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| Looking north across Langdale to the Pikes of Stickle. | James & Ian above Kentmere, with Thornthwaite Crag and High Street in the distance. |
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Ian, James, Dick, Geoff & Roy were in the Lake District of Cumbria for the weekend, based at Coniston Youth Hostel.
On the Suturday, we parked the car just below the pass on the south side of Langdale, and walked up the ridge to Bow Fell, thence back down to the Old Dungeon Ghyll hotel.
On Sunday morning, having driven up to Kentmere and resolved the problem of finding a parking place, we walked up the west ridge of the Kentmere valley to Thornthwaite Crag.
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| Looking north across Langdale to the Pikes of Stickle. | James & Ian above Kentmere, with Thornthwaite Crag and High Street in the distance. |
Ian, Dick, Geoff, Roy and Phil were in Scotland, staying on Rum, Eigg, and at Tulloch.
We travelled north by train, arriving at Mallaig at 11.30pm and staying the night in the Seaview guest house overlooking the harbour. We were on the 10.15am ferry next morning for Rum, where we stayed in Kinloch Castle. After three nights on Rum, we took the morning ferry to Eigg via Canna and Muck. On Eigg we stayed at Sue Kirk's comfortable and well-appointed Lageorna Croft-house at Cleadale for two nights before taking the 4.20 pm ferry back to Mallaig and the train via Fort William to the Tulloch Station Bunkhouse for an excellent meal of pheasant and a comfortable night's sleep. The next day was a long walk over the hills to Corrour for dinner and the last train back to Tulloch, then finally an all-day train journey home.
The weather was excellent for almost all of our time in Scotland. The total recorded distance on our walks, including the "rest day" walks, was 62 miles, with a total height gain of 4666m. (Information courtesy of Roy's GPS navigator.)
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| Kinloch Castle, Rum. | The ladies' drawing room, Kinloch Castle. | The ceilidh band (and dog) on Rum. |
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| Lageorna croft house, Eigg. | Rum sunset, from our cottage at Cleadale, Eigg. | Donna the Piper pipes the ferry out of Eigg. |
Thursday 26.4.07 - The Rum Cuillin. Hallival (723m), Askival (812m), Ainshval (781m).
After a hearty breakfast in the Kinloch Castle bunkhouse, we followed the path up to Coire Dubh, then direct to Hallival (723m). From there, a scramble to Askival, with superb views over Rum, Eigg, the Skye Cuillin, and the mainland. At Bealach an Oir the party split, with Dick and Phil opting for a fast traverse of Ainshval, and the others decending Glen Dibidil to the coast path. From here it was a long, boggy walk back to the castle, where we arrived just in time for dinner.
Distance walked: 12 miles. Height gained: 1208m.
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| Eigg, from Hallival on Rum. | Askival, Ainshval & Ian, from Hallival. |
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| Hallival, from below Askival. | On the summit of Askival. | Bealach an Fhuarain, Rum Cuillin. |
Friday 27.4.07 - Bloodstone Hill & Guirdil Bay, Rum.
Bloodstone Hill is in the north-west of Rum. It is the source of a hard green stone with red speckles, which was originally used as an alternative to flint for arrow-heads, and has more recently been used for decorative purposes.
The walk took us by land-rover track to Monadh Mhiltich, then along an old pack-horse trail to the top of Bloodstone Hill. We returned via Guirdil Bay and Glen Shellester.
Distance walked: 15 miles. Height gained: 755m.
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| . | The Skye Cuillin, from Bloodstone Hill, Rum. | . |
Sunday 29.4.07 - An Sgurr, Eigg (393m)
The south-west half of Eigg is a low ridge of volcanic rock, gently rising to a dramatic peak (An Sgurr) at its south end.
We set off from the cottage at Cleadale, skirting the cliffs above the Bay of Laig to bring us onto the ridge. The route took us over innumerable hillocks, each made up of basalt columns. The ridge ends dramatically at An Sgurr with a sheer rock-face overlooking Galmisdale. While we were on the summit, a Golden Eagle passed just below us, his back golden-brown in the sun, and we watched him for several minutes soaring without any wing movement around the island, before he disappeared from sight.
Descending through Sandavore, we returned along the road to Cleadale.
Distance walked: 11 miles. Height gained: 852m.
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| Horizontal basalt columns, Eigg. | On an Sgurr, Eigg, with Rum behind. | An Sgurr, Eigg. |
Tuesday 1.5.07 - "The Easains". Stob a' Choire Mheadhoin (1106m), Stob Coire Easain (1116m).
After a hearty breakfast in the Tulloch Station bunkhouse, we set off by the direct route to Fersit. Here we followed the ridge to the summit of Stob a' Choire Mheadhoin, then on to the second summit, Stob Coire Easain. The descent from there into the Allt na Larige valley seemed interminable, as did the walk out past the head of Loch Trieg to Corrour Station, where we had arranged to stay for a meal. We arrived at Corrour between 6.30 and 7.00 pm, for a glass of "Corrour Gold" beer before an excellent venison dinner. The 21.10 train then took us back to our bunks at Tulloch.
Distance walked: 15 miles. Height gained: 1552m.
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| The Grey Corries from Stob a' Choire Mheadhoin. | Stob a' Choire Mheadhoin, from Stob Coire Easain. | A welcome sight: Corrour station restaurant. |
Travel
Our train journey to Scotland was by GNER from London King's Cross up the east coast to Edinburgh, then across to Glasgow Queen Street. Glasgow to Mallaig and return was on the West Highland Line. All travel around the islands was on the CalMac ferry "Loch Nevis". We returned from Glasgow to London Euston down the west coast by Virgin Pendolino.
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| The "Small Isles" ferry "Loch Nevis" leaves Eigg. | A West Highland line train arrives at Tulloch. | Our Pendolino waits to leave Glasgow Central. |
Updated 28-05-08