Rua Reidh

July 27, 2010



Today's walk of about 8 miles started off near Gairloch, on the high coast of Rua Reidh. We started off high and walked across the moor, descended to the beach, then ascended to the moor again to finish at the lighthouse. It looked as though the sun was interested in making an appearance early on, but then the clouds returned. Then the sun came back out. Then it poured - but we'd found shelter at the lighthouse at that point, just by a minute or so!


I think I could have stood on the top of that moor listening to the wind blow through the grasses, taking in the changing horizons for the entire trip. It was magical, perhaps finally providing my literary memories with the physical backdrop for the many heroines running bravely (or brashly) across the moors in driving thunderstorms, escaping from horrendous conditions or running from marauding soldiers. Such were the episodes in some of the books of my youth, and now even though with short hair, standing in my hiking pants and boots and with a pack on my back and a decidedly 21st century attitude, I could briefly envision life in the 18th century. What a trip down an imaginary memory lane! But that's what this place did to me in an instant.

little lachan on top of moor


lily-like bean plants that had already bloomed

view north

We had to follow Angela's footsteps as nearly as possible because the ground was so soggy and she didn't want us sinking in the muck. There was still plenty of "shplick! shplock!" to be heard as our boots strove to disconnect from some puddles. Soon we could see down to the shore with the striking cerulean blue of the shallow water highlighting the coastal rocks.

Camas Mor

Halfway down the slope the hill leveled out a bit, and as it had just started raining, we found shelter in a stone bothy for lunch. It was a cozy little place that suited our group size well, and had places for up to 6 to sleep. A big fireplace and several wine bottle candelabras added to the warm atmosphere of the bothy.

the bothy - note rocks anchoring roof

Refreshed, we continued in a zigzag manner down the very steep hill. Angela showed us examples of solifluction, which creates a look of mini-terracing as one of the first stages in erosion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solifluction

down the hill

and up again

We hung out on the beach for a short time. Angela told us that up until a couple of years ago it had been an all sand beach. Now there were 12-20' deep ridges of rocks that had been brought to the surface during wild winter storms. They undulated along the entire beach, mimicking the wave action.

As we prepared to climb up the hill, someone saw a juvenile golden eagle and I think I was the only one who never saw it. But I heard it was stately!

The walk southward gave us such beautiful views of the coastline, which had some splendid arches and colors. Erosion has provided Scotland with quite the creative pallette! I could see where many of the colors in fashion had their start in natural settings such as this.

Camas Beag

Common Hawker dragonfly on the heather

The lighthouse came into view and Angela ran on to get the van. We explored the rocks that jutted out from the water, a seal was seen, and I watched a large, dark cloud approach us steadily. We all reached the lighthouse just as the next downpour happened and then Angela drove off to take us to our next adventure!

Rua Reidh lighthouse designed by David Stevenson,

the uncle of Robert Louis Stevenson

Next we drove to Inverewe Gardens where the gulfstream provides enough warmth for a large assortment of plants to grow. They had huge flower beds of crocosmia, chocolate cosmos, asters, dahlias, roses, and many others. The large pond had both white and magenta water lilies, and a smaller pond had a collection of jack-in-the-pulpits and other carnivorous plants. This garden was created in the mid 1800s http://www.aboutscotland.co.uk/land/inverewe.html

Inverewe Gardens


magenta water lily

a very large-leafed plant!

It was back to the hunting lodge at Gairloch for dinner. After hanging up wet clothing in the drying room, we met for wine in the bar where I had a nice conversation with an older couple visiting the area from Edinburgh. They were very interested in the places we had hiked and where we were still planning to go. Soon enough we were taken to the dining room, past numerous hunting pictures and a few sets of large antlers mounted above fireplaces and on walls.

This was the dinner of the trail names. In no certain order and with limited identification - that's up to each of us, I think - here's the cast of this hiking trip:

Twix Queen

The Moine Thrust

Aquavit

Twix

Craghopper

Walter Wall (a great story!)

Green Shovel

Alpen

Bog Asphodel