We said goodbye to Eileen’s latest beautiful view and pulled out of the Inverewe campsite at 10:30am, while the rain came down again. We were so glad that we had managed to see such a beautiful place with the sun on it yesterday. We stopped off at the tiny supermarket in Gairloch; so tiny that even though they did have trolleys, you would not have been able to push one around inside!
We drove over to Loch Maree and stopped near the eastern end for an indoor picnic lunch. Then when the sun and rainbows came out, we tramped the woodland trail in the Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve.
It was another very different walk with heather grabbing at our legs all the way; thank goodness again for the plastic trousers. The view from the highpoint is marvellous across Loch Maree to the mountains of Slioch and Beinn A’ Mhuinidh (I now wish I spoke Gaelic, as I have no idea how to pronounce most of the names around here!!!)
We’ve seen a lot of mushrooms and toadstools lately, but on this walk we were surrounded by them. Wherever there was a break in the heather, there would be mushrooms; gold ones, light brown, yellow, cream, dark chestnut brown and numerous bright red and white fly agaric toadstools. They obviously all like living in this rather damp and boggy area.
After a right turn at Kinlochlewe, the drive through Glen Torridon was dramatic. Rodney declared “well I really feel like I’m in the middle of nowhere, now”. A lot of the road is only a single lane with passing places. It meanders left and right while the river does the same thing beside you. There are hardly any trees or bushes, just craggy rocks and waterfalls, bracken and heather. It really is quite desolate.
Bizarrely, Claire phoned us, just as we were passing Loch Clair, to check what time we would be arriving at their Beinn Damph Estate near Torridon. We weren’t far away, but the views were so stunning, that it took us a wee while to get there. When we did arrive, it was wonderful to see the lovely Claire in front of such a beautiful setting. She and Duncan already had nine friends and family staying with them in the Log House, but welcomed us in and fed us a huge roast lamb meal at a massive table, complete with stunning views down Upper Loch Torridon. We all talked endlessly and the two of us finally crept out to Eileen for a good night’s sleep in the surrounding total silence.
We had only intended a ‘pop in’, but Rodney found himself included in a long walk and stalking with Angus, Mosse and Lotte, up towards Beinn Damphe, the following day.
Rodney’s report on his first experience stalking deer:
“Mosse was after his first kill in the Scottish Highlands although he had been involved in many hunts in his native Sweden. This involved a one hour walk up above the tree line to a bowl set below the peak of Beinn Damph. It was then a case of looking and listening for the roar of the red deer stag. It was not long before we spotted one, but it was too high up on a rocky crag and another was seen, but we were down wind of it. We decided to walk higher up the valley and then leave the path and clamber up towards a rocky ridge. Another stag was heard just over the ridge. Angus and Mosse set off, quietly creeping to the top of the ridge, for a sight of the stag, unfortunately for Mosse it was too young to shoot. We then decided to head down the steep rocky heather side of Beinn Damph towards where we had previously spotted a stag. We crept slowly down towards the area where Angus sensed the herd would be feeding. He and Mosse then crept quietly and slowly through the rocks leaving Lotte and myself to await their call. A shot rang out and Angus whistled us up. Mosse had been successful.
Each year a number of stags have to be culled to control the numbers. In the early days, ponies were used to carry the deceased animals down to the road, but they are no longer available, so they use quad bikes nowadays. Some of the meat is frozen and some given away and that night we dined on a beautiful ‘rump’ of venison in red wine, cooked by chef extraordinaire, Claire”.
Thank you again Duncan and Claire, for another yummy meal. All in all, it was a very different and interesting day in the Scottish Highlands.
After a rather long ‘pop in’ and another big breakfast, we finally said our goodbyes and set off in Eileen. We drove around the Applecross Peninsula through Shieldag and all along the stunning coastline to the Applecross Inn. The place was packed, but we managed to get a seat by the window and looked out over the Inner Sound towards Raasay. Rodney tucked in to a huge fish and chips and I had a plate covered in wild rice, salad and a mountain of huge scallops, which were absolutely delicious. The recommendation for the Inn that we had received, weeks back in a pub in Settle, Yorkshire, was absolutely spot on.
Suitably full (again), we set off over the impressive ‘Pass Of The Cattle’ to Kishorn. The hairpin bends and steepness in places were reasonably comparable with some of the passes in Switzerland….!
We stopped in Lochcarron to buy some highly recommended Loch Torridon smoked salmon steaks and then continued around the loch to the Skye Bridge at the Kyle of Lochalsh. The only campsite that we had sourced was almost on the far side of Skye, so we drove straight there, making note of places that looked like we should return to. We parked Eileen right on the water’s edge of Loch Greshornish in the Skye campsite just past Flashader and then started catching up on the washing. It’s rather remote here, no wi-fi, not TV, no DAB radio, just rather hissy FM radio to listen too, so the iPod is back in use.
We spent the next day doing more washing (it’s so difficult getting it dry) and catching up on photos, reading and not really doing a lot, apart from a short walk up to Edinbane, where there really wasn’t anything….. So Monday was one of those days that you really need occasionally. We’ll investigate Skye properly over the next few days.
Tuesday was the day for mooching around the western side of Skye, so we started by heading out to the Waternish peninsula. We drove up one side and then drove over to the other and enjoyed the view over Loch Snizort and the Trotternish. It was very overcast, with clouds hanging low all day, casting shadows over the mountains and water.
Crossing back over the peninsula we drove up to Trumpan and gazed out over the entrance to Loch Dunvegan. From there we tootled down to Dunvegan and pulled up at a lovely spot just past the castle. Here we finally got a glimpse of seals basking on a small rocky island out in the middle of the loch; unfortunately too far out for a good photo.
The next area to cover was the Duirinish peninsula, so we followed another single lane road along the northern edge and pulled up at Glendale. The local community hall had a small craft fair in full swing, so we popped in to see if we could support the locals. We passed on all the knitted dolls and baby clothes, but after a good chat with Janice, we bought one of her rag rug kits, complete with a wooden prodder made by her husband. She made it look easy, so we’re going to give it a go and make a small mat for Eileen’s back door. Some of the fabric provided is tartan, so it will remind us of our trip to Scotland the beautiful.
From Glendale, we backtracked and then followed the coast road down through Ose, Bracadale and Carbost as far as Glenbrittle. The views along the way, of more lochs and the Cuillin Mountains, were dramatic. I’m not sure how many times we stopped to take photos, but sometimes the views are so broad that you just can’t get it all in.
Our next stop was in Portree which looks like a pretty little town, but as the day was fast disappearing, we made a very hurried dash to the supermarket and got back to the campsite before dark. Surprise of the day, it didn’t rain at all, all day; well there’s still a few hours left, but we’re now tucked up inside, with dinner eaten, so it doesn’t matter now…..
