A hall of mirrors in Loch Goil.

The dying sun shone through...

...gaps in the cloud layers and illuminated  strips of the mountains high above us.

Down below we paddled on in the gathering gloaming.

The reflections on the glassy sea created a bizarre vision of an alternative world, like a fairground hall of mirrors.

Navigation is easy in a long narrow loch like Loch Goil. We could not even paddle past our destination as it was at the head of the loch.

On the way we passed the research barge Maytime. Loch Goil is up to 85m deep and is used to test the sound signatures of submarines.

We arrived at the douce Victorian villas of Lochgoilhead 30 minutes after sunset. They had been built before the mountain road was constructed. Each day, the owners commuted by steamer into the dirty smoke and smog of Glasgow. Just like them, we had come to Lochgoilhead to escape from the city. The darkness gathered round us, pouring down the hillsides and spilling out over the water of the loch like Indian ink. The reflections were blotted out by the night and our adventure in Loch Long and Loch Goil was over. We returned to the lights of the city, reflecting on the sights we had seen.