Trossachs - The green loch

Lochan Uaine is a common Gaelic name throughout the Scottish hills and means, the green loch. Perhaps the most famous Lochan Uaine is in Glen More in the Cairngorms. Surrounded by ancient pine woods, it's a dazzling aquamarine. Local folklore says it's that colour because the fairies wash their clothes in it. But I'm also going to re-name Loch Ard in the Trossachs and call it the green loch. On a day when the light of the sun, already low in the late September sky, reflected the lochside woods, the water appeared a vibrant pea green. How wonderful to be out on it in the packraft, my paddle cutting through the water with each stroke. I navigated little bays and rocky islets, and pulled into the woods to avoid a heavy downpour of rain. Each drop created a "plop" on the water and sent out concentric circles across the surface. The loch was not green then but the colour of the depths. However, the sun returned, Ben Lomond emerged from the clouds and I again floated on my green loch.

Fact File
Start: Aberfoyle
Transport: Train from Edinburgh to Stirling; bus from Stirling to Aberfoyle (a nice wee journey).
My route: From the bus stop in Aberfoyle turned left on the main street and continued to Milton. Crossed the bridge here and entered the Loch Ard Forest. The track soon split and I turned right. Just after the eagle sculpture is a small path heading down to the loch. There's a good space here for inflating the raft and putting it in.