27th November 2012 - Point of Sleat

Once again we were really lucky with the weather - a bit cold and one or two very brief showers but otherwise ideal weather for a walk.

A long drive for some of us, but well worth it.  Just a small group - 6 of us.

The views over to the mainland were spectacular - with the sun glinting on the snow covered peaks.

The little beach was stunning -  fine golden sand and turquoise sea.

Very near the beach we discovered  a shell "midden" - whelk and limpet shells, all empty, some broken, some whole.  How did they get there?  Difficult to imagine a natural cause but equally difficult to imagine why anyone would tip a couple of sacks full of shells.

We were quite reluctant to leave the beach but had to reach the lighthouse before our leader would allow us to have lunch.  

The lighthouse itself does not deserve any superlatives - just another of those white boxy things.  It did, however,  provide a welcome shelter from the icy wind.

Parts of the route were pretty boggy - perhaps the humidity is what allowed this specimen of fungus to develop (identified as agaricus fungus fayus)

Near the end of the walk we explored this tranquil harbour - judging by the  extensive "dock walls" and jetty - this must have been a very busy place in years gone by.

Thank you David - a great choice.

23rd October Ardrek

More like a summer's day than an autumn one.  Clear blue skies, seas calm as a mill pond and lovely warm temperature.

A few porpoises sighted, perhaps a seal too, the odd shag and/or cormorant, some lovely fungi that really looked more like flowers, an ancient Broch built around 115 BC.  Great company - what more could we ask?

28th August Macleod's Maidens

June 24th Rubh an Dúnain – 8 miles

Six of us set off from the campsite at Glen Brittle.  Mostly a dry day but the mist was quite low so views were not as spectacular as they might have been. This was a walk with something to please everybody – wild life, archaeology, geology.

Lots to see so the lack of more distant views didn’t bother us.

Fascinating plants and butterflies – I'm sure someone can identify the butterfly for me - the plant is our own Skye version of the venus fly trap - sundew - would be great if we could grown enough to consume all the midges in our gardens.

Travelling back in time, an impressive chambered cairn – either Neolithic or early Bronze Age so could be as old as 4-5,000 years.

Fast forward to around 500 BC and Pola carefully inspects the stone work on the enigmatic Dun – Enigmatic because this wall is really impressive but there is very little else to see – maybe it was a prehistoric employment project and they just built the wall to keep the wind off!!

Then onto the impressive “Viking canal” and little harbours or dry docks.  Even the experts haven’t decided whether it really is Viking.  Some feel the seaward part may have been built around the same time as the Dun while the loch ward side may be later.  Medieval ship timbers were found in the loch.

On our return a little detour to see an iron age forge

A bit of geology  - I’m sure Jo-Ann would be able to explain what I’ll call the “Devil’s Staircase” – is it the vent of some ancient volcano?

To finish off an excellent day, We spotted two basking sharks – or rather David H spotted them – he kept pointing them out but at first all I could see were black dots – “There it is” I shouted – and David patiently pointed out “No that’s a gannet” Eventually with the aid of borrowed binoculars I spotted the real thing – thanks to David for the photo.

Next walk meeting 28th August - details to follow

Leitir Fura - last time we did this walk a couple of years ago in winter, it poured down (David, we were lucky with the weather today)

Today, it was almost too hot - lovely day with fantastic views.

For those of us from the north of the island, it seems like a different country

I took my piccies with my tiny digital camera, while the boys played with their toys (boys feel free to forward me your photos for uploading, I know they'll be better than mine - but mine will improve after I attend the forthcoming photograhy course)

We had a lunch break in the ruins of the old village

But the local residents thought we had provided lunch for them

On the way home, a few of us decided to visit the Skye Coffe Man in Breakish, who gave us a talk at our meeting in Broadford a year ago.

Next walk - possibly BBQ at Orbost beach - more details to follow.

Thanks to Bruce for organising this one - thanks to Linda who offered to extend the walk - sadly most of us were unable to follow this up for various reasons.  Hope you all enjoyed the day as much as I did - we had no sooner got in the car to set off homewards when the rain started to fall.  Perfect timing.

Raasay walks 29 May 2012

Well aren't we lucky Jess has such great friends over in Raasay? 

And aren't we lucky with the current spell of excellent weather ?

Most of us were able to go over on the ferry with our bus passes - for me this is a rare occurance as in Glendale there are no buses - apart from school bus - so using the ferry I feel I am getting "my money's worth". 

It was great to see some new members from the southern part of Skye joining us - Welcome to Linda and Faye.

Thank you so much to Anne and Rosemary for leading our two walks and thanks very very much for your hospitality.What more could one ask? A lovely walk with a knowledgable leader and tea/coffee at their home at the end.

The photos are just mine so they don't show Anne's walk - sorry about that.  As usual I have chosen photos  which don't really show people close up - my paranoia about the internet and also realise that not everyone wants their faces posted for millions to see.

If anyone has photos they would like posted here - email them to me