LIFETIME of WALKS by DEREK HARWOOD

While I was at Lairg, I enquired about taxis and eventually booked a taxi (Munro's Private Hire) to collect me from Crask Inn for 2pm for £20+tip. I left my car at the hotel in Lairg and started walking towards Little Shin Loch along Main Street. At the Free Church I turned right onto the A836 road. I walked along Crask Road with the War Memorial on my right as I left Lairg and approached Lochside Village. I spotted an 'Information Board', so I naturally stopped to investigate. Very unusually it showed two pictures of an aerial view of the surrounding area. I was intrigued, so I studied the picture intensely. As I entered Lochside Village I passed Munro's Private Hire premises and continued towards the Dam & Power Station situated between Loch Shin and Little Loch Shin. I would have liked to visit the Dam but time didn't allow, so I continued past the gated lane to the Dam. The road from Lairg northwards was very good and straight allowing the traffic to reach the speed limit if required. There were good views across Loch Shin at times until I reached the road junction with the A838. Here, within sight of Tirryside Village, the road ahead completely changed to a single track road with passing places. This was where the countryside lit up, with fields completely full of bright golden buttercups. Wonderful, I was amazed and delighted. As I walked north towards Crask, the buttercups were replaced with Dalchork Wood on the right and a small picturesque meandering river on the left. The River Tirry, which I followed up Strath Tirry until I reached Crask. Towards the end of Dalchork Wood on the right, I walked past the remote House of Dalmichy, by a small clump of trees. At the end of the access road I was surprised to see the Post Code written on the mail box. Why not? This is a good idea for a remote location. At home I'm regularly delivering the neighbours mail which drops through my letter box. I soon came to the next point of interest, the stone bridge over the small river of Feith Osdail. This bridge is just after the 'No Through Road' of the Dalnessie Track. Stepping out, to ensure I would arrive at Crask to catch the taxi on time, I came to the next stone bridge, Rhian Bridge. This bridge carries traffic over the small river of Abjann Sgeamhaidh. As I stopped in the middle of bridge to take photographs of the meandering river, several motorbikes passed at speed. I hurried to the side of the bridge to give the bikers as much room as possible. When the countryside noise declined back to normal, mainly wind in the nearby trees or grasses, I strode onwards along the relatively straight road with the occasional traffic or in this case, the roar of a dozen passing Harley Davidson motorbikes. After Rhian Bridge the Forests closed in, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. I do prefer open scenery, but the world needs more trees and arguably less humans. I stopped to watch the lumberjacks working amongst the trees, several times. It wasn't the fact that they were felling trees, but what amazed me was the fact that they were working entirely alone. Their working colleague could be several 100 metres (yards) away. Each lumberjack worked in the cabin of a tractor, obviously re-enforced to protect them from falling branches. The tool on the end of the tractor jib was designed to do all the necessary jobs. Cut the tree near the ground, grip the tree and turn it to the horizontal, then strip off all the branches, placing the log in a pile before starting on the next tree. It was all completed within a few minutes. Amazing to watch live. Quite suddenly the scenery opened up again, this time just before a Cattle Grid, with the outlines of Crash Inn and its accompanying buildings surrounded by a small number of trees in the distance. The time was just a couple of minutes before 2pm, so I put my best foot forward and arrived at the Inn about ten minutes late. However, there he was, the taxi was waiting for me, to take me along the pleasant drive back to Lairg and the Hotel. Yet another great adventure for me on the way to John o' Groats. I hope you enjoy your adventure as much as I did. Keep posted folks.

Location Map: - www.streetmap.co.uk, - Start: at Lairg Highland Hotel
Finish: by Crask Inn