Loch Einich or Loch Eanaich (Loch of the Boggy Area) is a remote freshwater loch in Gleann Einich, in the
Cairngorms National Park
Cairngorms National Park () is a national park in northeast Scotland, established in 2003. It was the second of National parks of Scotland, two national parks established by the Scottish Parliament, after Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National ...
of
Highland Scotland
The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gae ...
. It is some to the west of
Braeriach
Braeriach or Brae Riach (, 'the brindled upland') is the third-highest mountain in Scotland and all of the British Isles, after Ben Nevis and Ben Macdui, rising above sea level. It is in the Scottish Highlands and is the highest point in t ...
and its outflow is the Am Beanaidh burn, flowing north through the glen towards Coylumbridge. The loch is hemmed in by the high plateau of the Moine Mhor on the east, the ridge of Sgòr Gaoith to the west, and Coire Odhar at its head.
Geography
Adam Watson
John Hugh "Adam" Watson (10 August 1914 – 24 August 2007) ''The Telegraph'', 28 S ...
considers Gleann Einich to be one of the grandest Cairngorm glens with pine trees at lower levels, then open moorland, and lastly with the loch held between crags. The Am Beanaidh burn flows down from the loch. Loch Einich is one of the five
Cairngorm Lochs
Cairngorm Lochs is a protected wetland area in the Cairngorms, in the Grampian and Highland regions of Scotland. With a total area of 173 hectares, it covers five freshwater lochs which are among the highest areas of standing water in the UK. I ...
, a protected
Ramsar Site
A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O)
*** Permanent 8 ha (P)
*** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts)
**
glacial drift
In geology, drift is a name for all sediment (clay, silt, sand, gravel, boulders) transported by a glacier and deposited directly by or from the ice, or by glacial meltwater. Drift is often subdivided into unstratified (unsorted) drift ( glac ...
, boulders and
storm beach
A storm beach is a beach affected by particularly fierce wind wave, waves, usually with a very long fetch (geography), fetch. The resultant landform is often a very steep beach (up to 45°) composed of rounded Cobble (geology), cobbles, shingle be ...
es.
It is situated in a
glacial trough
U-shaped valleys, also called trough valleys or glacial troughs, are formed by the process of Glacial period, glaciation. They are characteristic of mountain glaciation in particular. They have a characteristic U shape in cross-section, with s ...
at at the head of the glen.
The water supply for Strathspey comes from the loch. From just before the foot of the loch a stalkers' path heads up Coire Dhondail which leads onto the Moine Mhor plateau near the
Wells of Dee
The River Dee () is a river in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It rises in the Cairngorms and flows through southern Aberdeenshire to reach the North Sea at Aberdeen. The area it passes through is known as Deeside, or Royal Deeside in the region betw ...
and the summit of
Braeriach
Braeriach or Brae Riach (, 'the brindled upland') is the third-highest mountain in Scotland and all of the British Isles, after Ben Nevis and Ben Macdui, rising above sea level. It is in the Scottish Highlands and is the highest point in t ...
. Although Sgor Gaoith and Sgoran Dubh Mor are normally climbed from Glen Feshie, there is also a route from Loch Einich. Along the western shore of the loch is Ross's path which then climbs up to a' Phocaid from where the ridge can be attained.
arctic–alpine
An Arctic–alpine taxon is one whose natural distribution includes the Arctic and more southerly mountain ranges, particularly the Alps. The presence of identical or similar taxa in both the tundra of the far north, and high mountain ranges much f ...
and it supports specialised populations of plankton. Flora include ''
Littorella uniflora
''Littorella uniflora'' (vernacular name: (American) shoreweed) is a species of aquatic flowering plant native to the Azores, Morocco, most of Europe excluding the dry southeast, Iceland, and the Faroes. It prefers to live mostly submerged in nut ...
'', ''
Lobelia dortmanna
''Lobelia dortmanna'', Dortmann's cardinalflower or water lobelia, is a species of flowering plant in the bellflower family Campanulaceae. This stoloniferous herbaceous perennial aquatic plant with basal leaf-rosettes and flower stalks grows to ...
'', ''
Juncus bulbosus
''Juncus bulbosus'', the bulbous rush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Juncaceae, native to Iceland, the Faroes, Europe, Macaronesia
Macaronesia (; ) is a collection of four volcanic archipelagos in the Atlantic Ocean#North A ...
'' and ''
Isoetes
''Isoetes'', commonly known as the quillworts, is a genus of lycopod. It is the only living genus in the family Isoetaceae and order Isoetales. , there were about 200 recognized species, with a cosmopolitan distribution mostly in aquatic habitats ...
''.
Brown trout
The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a species of salmonid ray-finned fish and the most widely distributed species of the genus ''Salmo'', endemic to most of Europe, West Asia and parts of North Africa, and has been widely introduced globally ...
and
Arctic charr
The Arctic char or Arctic charr (''Salvelinus alpinus'') is a cold-water fish in the family Salmonidae, native to alpine lakes, as well as Arctic and subarctic coastal waters in the Holarctic.
Distribution and habitat
It spawns in freshwater ...
are to be found in the loch.
Dippers
Dippers are members of the genus ''Cinclus'' in the bird family Cinclidae, so-called because of their bobbing or dipping movements. They are unique among passerines for their ability to dive and swim underwater.
Taxonomy
The genus ''Cinclus'' ...
flip along rocks in the loch,
greenshank
The common greenshank (''Tringa nebularia'') is a wader in the large family Scolopacidae, the typical waders. The genus name ''Tringa'' is the Neo-Latin name given to the green sandpiper by Aldrovandus in 1599 based on Ancient Greek ''trungas'' ...
often feed along its northern shores and
common sandpiper
The common sandpiper (''Actitis hypoleucos'') is a small Palearctic wader. This bird and its Americas, American sister species, the spotted sandpiper (''A. macularia''), make up the genus ''Actitis''. They are parapatric and replace each other ge ...
s nest on its stony banks.
Snipe
A snipe is any of about 26 wading bird species in three genera in the family Scolopacidae. They are characterized by a very long, slender bill, eyes placed high on the head, and cryptic/ camouflaging plumage. ''Gallinago'' snipe have a nearly ...
,
mallard
The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa. It has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Arge ...
,
red grouse
The red grouse (''Lagopus scotica'') is a medium-sized bird of the grouse family which is found in Calluna, heather moorland in Great Britain and Ireland.
It was formerly classified as a subspecies of the willow ptarmigan (''Lagopus lagopus'') ...
,
teal
alt=American teal duck (male), Green-winged teal (male)
Teal is a greenish-blue color. Its name comes from that of a bird—the Eurasian teal (''Anas crecca'')—which presents a similarly colored stripe on its head. The word is often used ...
and
meadow pipit
The meadow pipit (''Anthus pratensis'') is a small passerine bird that breeds throughout much of the Palearctic, from south-eastern Greenland and Iceland east to just east of the Ural Mountains in Russia, and south to central France and Romania; ...
bogland
A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muske ...
around the loch.
Whooper swan
The whooper swan ( /ˈhuːpə(ɹ) swɒn/ "hooper swan"; ''Cygnus cygnus''), also known as the common swan, is a large northern hemisphere swan. It is the Eurasian counterpart of the North American trumpeter swan, and the type species for the genu ...
s and
greylag geese
The greylag goose (''Anser anser'') is a species of large goose in the waterfowl family Anatidae and the type species of the genus '' Anser''. It has mottled and barred grey and white plumage and an orange beak and pink legs. A large bird, it m ...