Usually I prefer to walk up Fyrish. There is an interesting monument on the top. This photo is looking towards Invergordon and the Cromarty Firth – a very fertile part of Easter Ross. There is also a lot of Industry – mostly engineering for the oil industry. The evening was somewhat overcast so the photos are a bit dull.
This is Cnoc Duchaire which is on the edge of Fyrish to the North East. It is forested to its summit. I’ve never been to its top – there is no path you would have to force your way through the trees. Maybe someday.
This should show Sutherland to the North but the haze is hiding it.
The path has kept climbing and come out of the trees. The track is horrible, forced through the hills by a JCB. There has been peat removed in places as well. Probably its in someone’s garden !
The views though are stunning, here looking West.
And looking South.
Storm clouds over Strath Mor. A little to the left is the Novar windfarm. I didn’t photograph it.
We have come right round the back of Fyrish now. The monument can be just made out, to the right of the tree.
This is above the Mains of Novar so we are South of Fyrish now. The view is looking to the ‘Sante Fe’ pier – this is used to weld pipes for carrying oil from wells in the North Sea. From what I can see, the pipes seem to get coiled onto a huge drum on a specialised boat for transport.
The forest to the South of Fyrish is lovely. The tracks are less worn. Its a bit like Tolkien’s country.
Looking upwards, somewhere much higher is the monument. Some late blooming broom can still be seen.
The evening light through the tree trunks is lovely.
Getting near Contullich. Very few people come through this old gate. The way down to the cottage follows the remains of an old drove road known as the Highlander’s Way (according to the late Dodsie Munro). It went from Contullich to Novar. There is also the remains of an old mill laid. The dam has been swept away. The water was used to power a saw-mill at Contullich farm.
