Isle of Rum Adventure
DATE 29-30.06.2012 | DISTANCE 9.2KM - one way| HIGHEST POINT 140M
Posted by Matt | Filed under other locations
after an exhausting 10 hour drive to mallaig harbour!! we boarded the ferry with 4 days worth of food and a loose itinery. seeing rum across the scottish waters was exciting. the sun was beaming down on the cuillin and it was surprisingly warm on deck. we docked at the loch scresort terminal in about 1 hr 20 mins and walked to the campsite. a very small campsite but picturesque overlooking the loch. we pitched the tent and left enough money for our stay in the honesty box. our adventure began here!
as we set off into the wilderness we passed through kinloch village. The village was instantly charming and kinloch castle was very impressive!
shortly into the walk i filled up my water bottle from a waterfall and within 30 minutes of walking through kinloch glen we saw the famous rum red deer. 15 minutes later and our path was blocked by rum ponies. wow! the ponies didn't seem at all fazed as we squeezed past them on the path and joined the faint track leading to glen shellesder. our destination was the bothy in guirdil bay. looking down glen shellesder to the coast didn't look far at all but became a boggy twisting slog of a journey. this was real wilderness terrain. tiring and slow but exciting!
we reached the coastline and dropped down into guirdil bay. a stag was resting outside the bothy and just like the other wildlife, didn't seem at all interested in us.
guirdil bothy was surprisingly homely. 2 large spacious rooms with plenty of furniture and information on the bothy and surrounding area. there was also a decent sleeping area on an overhead platform reached by a rickety ladder. not only was it great inside but also located right down on the beach. perfect!
shortly after us, steve arrived. in march, steve started walking from his home in hastings (south of england) and had just come from the isle of skye. steve has been visiting bothies, fixing hooks and doing the odd bit of maintenance if required. he reports his visits to the mountain bothies association if there is any significant issues. we asked steve when he would be going home. he was a little unsure but said 'possibly in october'. he told us a little about his travels and his nights spent in bus shelters and was very interested on our plans.
we were all wrapped in our sleeping bags by 11pm and the next morning we set off leaving steve still asleep.
the plan for day 2 was to follow the coast around to kilmory bay but the weather was pretty bloody awful and i took a slip and twisted my ankle. with not much to do we went back to kinloch and hired a pod for the night. i was convinced the next day would have improved weather and we would be able to get out into the mountains. it would also give me time to rest my ankle. our tent became a reasonably priced storage locker. we went back to it to change clothes and leave some of our food supplies.
the pod felt spacious and much more comfortable than a tent during a downpour.
the isle of eigg
looking sunny over on rum with a cloud topped cuillin
entering loch scresort with kinloch castle in the distance
the ferry terminal is just a short wooded walk from the village
tent pitched at the campsite. MORE OF A USEFUL STORAGE LOCKER. we didn't even sit in it!
A FINE VIEW FROM THE KITCHEN WINDOW
Download GPX file
RED DEER
HEADING OUT ACROSS KINLOCH GLEN
KILMORY BAY IN THE DISTANCE WITH THE ISLE OF SKYE BEYOND
RUM PONIES BLOCKING THE PATH
GLEN SHELLESDER. A BOGGY SLOG TO THE COAST
ALAN CROSSING THE GLEN SHELLESDER BURN. THE NEXT MORNING WE HAD TO FIND ANOTHER WAY ACROSS DUE TO THE OVERNIGHT RAIN.
GUIRDIL BAY JUST AS THE RAIN CAME IN
GUIRDIL BOTHY
JOB 1 - GET THE FIRE GOING. PLENTY OF DRIFTWOOD HAD BEEN COLLECTED BY PREVIOUS VISITORS
I POPPED OUTSIDE TO SAY HELLO TO MR STAG AND HAVE A LOOK AROUND THE BEACH FOR MORE WOOD
STEVE ARRIVED NOT LONG AFTER US. HE HAD JUST FINISHED A TRIP TO SKYE
MR BOTHY SPIDER. HE HAD A FEW FRIENDS TOO
NEXT MORNING. ALAN STILL ASLEEP. WE WERE TESTING OUT THE NEW MULTIMAT SUPERLITE AIR. 300GRAMS!! WORKED A TREAT AND VERY COMFORTABLE. I'LL REVIEW THIS SOON.
FIXING A FRUITY DRINK WITH A SQUASHSTIX. MASTERMINDED BY MY COUSIN,TOM.. CHECK THEM OUT HERE www.squashstix.com
CLICK BELOW FOR VILLAGE MAP
THE COMMUNITY CENTRE, CAFE, SHOP AND POST OFFICE. THE CAFE DID A CRACKING GINGER CAKE AND THE PEOPLE WERE VERY FRIENDLY
OUR POD FOR NIGHT 2, BACK AT KINLOCH