine show,
with lots of diving and splashing.
John
Dye
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