On the level

We have some friends coming to stay in July. She is very happy to walk, but would rather walk on the level.     

We go in search of level, which isn't so easy here in the highlands

We decide  here would be good.  The river Gruinard is just six miles long and is a salmon fishing river.

Salmon do swim uphill and jump up waterfalls, but I think they'll be able to just cruise along here - so will our friends, hopefully

The path undulates with only little ups and downs.

The Salmon have lots of bends and corners to swim round

At times we leave the river behind, but we stay on the level, more or less

Streams criss cross the track on their way to join the river

It is so beautiful and big and empty - not a soul (nor salmon)  in sight.

Flowers I can't identify. It looks like a sort of eye bright with lettuce leaves. I've searched the wild flower books but can't find anything like it. It's very tiny and I have to lie on the track to photograph it.

I hear my first cuckoo somewhere in those trees

Just us and the river

It rushes and gurgles. It's crystal clear. 

At times the track turns into a pond

 and I'm glad I wore my walking boots.

Just round the next bend and we must come to the loch

One or two rowing boats - for the fishermen we think.

completely deserted

The river flows out from Loch na Sealga

This is so incredibly beautiful and peaceful

I can see a common sandpiper feeding on the opposite shore through binoculars.

This is stunning. Every view point is magical

and nobody here

I realise later I've seen this loch before from a different vantage point. Two years ago I took this photo looking down on Loch na Sealga from Cadha Goghlach on An Teallach. We won't bring our friends up here - it's quite a lot of  uphill from what I remember!

On the way back to the car, I feed a crumb of my shortbread biscuit to some very tiny tadpoles in a puddle. They would probably rather have had a chicken leg or something, but they gathered  round in a sort of feeding frenzy. They really were very little and I wondered their chances of survival should the puddle start to dry up

My dear husband has learnt to deal with the time it takes while he waits for me to feed tadpoles, roll around on the path with my camera and generally faff about.

This was a lovely walk. Level, beautiful, sunny, interesting and a little step into what  remains a wilderness area. Maybe not so much with the rowing boats!  but once beyond loch na Sealga it really does become very remote.

We are taking a journey down south this coming week, to see friends and family. We have a birthday party to go to, and I'm determined to spend a day in Brighton - just for the contrast!