A fourth luncheon on the machair at Silver Sands

We stopped on the southern side of the Silver Sands of Smirisary and...

...made our way up the shore to the...

...closely cropped machair which backs the beach. Here, below a rapidly sinking sun, we partook of our 4th luncheon which we washed down with a not ungenerous snifter of 12year old Caol Isla.

After our comestibles had been suitably dwindled, it was time for a...

..post prandial perambulation over the machair to the headland where we took in the view to the Small Isles to the west and...

 ...to Rubh Arisaig and Skye to the north.

 We left Silver Sands and paddled north until we could...

 ...turn to the east and enter the Sound of Arisaig.

The sun was setting as we paddled on towards Glenuig Bay where we drew the boats up in the gathering darkness. Sadly there would be no further luncheons on this day.

The hidden isles and recesses of Loch Moidart

 We left Castle Tiorum and continued...

 ...our exploration of the South Channel of Loch Moidart. The wooded sides of Riska island fall steeply into the blue waters of the loch.

Our tour of the inner Loch Moidart continued past Eilean an Fheidh (deer isle) and...

...tiny Eilean na Craoibhe (tree isle). Normally we are in a desperate hurry here as we have  usually been rushing before the ebb tide dries the \North Channel. This time we were...

...in no hurry as we were waiting for the flood tide...

...to fill the the North Channel. It was most pleasing to round the east end of Shona Beag and see clear water stretching away down the channel towards the Sgurr of Eigg on the distant horizon..

We passed the long abandoned hamlet of Egnaig on the north shore. Its inhabitants had abandoned their homes long before the first road came to this part of Moidart in 1966. The road arrived well before grid electricity which did not arrive in Moidart until 1988!

The Sgurr of Eigg is a magnificent sight all the way down the north channel. It was formed when an ancient river valley was flooded with lava from the Rum volcano. The lava cooled quickly forming very hard pitchstone. The glaciers in the Ice Age then scoured away the softer rocks that had contained the river valley, leaving the Sgurr as it is today.

The north channel has a narrow entrance hemmed in by precipitous cliffs then...

....opens out into an area of reefs with coral sand beaches that are exposed at low tide.

As we left Loch Moidar,t a pair of sea eagles watched us from high on these cliffs.

Our bows turned north again. It was getting late in the afternoon and fourth luncheon was calling. Not far ahead we spotted the ideal place...

Fair birlin' doon the loch to Castle Tioram.

We left Shoe Bay and set off up the South channel of Loch Moidart with both a fair wind and a flood  tide behind us. We were soon birlin' doon the loch at a most respectable rate of knots.

As we paddled deep inland, the loch narrowed and the wind dropped. To the south the land was relatively low lying and is where the outflow of River Sheil carries the fresh water from Loch Sheil into the salt water of Loch Moidart.

 To the north we were hemmed in by the rough slopes of Eilean Shona which fell steeply into the sea.

 Ahead and to the east, lay our next objective...

...Castle Tiorum (pron. Cheerum) whose ancient grey walls rise from the grey rocks of...

 ...the tidal island upon which it stands. On its NW side there is a sheltered cove, which at one time would have had...

 ...wooden birlinns, like this modern reconstruction, drawn up on its sands. Many think the Celtic birlinns were developed from Viking longships but it was actually the other way round. The Celts were using birlinns some 800 years before the time of the longships. Indeed, in his third book of the Gallic Wars, Julius Caesar describes them in detail and how they were superior to the Roman galleys.

 Today it was kayaks and an F-RIB rather than birlinns that drew up on the sands  below...

 ...the castle walls. Long gone castle defenders might have viewed our approach with some suspicion but we were intent on nothing more than...

 ...stopping for our fourth luncheon....

A little west of Eden.

26/03/2017

 From Smirisary we paddled south along the rugged coast of Moidart which...

...is split asunder by the straight and narrow north channel of Loch Moidart. The view through the channel to the SE leads to the summit of Garbh Bheinn (885m, "rough mountain") in Ardgour, some 30km distant.

To seaward the Sgurr of Eigg and the Rum Cuillin created a...

 ...jagged horizon between the calm blue Sea of the Hebrides and the clear blue sky.

 The western side of Eilean Shona completed the rugged landscape that contrasted with...

 ...the almost surreal and unseasonal calmness of the sea.

As we continued our passage south, the angle  between the Sgurr of Eigg and the more distant Rum Cuillin gradually reduced until our further progress was...

 ...blocked by our arrival at the the Ardnamurchan peninsula.

Our eyes had been drawn to the magnificent beach of Cul na Croise, which had been a live practice ground for the D-Day landings in WW2. At first it sounded like they were still practicing...

...as a helicopter flew back and forward overhead ferrying loads of gear out of the forest behind the dunes.  Until just 6 days before our arrival, this had been the site of Channel 4's ill fated reality TV show Eden. New Yorker magazine described it as "reality TV's wildest disaster". It makes interesting reading. It turned into something pretty dark, nearer Lord of the Flies than Big Brother.

For some peace and quiet we decided to head further west towards Camas an Lighe and on the way...

...found a quieter corner with an incredible view...

....to the Small Isles and...

...their jagged mountains which made a stunning location for...

...second luncheon, albeit a little west of Eden.

A lazy first luncheon at Smirisary.

26/3/2017

 When we emerged from the Sound of Arisaig we turned south along the rough coast of Moidart  and the ancient hamlet of Smirisary.

It was low water and we passed to the inside of many of the reefs that create notorious boomers at high water.

Amongst the dark rocks which tumbled from the steep mountains, we spotted a flash of white shell sand..

 Donald in the F-Rib had already arrived...

 ...by the time we slid over turquoise channels of water...

...between dark beds of kelp and...

 ...landed on the white sands.

First luncheon was a lazy affair...

...which gave plenty of time to enjoy the view...

...before setting off to...

...explore the machair...

...backed beaches of Smirisary.