Monday 8 February 2010

Lochans

After yesterday's visit to the water treatment plant, we turned north and climbed the hill into a narrow valley in which cradles Lochan Sron nan Sionnach, the lochan of the fox's nose. A lochan is a small loch, or lake, thousands of which are scattered across this part of Scotland, left behind when the last glaciers melted some ten thousand years ago.

From a neighbouring hill we looked west, across the Sanna road towards the lighthouse, to four lochans. From left to right in the photo they are the small lochan by the Sanna road (not named on the OS map), Lochan na Crannaig (the lochan of the crannog, a crannog being a small fortified house built over water), Lochan an Aodainn near the Sonnachan Hotel, and, in the distance, Loch Grigadale.

After a further stiff climb we reached Lochan a Choire Chruinn, choire being a corrie, a bowl-shaped depression cut into the side of a mountain by a small glacier.

By this time we were almost 1,000ft above sea level, with wonderful views south across the Sound of Mull to Ben Talla, some 25 miles away.

An Ordnance Survey map showing the area of our walk is here.

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