Dolphins

This morning broke with a thin mist of Kilchoan sunshine and only a breath of wind blowing from the southwest, just enough to create patterns across the surface of the sea.

This is ideal weather for spotting anything moving in the water.  We had heard that a group of three otters had been seen recently but, just after ten this morning, it was a small pod of dolphins that made a leisurely pass along the coast, not more than a hundred metres out.

They were moving sedately, as if in no hurry to be anywhere, but coming out of the water enough to be able to see that they were Common Dolphins.

Five Lochans and a Beinn - 2

The trouble with walking in this beautiful area is that, once an objective is reached, another crops up that needs to be visited.  On our Sunday walk we had already attained two, a deep, dark lochan and the summit of Beinn Bhreac, but reaching the summit then offered a mass of further possibilities. A look at the map at the bottom of this entry shows that this high area of relatively impermeable metamorphic rock has lochans scattered all over it, no less than seven within a kilometre of the beinn's summit.

Since the Diary is keen to visit every lochan on West Ardnamurchan - collecting lochans can be as obsessive as collecting Munros - we had to take in a few of those on offer.  The first (above) is within a few tens of metres of Beinn Bhreac's summit, a shallow, rock-strewn stretch of water blasted by the wind.

The next we visited is tucked into a fold to the south of the Beinn, and is one of four grouped on the OS map under the name Lochain Beinne Brice.  It's a lovely little lochan, soft and friendly in the way the first two we passed weren't so, for want of its correct name, we called it Lily Lochan.

This is the White Water Lily, Nymphaea alba.  It's a native species, but seems to be very choosy as to which lochs and lochans it lives in.  For more details of this elegant flower, look at the west Highland Flora site here.

The fourth lochan was another in the group Lochain Beinne Brice.  Although very close to Lily Lochan, it didn't have any lilies.  A tiny burn leaves the lochan on its far side, and we followed this downhill.

The valley cut by this burn travels for upwards of a kilometre.  It was filled with signs of deer - tracks, dung, flattened grass where they had lain - but we didn't see any.  However, we did envy them this little Eden they have almost entirely to themselves, with wide views across the Lesser Isles.

Our fifth and last lochan comes straight from a geography text book.  It's what any geography teacher would instantly identify as a 'corrie, cwm or cirque', and has all the features - a hanging back wall, rounded plan, and a lip at the left bottom corner - all created by the little glacier which occupied it some 10,000 years ago.

We followed the stream which left this lochan and dropped steeply downhill, then weturned north into the valley of the Allt Eilagadale to follow it down until we met the Ockle-Gortenfern coast path.

We must have walked over eight kilometres up and down hill and over some heavy going, so were, by the time we returned to the car park in Ockle, tottering on our feet.  But this was a wonderful walk, hard going from start to finish, but varied and interesting and full of scenery and wildlife; and we'd 'bagged' five more lochans.

Ships in the Sound Special

For Marc Allan, who says that the 'Ships in the Sound' feature on the Diary is his favourite.

The cruise ship that passed Kilchoan at about 10.30pm last night in a blaze of light was the Aidacara, one of three ships in the AIDA Cruises fleet, a German company which is part of P&O.  She was built as a 'club' ship, a concept which is aimed at younger people.  She has accommodation for 1,186 happy passengers and a crew of 360.

'Skullduggery by the Sea'

Kilchoan Football Club are at this moment travelling to Bristol - yes, Bristol, England - for a football tournament which goes under the heading of 'Skullduggery by the Sea'.  If Diary readers don't believe that a football tournament can go by such a name, bearing in mind they usually have such ponderous titles as 'The World Cup' or 'The UEFA Champions League', full details are here.

As would be expected of them, Kilchoan FC have been undergoing rigorous training, illustrated in this YouTube clip courtesy of Cliff Isherwood at the Kilchoan House Hotel -



You can follow the team's progress on their Facebook site, here.

Shona & Scott's Wedding

Shona Cameron married Scott Stewart in the beautiful setting of Glenborrodale Castle on Saturday.  Picture shows, from left, Gillespie and Alayne Cameron, Mr and Mrs Scott Stewart, and Gael and Bert Cameron with bridesmaid Holly.

 Shona with her mother, Alayne.

 Bert and Gael Cameron with Shona and Scott.

 Shona with her bridesmaids and friends.

Scott with his best man and ushers.

Many thanks to Stewart Pote for the pictures.

All pictures © Stewart Pote.