While on Deeside we walked part of the circuit round Loch Muick. I have an annoying Achilles tendon injury this summer, so we were limited to walking on the flat. The name of the loch, before I go any further, is pronounced 'mick' rather than the 'muck' you might think! In my experience one of the main purposes of Gaelic is to set pronunciation traps.
The loch is resoundingly bare in panorama in a way that doesn't do full justice to it. The heather was just starting to come into bloom and doesn't show up in these shots, but the track was lined with vivid purple clumps.
On the single track road in we passed a group of beehives - possibly for the Royal honey? In terms of royal presence here, the house in the first shot is Glas-allt Shiel, built by Queen Victoria as a retreat from the hurly-burly of Balmoral Castle.
Below, a boathouse towards the head of the loch, and a path which we unfortunately couldn't take that day.
Where a burn runs into the loch there's a geography lesson on river deltas in miniature.
Note the rings in this fence outside the bothy below. They're used for tethering the sturdy ponies used to carry carcasses in the deer-stalking season.
An abandoned building, very forlorn with the wind sighing through the pines all around.
And a mountain rescue post, complete with frothy honeysuckle.
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