7 Aug 19 - walk to Tusdale clearance village from Eynort Forest

For all sorts of reasons (from family visits to toilet repairs!) only three members were free this day - hopefully it will be repeated next year when more of us are can join it.

The following is by Ray:

the walk out of Eynort at the start 

On August 7^th Tim, Christine and myself left Portree to travel down to Loch Eynort, the start of our walk to the clearance village of Tusdale.

Looking back at the start of the walk to Eynort and the Head of the Loch.

Leaving the car at the end of the track in Eynort, we started our walk along the hillside beneath Beinn Buidhe na Creige, following sheep tracks where possible.

Fantastic views down over Loch Eynort and further out to Canna.
 

Eventually after a bit of climbing we managed to find the old track leading to Tusdale village.

Before reaching the village, we turned down towards the coast

This is the Tusdale Burn with Canna in the distance.

and eventually found ourselves looking at one of the most beautiful waterfalls on Skye.

Me taking a picture of the waterfall at the bottom of the Tusdale Burn.

After taking many pictures, it was Picnic Time. We stayed for a while and relaxed in the sunshine,

before making our way back the way we had come towards Tusdale village.

 The village consists of several ruined homes in three different locations.

Much time was spent exploring these ruins and wondering what life would have been like living here long ago.

Soon it was time to leave and we slowly climbed out of the Tusdale valley and climbed up and over the Bealach na Croiche where we were again able to look down on Eynort.

 Following a steep fence down the hill we arrived at the gate near the ruins of St Maelrubha's Chapel and Graveyard.   We explored the graveyard which proved very interesting.

One grave in particular, that of Evan P Cameron and his wife Harriet Adriana Moore, had connections to the slave trade in Berbice, New Amsterdam, (which became British Guiana and I believe is now called Guyana.)

A short walk brought us back to the car. This is a walk which I enjoyed very much. Fantastic scenery, good company, a fine day and a mystery to take home and investigate.

18 Jul 19: nature walk at Rubha Hunish

This re-scheduled walk was billed as

"A whale/dophin spotting outing with something for everyone!  Wonderful views of the outer islands.  Minki whales in the Minch.  Geological outcrops and seabirds along the cliffs.  Extensive deserted village at Erisco, plus ruins of Duntulm Castle.  Tea and cake at Kilmalaug at the end of the walk"

- naturally, it was that final sentence that drew me!  

Nine of us set off from the parking space near Duntulm, along a fairly well-trodden path. 

Some discussion about this curious pool of water.  Natural or artificial?  Is that a coffin stone or a fallen standing-stone?  

Nothing, so far as we can find, on any archaeology site, so it will have to remain a mystery for now.

Plenty of other signs of early occupation such as earth-bank field boundaries

Scotch Argus / Erebia aethiops

- and of course the wildlife that we had come to look for.

The cottages of the coastguard-hut-keepers are near the main road, so the trek to the lookout must have been something of a challenge in bad weather.  There was a series of these post-stumps in the final stretch: could they have been markers, perhaps even linked by a rope, to guide them away from the cliff-edge?

Half the group went to survey the Minch from the delights of the (ex Coastguard Hut, now Mountain Bothy) while 5 waited for a walker and his bicycle to clamber up ...

before they could descend ...

... and head towards the rock-stack ...

... to enjoy dolphins, seals, nesting sea birds, and a pigeon (!) amidst terns, shags and gulls, 

not to mention lots of those LBT's (little brown things) that delight when near once intensively cultivated land.

Meanwhile, those who stayed on the cliffs had been gazing down on the remnants of a flourishing kelp industry by the shore - the little stone circles may have been used for kelp-burning.

Then, the two groups reunited strolled back along the same path, now considerably busier with other walkers,

past the straggling remains of Erisco to the cars, and so to nearby Kilmalaug and Phil's excellent home-baking - every bit as good as advertised!

25 Jun 19 - Kingsburgh Forest Nature Walk

Only three of us could make the walk up Glen Hinnisdal - a shame as it was lovely, a bit windy but quite warm. 

Starting at the entrance gates (NG398572), just by the Hinnisdal Bridge

Walked as far as we could up the forest track, 

which ended at a gate with a fence across it at NG437 581. 

Nice views over the moorland up towards the cloud covered Trotternish Ridge 

and the waterfalls.

Picnic lunch by the River crossing near the end of the walk.

Not much wildlife around apart from the usual Hoodies, a Cuckoo, (heard but not seen), Small heath butterflies (too quick to photo), a spider 

and a Green Tiger Beetle spotted by Colin.

12 Jun 2019 - Duirinish nr. Plockton (combined Nature and Walking groups)

See walk route and description on WalkHighlands

Level crossing near Duirinish Station

Great afternoon spent with 11 of us enjoying the sunny weather at Durinish and Drumuie,

topped off with a good but rather short sighting of a feeding otter in exactly the spot where DH said they might be!

 Dactylorhiza x formosa

Lovely walk around the coast with a varied landscape and habitats.

They tried to avoid temptation but in the end succumbed!

As we completed the walk in good time we decided to visit Plockton Coral Beach which was new to us all. We parked near the airfield and walked down to a beautiful cove with, true to its name a coral beach. Slightly different from the Skye one near Dunvegan in the type of coral being found on the beach. We spent a lovely hour enjoying the sunshine and watching the wee fella racing in and out of the sea with a few other dogs.

Great day and finished with a coffee and cake at the new Croft Café on the outskirts of Durinish ... well worth a stop.

Brent geese?