Having enjoyed our day on Holy Island a few weeks previous another island was on the cards. Canna was out due to the timing of the ferries but Eigg was made possible by the timing of the MV Sheerwater out of Arisaig. An early morning run up Loch Lomond side, Rannoch Moor and the Road to the Isles in gorgeous sunshine proved the ideal taster for what was to come.
We arrived in plenty of time for the 11am sailing. Priced at £18 it is a bargain. Although the sun was high and the sky was blue there was a bit of a wind blowing to say the least..! I tried taking a
short video but standing up without holding onto something proved impossible and I didn`t fancy going overboard :) The Inter Island Games between Rum, Canna, Eigg and Muck were being held on Rum so the ferry was a little bit busier than usual. A few musicians were playing on the journey over to Rum....
Bob`s camera was poised and at the ready in case I was seasick but I managed to hold it down...just :) From the jetty on Eigg we wandered over to our campsite beside the beach, a short ten minute walk away. Because we are fed up taking photographs of each other we had brought along Andy this time just for a change. Andy and Bob heading towards the sandy campsite in the distance...
After putting the tents up we lounged around for half an hour before heading off to traverse Beinn Bhuidhe.We walked over the islands only road connecting the east to the west before heading northwards at the highpoint to start up the ridge.
Almost at the high point of the road...
An easy ascent from here and the views soon opened up. Trollaval appears over the Sound of Rum..
Further along we happened upon the Finger of God. We had a half hearted attempt at getting to the top of this but the combination of high winds and loose rock, never mind the 700ft penalty clause, saw us beating a retreat to the ridge again.
It`s probably only Diff/V.Diff and no problem at ground level but being that it was such a nice day neither of us wanted to die :)
Never mind, you could pose at will anywhere along this ridge....
By this time Andy had long gone ahead towards the summit depriving us of our modelling shoot. I reckon that this is one of the best summer hillwalking outings I have ever had. The views over to Rum were stunning. Andy met up with the only other two folk on the hill only to discover that they knew one of our club members. Small world indeed. A point of note here for baggers...the summit is about a km to the south of the trig point at Sgorr an Fharaidh. When we met up with Andy again we sought out a sheltered spot beside the trig point for a bite to eat and a look over to the Cuillin of Skye to the north..
Andy and I wandered over to the spectacularly situated old hill fort on top of Dunan Thalasgair whilst Bob went out on to the northern tip of the island....
Andy and I on top of Dunan Thalasgair....
Headed down the steep nose towards Camas Sgiotaig, otherwise known as the Singing Sands...
It was still blowing a bit...
What a beach and nobody else there :) We couldn`t get the sands to sing but they certainly did squeak, but then again, that might have been our knees. From here we traversed around the headland to Laig Bay crossing a profusion of tortured rock formations.
Yet again Laig Bay was deserted although to be fair it was around 6.30pm by now.
Our model for the weekend makes a belated appearance on the beach....
A walk back over the island towards the tents now but stopping for a beer in the island tea room on the way. I was half tempted to stay but we were pretty hungry so we left behind the accordionist ,guitarist and bodhran player and headed back to the tents. The midges were making a slight nuisance of themselves but nothing horrendous...a quick fire put paid to them...
Back over for a nightcap but we had been up since 5am and the eyes were getting heavy. Not as heavy it would seem as some of the locals who were now fast asleep on the tables.! We sat around the fire for a while unable to see the comet which is around in the NNW sky just now as it was hidden by the hills. A last look over to the pub at 11.18pm....almost still daylight.
An early rise was on the cards for tomorrow but that`s Bob`s story still to come....
PS: If the lawyer from Cologne wants to get in touch then we`ll send you a list of places to visit on your next trip over to Scotland :)
.
1 comment:
Looks like you guys are cramming a lot into this summer.
Spectacular pictures as usual
Post a Comment