Catching up on 2018 -Scotland in May

Several weeks had me mainly southbound from Arisaig to Bute via the Small Isles

 continued below

Fair and settled weather meant open crossing were no problem and I was able to play around the Garvellachs, Grey Dogs and Corryvreckan. My plan was to take in the Mull of Kintyre but deteriorating weather and named storm 'Hector' forced the viking option of portage at Tarbert. Then the not so sheltered waters off Bute led me to the safe option of paddling via the Kyles and catching the ferry rather than a paddle across the Clyde. I had hoped to return via Ailsa Craig -next time?

Catching up on 2018 -April

April saw us in Brittany for a week of paddling around St Malo and then at the CKMer gathering at Paimpol catching up with old friends.

Catching up on 2018

The year started snowier than usual, here is my bedroom down by the river in January

and the hills above Appleby in February

Even Snowdonia was snowy in March

Greenland 2017 -hiking

 As well as cold we had plenty of wind -always a good excuse to go hiking

 and what hiking, a frozen river...

 valleys running up to tongues of the ice cap (arctic poppies making a guest appearance)

hiking above the tongue of the ice cap

 a glacier tongue runs out into moraines and rubble

 and the final dirty end

 hiking in the snow

 fantastic views of land and sea

 eddying clouds

 fjords on a massive scale

 inland valleys

 tiring work...

 discussing the route, no paths here

 snow patches, sometimes steep and hard, sometimes alarmingly soft

 heading back down to the camp

 with Liz

 hill and sea scape with the ice cap always in command -our memory of long days out.

Greenland 2017

 Autumn came early after a cold spring and barely existent summer this year, not at all the warm sunshine of 2015 when we enjoyed a heat wave. Good for our diet.

 But cold paddling on a very cold sea

 Cold camping with wind and snow

Maybe surprisingly this cold was due to warming, warmer humid air was pushing too far north, meeting the cold air over Disco Bay rather than a few hundred miles further south giving us constantly unsettled conditions.

Arran

Crossing Loch Fyne in mirror calm last week, Arran behind us. It has been a long time since I touched this blog so I've got a lot of catching up to do. Maybe just too much paddling.....

Playing around in Langstone Harbour Entrance

Who could resist it?
Spring tides, high water -2, with the water pouring into the Harbour to cover the mudflats.
A spot of wind to whip up the sea.
Sunshine and warm water.
Just wholesome good fun!

A where is it and a what is it.

 Easy to recognise this spot, but did you find the lighthouse keepers well nearby, did the pine marten gambol around your tent, did you find the massive stone age midden in the dry cave nearby.

Near the entrance of Loch Nevis this pavement caught my eye. I'd seen similar arrangements in Greenland made by ice and frost more recently -only the icebergs were missing from the loch.

Two months in Scotland -Crowlin

 The three Crowlins are small, especially the northern most, but you could spend weeks there and still find something new every day.

 A place where even the Bonxies are pretty laid back, this one let me look at its nest as it was sitting a few feet away with a quizzical rather than an angry look.

 Camping spots are tight on the wave cut ledges just above HW, you can circumnavigate at this level with a bit of scrambling. Indeed clambering into the interior can be hard work. I had to re-open an old well for drinking water near the lighthouse.

 Eiders have an odd shaped egg and an eye for camouflage such a pity that plastic scraps are so universal just above the tide line the birds feel obliged to use them in order to fit in.

 The beach near the old village on the largest island has water and a spot for a tent

 It looks a nice place to have lived.

Not too many sheep so space for wild flowers.

Lunching on a beach, a raven caught my eye. It was watching over an apparently dead sheep, but the sheep, wedged upside down in the rocks, moved a leg so I went to have a look. It was alive but very weak and with its wool saturated was too heavy to move. Using some driftwood wedges I slowly managed to turn it. However, it only staggered a couple of metres dragging its hind quarters then sunk down again. I diagnosed a broken back and was sad to leave it to die, but happy for the ravens who were no doubt already planning a new family with the prospect of easy food. Next day it had vanished, so must have got feeling back and been able to move off.

These young Hoodies near my tent seemed to be expecting me to feed them if the parents were not around -very noisy kids!

Home waters Lymington to the Needles

A steady F5 on the nose slowed us down, despite it being neaps the tide almost balanced the wind in places but never-the-less we were only making about 1.5kt on average. Eventually we ran out of tide still short of the Needles. Once it turned against us the only thing to do was to enjoy the blast back through the Hurst narrows. Warm and sunny, the sea would have looked more threatening if it had been cold and grey. A great day out on the water.

Two months indolent solitary paddling and mountain walking in Scotland

My route through May and June and into July, time to watch the ring plovers and oyster catcher chicks from a twinkle in their parents eye to independent teenagers. With only myself to please I spent a lot of time watching wildlife. Time becoming more and more irrelevant, only the tides marking the passage of the day.

 Part 1 Moidart to Sleat

 Sparkling water

 and rough weather on Sgurr na Ciche

 After the wind, calm as only a deep loch can be

 crossing to Rum, 10nm running downwind

 A minke's paw collected by a raven

 Idyllic camping

Approaching Sleat from Eigg, pleased to be back in shelter after a bumpy sea for 2 hours and a close encounter with a Calmac ferry resolved by a chat on the VHF as I was hidden in the ocean billows.