Day 05 Tuesday 20th Aug – Stormbound Stone Circles and Museums
Following a morning rendezvous in the kitchen, the word was that there was a plan to look for a paddle later. It was windy but not wet so some of us set off for a walk from the campsite to seek out some of the stone circles marked on the map. Catriona, Frankie, Debbie and Keith set off on the walk. 3 of us dressed in waterproofs and walking boots/shoes/wellies and one of us in shorts and Crocs. Only 3 of us actually went further than the start of the footpath across the road from the campsite.
Mindful of the need to be back, to potentially go paddling at 3.30pm, we headed off along the marked footpath towards Locheport and the stone circles. There were some rather boggy parts of this section of the West Highland Way. There may have been some welly envy from some corners. As we walked past small bodies of water with white caps on the wind waves there was doubt and scepticism about any of us getting in our boats later. The sun was mostly shining and after a few discussions about our pace, were we really going that slowly or had we set out later than we thought? It turned out to be the latter, we made it to the first burial mounds and a view of the Loch that unbeknownst to us at that point we would have lots of fun on fuzzy water a few days later.
After exploring the burial mounds and pondering over the map we decided not to carry onto to the stone circle as we were not sure we would be back in time to not go paddling. Retracing our steps we came across first Gary and then Chris, who both had set out on the walk, although they had taken slightly different routes to both each other and us. The wind picked up and the rain began just as we made it back to base for lunch and a discussion about the paddling or not.
“So the plan is to look at a paddle late today say leave here at 3.30 pm and look at getting in here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/XjedefYP8xHvzxqQ7?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copy”
In the end, we decided paddling was off and we left a car or two and went for a drive to look at the Harbour at Grimsay and the boat museum. It proved to be very sheltered and if we all had boats, we may have got on the water for a quick paddle for an hour or two before dark.
However, we enjoyed the two museums and found a possible good get-in for a paddle when the storm finally passed through. The restaurant at the Harbour was just shutting as we arrived and Debbie was more than a little disappointed, as she had visited there a few years before.
