Wed 30 Sep 2015
After my long Four Tops walk up Glen Derry, I was far too exhausted the next day to do anything except gentle strolling. It was also a very hot day indeed – the hottest of the year so far – funny for the last day in September. Braemar was also the hottest place in Britain that week!
(click on photos for full size/resolution)
After a long lie (as the Scots call a lay-in), I dragged myself out of bed and had a very leisurely breakfast while we decided where to skive off to for the day. We both fancied Linn O’ Quoich and debated about whether to cycle there – in the end, I decided I was still too tired so we’d drive.
It’s only about ten miles around to Linn O’ Quoich from Braemar and I was hoping to see some adders – unfortunately, my hopes in that direction were dashed. I didn’t see any snakes all week. I was pretty upset about that as I’m worried that means they’ve died out due to the terrible summer – a lack of sun and very cold temperatures 😦
We parked the car in the new carpark which is in full sun – it was absolutely scorching just there. We then headed around the corner of the road to the dappled shade of the trees alongside Quoich Water – a beautiful Cairngorm river.
In about quarter of a mile, you reach the Linn O’ Quoich. This is a dangerous waterfall as it funnels very quickly through a narrow rock passage but there wasn’t much water in it this particular day so I’m including one of my photos from another year.
There is also an upper Linn a little further upstream…
Another fascinating feature is the ‘Earl O’ Mar’s Punchbowl’ – a round hole swirled in the rock over time by the powerful waters.
my photos taken a previous year
I’m not much of a ‘water coward’ so I got pretty close, despite the water being fairly forceful that year!
Richard also took a close-up this year when it was drier and safer…
There was lovely light and colour to the water – Richard got a blue-water photo while I got a green-water one…
Richard’s photo of the Linn…
We then set off strolling up river for about another mile in the sunshine – my photos…
Richard’s photos…
We then headed back and I took a couple more photos from the higher path we were headed back on…
We then strolled back along the path which heads across the bridge and slightly up the hillside and goes straight back to the carpark. From there we opened up the hot car and drove the three or four miles back along to the Linn O’ Dee which is notoriously difficult to photograph as most shots are into the light and the light is very tricky…
The Linn O’ Dee, to me, is far more sinister and dangerous than Linn O’ Quoich. If you fall into the Quoich, you have two bad bits. If you fall into the LInn O’ Dee, the whole passage is convoluted with rocky piers either side, many undercut sections and black water bubbling up evilly from the depths.
we have something very like it in Wharfedale – The Strid. Many people lose their lives in all three of these places. One which had just happened on a previous visit I made to Linn O’ Dee was a woman from a coach party. They’d gone down to look at the gorge and she lingered behind the others. In the end, she was poised at the very edge looking down into the depths, when the coach driver tooted his horn to get her to come back. The horn made her jump and she fell in and drowned. He must have felt terrible although it wasn’t his fault.
Richard’s photos…
me heading down for a quick swim!
the point of no return – the start of the Linn under the road bridge
The Linn gorge ends very suddenly and you’d never know from the immediate calm that there’d ever been any danger (my photo)
If you visit in wet weather, don’t get too playful on the rocks and get too near the edge – a lot of the rock is slippery!
What a stunning place, and beautiful photographs. I wish I could reach places like this for a day’s walk. Shame about the adders, but keep looking! Excellent post.
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If you ever get up there and only get chance to visit one, I’d say Linn o’ Dee is the most spectacular. It’s also the most dangerous though so be careful how close you get
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[…] Days off Around Braemar – Linns o’ Dee & Quoich. […]
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Great pics 🙂
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Quoich water is so beautiful I’d challenge anyone NOT to get great pics! 🙂
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Great photos Carol – I’ve never been there.
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Both Linns are close together (about 3 miles apart) and definitely worth a look if you’re going walking around that area or on a wet day.
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Great photos! I love it round here – especially Linn of Quoich.
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The Quoich Water is really beautiful isn’t it?
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Wonderful!
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Never been to Linn of Quoich, looks nice.
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Interestingly I had a ‘Laird’ breathing [shouting] down my neck whilst I was innocently sleeping in my car in a lay-by. At 1am in the morning he felt it was right that I should move on out of his domain. I didn’t. Never trust a fierce laird.
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That’s absolutely disgusting – I’d have been outraged! Who did he think he was? was it a public road presumably? Even if it wasn’t, I wouldn’t move! 😦
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Public road – aren’t they all.
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If you were up Strathfarrar it wouldn’t be but otherwise I’d say yes. Cheeky bugger wasn’t he! Where was that by the way?
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Somewhere in Glen Lyon.
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Ah – that explains it – the infamous Chesthill Estate. Those are the ones who didn’t want to let folk do the Cairn Mairg 4 Munros, park anywhere on the estate etc. They also tried to insist that you walked the Mairg round clockwise – I found that totally bizarre!
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Now you mention it that’s what i was going to do – anticlockwise.
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I wouldn’t let them stop me. I actually slept in my car down Glen Lyon but it was further down near where the rough ‘road’ pass goes back over to Loch Tay.
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Lovely photos! It looks like a stunning place to explore. Liked the punch bowl formation. Is there any fish in the creek? I can see several places in your photos worthy of dropping a line.
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I think you have to be careful fishing in Scottish rivers if you don’t want a gamekeeper breathing down your neck – or a fierce laird!
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I wasn’t suggesting breaking any laws! Can you purchase a fishing licence? We have fierce lairds here, also, we call them ‘fucking assholes’. It’s getting chilly. I’m trying to keep my big knickers up.
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Many probably call them that here too 😉 I think you can sometimes buy fishing licences but, as I don’t really fish, I don’t know much about it. You definitely can’t fish up there without permission though!
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Lovely scenery around water like that, although I personally am not much of a water/waterfall kind of person. Thinks it’s all those tragic and awful stories that put me off 😦
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I have to say I do like going waterfall hunting in wet weather as they make great subjects for photography – I rarely bother in dry periods though. It’s something interesting to do on wet days 🙂
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It does remind me very much of the Strid, very slippery rocks and curtains if you slip. Awful about the poor woman who fell in…
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Yeah. We were pretty annoyed once at The Strid as a guy was jumping across it and he had a big dog which of course knew it was dangerous and didn’t want to jump but was stranded alone on the bank 😦
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When I was about 12 we were on a school trip to Bolton Abbey and we visited the Strid. One of the kids jumped it and the teacher went mental. He had to walk back to the car on the far side of the river and got a huge telling off when the teacher got him. Of course we all thought it was very funny at the time…
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I think they’ve widened it since or something? it doesn’t look really possible to jump any more. I wouldn’t anyway as the landing rocks are so mossy, wet and slippery!
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It does seem a bit wider somehow, I certainly wouldn’t want to jump it, because we both know what will happen if you get it wrong, and quite a few have…
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Some have jumped in deliberately though – it’s a popular suicide spot – you certainly can’t change your mind!
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