Seakayaking through the Borrodale Isles.

We left Loch Ailort and entered Loch nan Uamh. At first the head of the loch was obstructed by the dark ridges of the north Ardnish coast...

...but soon we could see the ridge above the loch head illuminated in a shaft of sun. The Prince's Cairn lies just behind Eilean Gobhlach (the dark rocky islet about 1/3 of the way from the left side of the photo). It was here that Bonny Prince Charlie both landed and departed from the Scottish mainland at the time of the 1745 rebellion.

On reaching the north shore of Loch nan Uamh, we turned west and found ourselves exploring the delightful chain of the Borrodale Isles. This one is called Eilean nan Cabar; isle of the timber. It has clearly had trees on it for some time.

The Borrodale Isles have very steep shores with no easy landing spots so we left Eilean nan Cabar in our wakes and continued...

...towards Eilean an Sgurra...

...the isle of the pointed rock...

...where we met a party on a Wilderness Scotland trip.  They were staying in the Glenuig Inn and were clearly enjoying every minute of their holiday. I enjoyed stopping for a chat because it was a distraction from the pain in my bad knee.

It had been a long day and we needed to press on to our intended camp site, which was still about an hour and a half away...

Photo Donald Wilcox

...beyond the mouth of Loch nan Uamh and at the far end of the Sound of Arisaig.

Little and large houses by the shores of Loch Ailort.

From Glenuig, Donald in his boat and myself in my kayak made our way across the mouth of Loch Ailort.

 The scene was dominated by Rois_Bheinn (878m)...

...which rose above the eponymous estate house of Roshven. This is available as a holiday let and the Dining room sits 20. I am not sure if hirers are advised to bring their own cook as at Eilean Shona House, which we had passed earlier in the day. The house was built as a second home in 1857 for Hugh Blackburn who was professor of mathematics at Glasgow University. Academics must have been better paid in those days!

We passed to the west of Eilean nan Gobhar...

...then on towards the Ardnish peninsula with its abandoned settlement...

...at Peanmeanach. Nowadays only the bothy is roofed and stands in a line of roofless black houses built on the raised beach behind the present shore. The bothy was the most recent building in the settlement and probably was the post office for the whole Ardnish peninsula. In the days when transport was by the sea this bustling place had a population of about 80. When the railway line to Mallaig, which bypassed the Ardnish peninsula, was built in 1901, the end was in sight for the few remaining crofters.

We had planned to land on the Ardnish peninsula for a second luncheon but as it was still low tide, we were tempted by this delightful little beach on Eilean a' Chaolais.