This photo of the "outlet" of Loch Garry was taken from a layby on the A9 at Dalnaspidal, a view which has probably puzzled countless tourists over the years.
The following photos show why no water flows out of Loch Garry down its natural course.
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Two tributaries which should join the Garry just below the Loch are diverted by a dam into an aqueduct...... |
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...which emerges at a weir at the outlet of Loch Garry. |
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However, instead of flowing out of Loch Garry the diverted streams actually flow backwards into the Loch! |
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The reason for this is that halfway along the loch the water is drawn off into a tunnel which takes it off through the mountainside to Loch Ericht. |
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The intake is denoted by this incongrous little building, surely not one of which the likes of Pevsner would
have approved! |
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But someone was proud enough of this great feat of engineering to put this plaque on its wall. |
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Returning to the end of the loch again, no water is released downstream from the weir unless during wet weather Loch Garry spills. |
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A ten metre plus wide river is bone dry!!! |
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The resulting river of stones welcomes tourists travelling up the most important gateway to the Cairngorms National Park and the wider Highlands, the A9 road. |
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Another of the diverted tributaries near Loch Garry has a series of concrete weirs to check its steepened gradient and trap moving gravel. |
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The gravel accumulates in deposits...... |
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....but these are periodically excavated out. A once pristine highland stream resembles an industrial landscape! |
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