Walking on Jura, Islay and Colonsay Walking on Jura, Islay and Colonsay
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WALKING ON JURA, ISLAY AND COLONSAY WALKING ON JURA, ISLAY AND COLONSAY 23 WILD WALKS IN THE SOUTHERN HEBRIDES About the Author by Peter Edwards Peter Edwards grew up in Sussex and nurtured a love of walking and moun- tain biking amid the ‘blunt, bow-headed, whale-backed’ hills of the South Downs. Peter is a fan of wild landscapes and remote places; he lives at Rhenigidale on the Isle of Harris with his wife, Fiona, and their Labradors, Dougal and Mara. JUNIPER HOUSE, MURLEY MOSS, OXENHOLME ROAD, KENDAL, CUMBRIA LA9 7RL www.cicerone.co.uk © Peter Edwards 2019 CONTENTS Third edition 2019 ISBN: 978 1 85284 979 5 Map key ...................................................... 6 Second edition 2014 Overview map ................................................. 8 First edition 2010 INTRODUCTION ............................................. 11 Printed by KHL Printing, Singapore Jura ......................................................... 11 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Islay ........................................................ 13 Colonsay .................................................... 13 © Crown copyright 2019 OS PU100012932 History ...................................................... 14 All photographs are by the author unless otherwise stated. Geology ..................................................... 17 Wildlife ..................................................... 18 Getting to the Southern Hebrides .................................. 22 Getting between the islands ...................................... 25 Acknowledgements The routes. 26 While walking in the Southern Hebrides, I have greatly enjoyed the company of Maps and route-finding ......................................... 27 Rich Baldwin, Jon Beck, James Boulter, Brett Collins, Andy and Jen Dodd, Garry Safety and emergencies ......................................... 28 Glover, Andy Godfrey and Giulia Hetherington, Chris Hallworth, Susan Kemp, What to take .................................................. 29 Nina Mesner, Felicity Parsons, Anne-Marie and David Parsons, Alex Rintoul, Dan Using this guide ............................................... 31 Twyman, Malcolm Walker, Steve Wilkinson and Dougal Mòr, Mara, Sol, Hooper, Nell and Reuben. Thanks to Dave Hoult, Konrad Borkowski and Dorota Jelinska, JURA ....................................................... 33 Craig Rozga at Ruantallain Estate, Andrew and Claire Fletcher at Ardlussa and to Walk 1 The Gulf of Corryvreckan ............................... 45 Duncan Philips, skipper of the Farsain. Most of all I would like to thank the lovely Walk 2 Road End to Glengarrisdale .............................. 50 Fiona Rintoul who introduced me to these wonderful islands and who has been Walk 3 The west coast walk ................................... 54 my companion on many fine walks since 2001. This book is dedicated to her. Day 1 Ardlussa or Kinuachdrachd to Glengarrisdale ................ 62 Day 2 Glengarrisdale to Shian Bay ............................. 67 Day 3 Shian Bay to Cruib Lodge ............................... 72 Updates to this Guide Day 4 Cruib Lodge to Glenbatrick Bay .......................... 79 Day 5 Glenbatrick Bay to Feolin Ferry ........................... 84 While every effort is made by our authors to ensure the accuracy of guidebooks as Day 5A Glenbatrick Bay to the A846 via Glen Batrick ................ 90 they go to print, changes can occur during the lifetime of an edition. Any updates Walk 4 North Jura coast and glens. 93 that we know of for this guide will be on the Cicerone website (www.cicerone. Walk 5 Tarbert to Cruib Lodge bothy ............................. 97 co.uk/979/updates), so please check before planning your trip. We also advise Walk 6 Glengarrisdale to Cruib across Jura’s northern hills ........... 100 that you check information about such things as transport, accommodation and Walk 7 Ardlussa to Corpach Bay and Am Miadar .................. 108 shops locally. Even rights of way can be altered over time. We are always grate- Walk 8 The Paps of Jura ...................................... 113 ful for information about any discrepancies between a guidebook and the facts Walk 9 Evans’ Walk to Glenbatrick Bay and return ................. 118 on the ground, sent by email to [email protected] or by post to Cicerone, Walk 10 Glas Bheinn and Dubh Bheinn .......................... 121 Juniper House, Murley Moss, Oxenholme Road, Kendal, LA9 7RL. Register your book: To sign up to receive free updates, special offers and SCARBA .................................................... 125 GPX files where available, register your book at www.cicerone.co.uk. Walk 11 Cruach Scarba ....................................... 131 Front cover: An Cladach bothy on the Sound of Islay (Walks 13 and 14) ISLAY ...................................................... 135 Walk 12 Rhuvaal and the north-west coast ........................ 150 Walk 13 An Cladach, McArthur’s Head and the Sound of Islay ......... 158 Mountain safety Walk 14 An Cladach–Beinn Bheigier circuit ....................... 163 Walk 15 Beinn na Caillich and Beinn Bheigier from Ardtalla ........... 168 Every mountain walk has its dangers, and those described in this Walk 16 The Oa peninsula .................................... 172 guidebook are no exception. All who walk or climb in the mountains should Walk 17 Sanaigmore to Kilchiaran .............................. 181 recognise this and take responsibility for themselves and their companions Walk 18 Ardnave Point ....................................... 187 along the way. The author and publisher have made every eort to ensure that the information contained in this guide was correct when it went to press, but, COLONSAY ................................................. 191 except for any liability that cannot be excluded by law, they cannot accept Walk 19 Around Oronsay ..................................... 203 responsibility for any loss, injury or inconvenience sustained by any person Walk 20 South Colonsay coast ................................. 207 using this book. Walk 21 Lower Kilchattan to Kiloran Bay ......................... 212 Walk 22 North Colonsay coast ................................. 217 Walk 23 Scalasaig to Kiloran Bay along the Old Road ................ 223 International distress signal (emergency only) Appendix A Route summary table .............................. 226 Six blasts on a whistle (and flashes with a torch after dark) spaced evenly for one Appendix B Walks on other islands ............................. 230 minute, followed by a minute’s pause. Repeat until an answer is received. The response is three signals per minute followed by a minute’s pause. Appendix C Useful contacts ................................... 232 Appendix D Glossary ........................................ 233 Appendix E Further reading ................................... 234 Helicopter rescue The following signals are used to communicate with a helicopter: Route symbols on OS map extracts Help needed: Help not needed: route raiseHelp Helpboth requir rarmsequired: ed: raiseHelpHelp notone r notequirarm required: ed: aboveraise rboth aisehead botharms to arms raboveaise roneaise head, armone abarm extendov abe ov e alternative route formabo avab e‘Y’ headove head to to otherhead,head, arm extend downwardextend other other form forma ‘V’ a ‘V’ arm doarmwnw downward ard start/finish point start point Emergency telephone numbers finish point To call out the Mountain Rescue, ring 999 or the European emergency number 112: this will connect you via any available network. Once you are connected alternative start/finish point to the emergency operator, ask for the police. alternative start point alternative finish point Weather reports route direction The Mountain Weather Information Service (MWIS) provides forecasts for Scotland's mountain areas: www.mwis.org.uk. Other useful websites include www.xcweather.co.uk and www.metoce.gov.uk. for OS legend see printed OS maps WALKING ON JURA, ISLAY AND COLONSAY OVERVIEW MAP LynnLynn ISLEISLE OF OF of Lornof Lorn MULLMULL ObanOban A85A85 TyndrumTyndrumA85A85 ScridainScridain n n DalmallyDalmally IonaIona L L r r o o NN A849A849 L L f f CrianlarichCrianlarich o o LochearnheadLochearnhead FionnphortFionnphort rth rth Fi Fi L L LOCHLOCH LOMOND LOMOND & & AvichAvich A82 A82 A819 A819 THETHE TROSSACHS TROSSACHS 0 0 10mile10mile LochLoch Loch AweLoch Awe KatrineKatrine CraobhCraobhA816 A816 CallanderCallander 0 0 20 km20 km HavenHaven Scarba,Scarba, Lunga Lunga & & InverarayInveraray A83 A83 A821A821 A815A815 TheThe Garvellachs GarvellachsSCARBASCARBA Loch Loch s s A81A81 2 hr 2 hrKinuachdrachdKinuachdrachd CrinanCrinan Lomond Lomond R ForthR Forth ScalasaigScalasaig Long Long HarbourHarbour GlengarrisdaleGlengarrisdale A83 A83 A811A811 ra ra ColonsayColonsay u u (summer) (summer) J J A817A817 ArdlussaArdlussaf f LochgilpheadLochgilphead A815 A815 M876M876 1 hr 1 hr o o LochLoch A875 A875 d d TayvallichTayvallich A886 A886 n n JURAJURA HelensburghHelensburgh A809 A809 u u A814 A814 A81 A81 o o e e A811A811 n n S S y Kylesy Kyles KilsythKilsyth F F KnapdaleKnapdale of of DunoonDunoon A891A891 h h DumbartonA82DumbartonA82 c JuraJuraA846 A846 c ButeBute A8 A8 A803A803 o o PortPort e e A761 A761 L FeolinFeolin L A886A886CollintraiveCollintraive AskaigAskaig d Greenockd Greenock M80M80 y y FerryFerry TarbertTarbert l l M8 M8 C C CraighouseCraighouse f f A8 A8 RothesayRothesay o o A78 A78 GlasgowGlasgow KennacraigKennacraig