As the sun sank in the west a golden light suffused the wintry mountain scene to the east. Jim W and Jim B were dwarfed by the scale of the landscape.
As we paddled on, shapely Ben Cruachan (1126m) came to dominate the horizon but its size belittled the distance still to cover to our destination, which lay at its feet.
Second luncheon seemed a long time ago, it was time for a break. We paddled past the sheltering Abbot's Isles into a delightful stony beach under the gardens of Achnacloich House.
As the sun set, we prepared and ate a fine supper finished off by the last of the Christmas cake, freshly brewed filter coffee, a selection of fine malts and finally, a poke of chocolate caramel sweets provided by Jim B.
As I cast my eyes about this beautiful scene, I noticed the tell tale flattened conical shape of an ancient fort. It is Dun Creagach and is probably at least 2,000 years old. It never ceases to amaze me, but even in the remotest parts of our travels by sea kayak, wherever we land was also where our ancestors would have landed. If you look round carefully, you will often spot signs of their presence in this ancient land. We could see why our ancestors had chosen this spot to live their lives.
The day was drawing to an end, the sun was nearly set and the temperature was now plummeting like a stone. It was time to return to the kayaks. We did not realise it at the time but this was to be our last supper with Jim B. What a fantastic memory to have of a special friend.