Falls of Dochart, River Lochay, Head of Loch Tay
After so much dry / low-water vibe, it was a real moral boost sketching the Falls of Dochart. I'd feared that the water level would be so low that there wouldn't be anything to see here. I hadn't been to Killin since the early 1980s, during the family holiday in this area I mentioned in my introduction. That had been a hot dry summer, around Britain. After a wet winter, no problems south of the Border, though it had seemingly been dry in Scotland. I recall spotting a Save Water poster in Killin and the Falls were low.
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| The Dochart from the viaduct, 18th May |
Two visits to Killin: the first a fairly short one on the afternoon of May 18th, traveling via the Ben Lawers pass road from Glen Lyon. Above sketch done that day. I returned a week later, this time mid-morning to earlier afternoon while my Cycling Man tackled the Ben Lawers pass road on two wheels. Later in the day it was oppressively hot so we get well to get out earlier and do everything we wanted to do.
Parked
in the car park near the old railway bridge over the Lochay, and Bear Scotland
depot (highway maintenance, noticed a big cache of road signs round the back,
and couldn't resist photographing them before we headed back.
Took
the signpost right from the cp to the Falls of Dochart. This followed
the old railway route, crossing a viaduct over the River Dochart. Views of the
clear, fast running, peaty river either side, though couldn't see much of the
structure, the path being on the raised railway embankment. This brought us out
to the main street, by the bridge and the Falls. A bit of a tourist honeypot,
so fairly busy everywhere, especially on / nearer the bridge, and in the afternoons. Quieter further
up, where I sketched. Where dry, various pools and
holes excavated by pebbles caught in the rushing water when running higher, In the deeper areas, white water ran between deep, dark
pools.
By now the Tay has gathered water from Tyndrum (on A82), Crianlarich and
all along Glen Dochart, so even in a dry spell, there should still be enough
for action. Looks from the map as if this is the only section of the upper Tay
which stands, thanks to the locally steep fall over harder rock outcrop.
Upstream it all looked fairly steady. It then flattens out and slows down
entering the Loch, too. When I returned in the second week, the water level over the Falls looked a bit higher, thanks to the rain over the weekend.
The
Head of Loch Tay
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| The Lochay |
Though the Dochart is the better known one because of the Falls, two rivers enter the head of Loch Tay. The second is the Lochay which flows along Glen Lochay, the smallest of the Breadalbane glens, between Glen Dochart and Glen Lyon. Reaching the flatter land around the Loch, it turns abruptly southwards and merges with the Dochart just above the Loch. In constrast to the Dochart at the Falls, the Lochay through Killin was languid and reflective. The path following the old railway route crossed it just before we turned right onto the path along the river to the head of the Loch.
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| The Tamachans |
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| Ben Lawers |
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| The Head of Loch Tay |
The land just above the loch was very flat, looking as if it had at one time been all loch here,
then subsequently infilled with sediment. Banks of reeds and rough grasses
growing. Reaching the loch shore, small areas of sandy beach. Two white sailing boat sails in the distance. We admired the panorama of mountains above the north shore, with Ben Lawers and
the Tarmachans, the latter including my Cycling Man's very first Munro, now thirty years ago. The line of oak trees along the northern end of the loch shore provided very welcome shade when I sketched here as the sun climbed on my second visit.
On the way back, views along the Loch Tay road towards Fearnan and Kenmore, with the church tower built on the rise between the boating / beach area and the Tay bridge.
