Stags on the high tops joined us in roars of approval.

Just as we arrived at Glenaladale, the estate boat Fionn Aladail (Fair Aladale) left the rickety wooden jetty with a shooting party aboard. Her helmsman courteously kept the engine revs down until they were well past us. We were right in the middle of the Glenaladale red deer stag shooting season.

As we paddled past the delta of the Aladale river the glen stretched away into the distance then above...

...the steep slopes of Croit Bheinn 661m (the hunchbacked hill), we caught sight of a magnificent golden eagle soaring in the updraft above the mountain side.

South of Glenaladale the woodland became even denser with trees clinging to the steep slopes from shore level up to the crags high above us.

 

As we neared Gaskan we came across a delightful...

...wooded isle called Eileen Comhlach.

Its name could be isle of the meeting place, fellow warrior or suckling pig.  Several lochs have islands where warring chieftans met without fear of being ambushed by each other's men.

We drifted for some time in the lee of the little isle hoping that it would be highlighted against the dark hills behind by a blink of low sunshine.

Our patience was rewarded.

This little tree will need to have much patience to grow tall as its roots clutch only bare rock on the loch shore.

By now the sun was sinking fast and the shadows were lengthening. We had an idea of where to camp based on a previous trip but we had met a couple of open canoeists who had camped there the previous evening and found their night disturbed by a herd of cattle.

I had in mind an alternative but had never landed there. We decided to detour to my back-up but knew that if it was not suitable we would be setting up tents in the dark at our original destination.

As the sun sank below the clouds we were bathed in a beautiful light.

Although we had a fair way to go...

...we could not help but stop and savour the beauty of Loch Shiel at Sunset.

The low sun really turned up the vibrance of the autumn colours.

But we needed to press on, light was fading fast we were now committed to camp "B". By now the landscape ahead was of low gently rolling hills and...

...we soon left the high mountains...

...in our wakes.

We arrived at our destination, camp "B", at sunset. After a quick check we decided it would be ideal. I went for a quick swim to freshen up before the warming rays sank below the horizon.

After getting the tents up we quickly gathered some firewood before darkness fell.

We cooked our meal by our fire's flickering flames then afterwards baked potatoes for afters which we enjoyed with butter and salt.

Then Ian surprised us with poached pears in brandy for second afters. It seemed that the stags on the high tops joined us in roars of approval. 

For the full stereovision experience read Ian's account here...

Sunset at Fidden: episode two.

 Although Fidden on the Ross of Mull is a commercial campsite, in many ways it really is like a a wild camp site with showers. After a nice warm shower we returned to the tents to discover that the wind had dropped and the midges had come out. Ian and I set up our chairs on a little knoll to eat our meal. A little breeze up there mitigated the midges somewhat and the view was excellent.

 After dining we set up a small fire (we had brought logs) below HW mark. While Ian and I opened cans of our favoured Irish sports recovery drink, Alan and Donald were already checking through their numerous sunset photos!!

 Not to be out done, Ian and I soon got snapping too.

As the sun dipped to the horizon it took on first an...

 ...orange glow before turning...

 pinkish red.

Of course living so far from the equator has its advantages. Very often the twilight after sunset is even better than sunset itself and so...

 ...it proved. This was an hour and a half after sunset.

Behind us the white buildings of Fidden were still illuminated with a delicate warm glow and were standing out against the inky black night sky behind.

En route to Erraid and the Ross of Mull

The road and ferry trip to the Ross of Mull is a long way wherever you live on the mainland. Ian and I had talked about returning here for ages and on the 11th of May we finally set off in the company of Donald in his little RIB and Alan and Lorna. You will be able to follow this trip in trivision on Ian's blog here and Donald's blog here.

Donald and I met up in Oban for a coffee and a stroll before setting off. I wanted to photograph the various slipways near the main ferry terminal. The nearest is the Calmac slip for the Lismore ferry but there always seems to be a reserve ferry sitting in there.

The next nearest is the slip in the ice factory yard. I do not think you could offload a car here but if you arrived by ferry and wanted to launch or if you arrived by kayak and wanted to catch a ferry this might be possible. The RNLI Oban lifeboat is the RNLB "Mora Edith MacDonald" a Trent class boat.

 The public slip is furthest away. You might be able to avoid the busy Gallanach Road by trolleying round the path in front of the lifeboat station and through the ice factory yard to the ferry terminal.

 We walked back to the town past the fishing pier as we had some time.  This is OB151 FV Orion. the quayside restraunts were doing a brisk trade selling sea food platters to Chinese tourists who certasinly seembed to be enjoying the food and the sunny ambience of Oban.

 We had plenty of time and the first ferry to Mull was the MV Coruisk which has recently been transferred from the Mallaig Armadale run to Mull due to the explosion in traffic caused by the introduction Road Equivalent Tarriff which has meant the ferries (and the roads) are full of camper vans. If I was transport minister I would only allow camper vans on the road between the hours of 1 am and 4 am.

 We did not have long to wait until our ferry the MV Isle of Mull came in and soon...

 ...we were aboard. While we were loading, Marine Harvest's brand new 70m well boat the Ronja Challenger berthed at the ice factory quay.

 Soon we were off passing the north end of Kerrera where this rather splendid house is for sale for around a mere £1,000,000.

 The channel to the north of Kerrera is rather busy with shipping and the MV Isle of Lewis which serves Barra from Oban...

 ...came in as we were leaving closely followed by the returning

 ...MV Coruisk. As you can see a fresh NE wind was blowing.

 Half way to Mull we passed Lady's rock where Lachlan Maclean of Duart left his wife to die in 1527. She was rescued by a passing boat and he was later murdered by her brother.

 The bottom end of Lismore is marked by the Eilean Musdile lighthouse.

Then we passed Duart castle on Mull. If you are paddling rond the coast here it might be worth keeping further out. The water close to the coast is often very disturbed,

 Soon we landed and the ramp came down on Mull.

 The road to the Ross of Mull isost 60km of twisting single track, fortunately it was quiet and it was a magnificent drive through the mountains to Bunessan where we had arranged to meet the others. One option was to launch at Bunessan and camp at Market Bay on the north coast of the Ross of Mull but I had an updated weather forecast on the ferry which was for F5 northerly overnight which would make a difficult launch from Market Bay (a surf beach).

 We decided to camp at the excellent Fidden Farm camp site which has a fantastic view...

 ...over the skerries to the Sound of Iona.

 We wasted no time in carrying the boats one by one...

 ...down the dazzling white sand to the...

...sparkling water's edge. We were bound for the magical tidal island of Erraid.