Leaving the north channel of Loch Moidart we ignored the tempting sight of the Small Isles, Eigg and Rum and turned to the north where...
...we entered a turquoise lagoon where we...
...stopped for a well deserved second luncheon.
We had intended continuing north and spending the night in a bothy in the Sound of Arisaig but two events changed our mind. The first was a phone call from my wife telling me that a family member was undergoing a life threatening major surgical operation. The second was the MSI weather warning on the VHF. It warned of imminent gales and heavy snow. Although we would have chosen a bothy in a relatively sheltered position in Loch Ailort, the medical news left me no option but to turn back. Ian is such a gentleman that he made it very easy to make the decision. We looked back wistfully to the mountains in the north but we both knew that we would return.
We passed the hidden channel of the north entrance to Loch Moidart and the...
...the rocky ramparts of the west end of Eilean Shona before...
...rockhopping among the skerries and...
...channels to the hidden...
...sands of Ardtoe...
...which require maze solving skills...
...to finally find.
As a footnote, Ian and I faced blizzard driving conditions on our separate roads home and the March snows proved to be the worst of the winter with their drifts persisting well into April. Ian returned to his work at sea shortly but we will hopefully paddle again in late summer. Ian's account of this trip can be read
here,
here and
here.
