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squiz
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Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 3071
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10th July 2013
Hiking - Walking: Eilean Glas Lighthouse,Scalpay Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny Max Speed: Distance Covered:
Wednesday 10th July – walk ***** Eilean Glas Lighthouse,Scalpay – sunny
:)
Woke up to our lovely view over the bay, tide high and sea like a mirror.
A razorbill was fishing right in front of the van. Quite cloudy but warm
to start with and the sun came out later. We left about 11 and headed back
along the crazy road, stopping just past the Amhuinnsuidhe Castle to have a
better look at the lovely waterfall that flows through the grounds. On
past the eagle observatory (no eagles again), the old whaling station with
its tall chimney and back to Tarbart to the shop. After getting the bare
essentials we headed out to the island of Scalpay which is reached by a big
road bridge. We drove out in the direction we assumed the Eilean Glas
Lighthouse would be and eventually arrived at a dead end overlooking an
inlet. After wondering if we were in the right place for several minutes
we decided we were, packed a lunch and started our hike by following a
likely looking yellow topped post. There was nothing to say that it is a
walk to the lighthouse or how far it was or anything despite the fact that
it is listed in our Explore the islands leaflet. We managed to find pole
number 2 before we got lost again! Number 3 was missing and we followed a
trodden path and ended up in the middle of the boggy peat not knowing quite
which way to go. We saw a couple of walkers in the distance heading our way
and decided to wait and see if they knew where they were going but they
were in the same boat as us. We all decided to head in a certain direction
and luckily it did eventually lead to being able to see the Lighthouse and
glimpse a yellow topped post in the distance. We decided to head for the
post and they decided to head to the lighthouse (much to the ladies
disgust, she was happy to see it in the distance and return to their bikes
– they had biked miles already to get there). It was such a lovely day
and the sun showed the lighthouse off at its best :) There was lots of
buildings around it which are being renovated so you couldn’t go in those
but you could look through the windows and go into some of the buildings
close to the lighthouse itself. There was a plaque saying that the
original lighthouse keeper when it was first lit in 1789 lived there for 35
years! We sat on some rocks in the sun and ate our lunch. There was a
trawler going backwards and forwards and we saw the Calmac ferry coming
over from Sky to Tarbert. We watched another lady and a walk guide coming
down the hill and decided to see if we could find the official walk on the
way back. Had a brief chat with them and set out – it was a tough walk
and a lot further than we thought – we definitely took a short cut on the
way there! Eventually back to the van and we decided to drive off and find
somewhere further north to park up. We seemed to have been driving for
ages and I was nearly dozing off when we found a turning to the right where
the road ran alongside Loch Erisort. Saw a picnic site overlooking the
Loch to park up and after an initial cloud of horrible flies disappeared it
was very nice. We sat at one of the picnic benches and had a coffee and
read the paper we had bought at the shop. I went to cook bacon and eggs
for tea and ……. The gas ran out! 62 days – exactly the same as last
time. So we had sandwiches for tea and played cards – we are getting
very serious with the Lost Cities tournament now!!
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