Thursday 27 April 2017

Under a Spring sky


I'd planned to do jobs around the house, but a bright early April morning was too tempting.  The Correen Hills form a curving sweep of broad backed ridges and are accessible straight from home - perfect for a half day's hillwalking.  A track above the farms at Terpersie leads to open ground below the ridge.






 There are lots of Larch (Larix decidua) trees in this area - an interesting tree as it's the only deciduous conifer native to Europe, though not originally native to Britain. Larches are a really colourful tree, the bright pink female "flowers" eventually become cones, the male flowers are tight clusters of cream coloured anthers.  The needles start out a striking bright lime green, mature to a bottle green and in the autumn turn stunningly golden yellow before falling.





 In an old quarry on the end of the ridge, this old shooters hut seems to throw off whatever the weather throws at it.  It's almost taken on the russet and brown shades of the hill it stands on.....





 ...and reflects the sky too.....






Once on the ridge there's a sense of great space and distance.  Though not high, the Correen Hills offer some good views over to the Cairngorm giants of Beinn a'Bhuird and Ben Avon, unusually snow-free at this time of year.   The other feature of the ridge is that it's great walking country, distance just seems to reel away effortlessly underfoot.






 There are also great views over the farmlands of Cromar to Morven and beyond to the crags of Lochnagar.





My descent went back down through the trees, with a view to Tap o'Noth crowned by its distinctive hillfort.  Further down again and I could pick up a farm track leading around the hill to right above home.

A half day under a big Spring sky and a half day well spent - I should walk it more often......

4 comments:

  1. I've wondered what those hills were like as I've seen them marked on OS map from time to time. Good views and landscapes.

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  2. Hi Bob, these are great "striding out" hills, easy gradients , good going unerfoot and a big sky...there's a lot to like about the Correen hills :o)

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  3. We have wonderful larch areas in Canada, some of the most dramatic colours (in the autumn) are in the Rockies. They punctuate the evergreen and snow-capped mountain landscape. Lovely pics, Ian. Warm wishes from us both.

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  4. I can imagine that adding in a snow capped mountain or two woouldn't detract at all from the trees D & J !

    :o)

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