So near, yet so far!

On Tuesday the weather wasn’t great, but I had decided I would drive down the main road and turn off to Elgol, where if it looked a bit brighter I might take the boat trip across Loch Scavaig to land at the spot where I would be able to walk along a short stretch of river to reach Loch Coruisk – Cor-ooshk – another two Gaelic words:  Coire, a hollow, and uisge, water.  The loch indeed sits in a hollow, and wears its name well!  I’ve been there twice before, inspired by a framed calendar picture we grew up with in our living room!  It was beautiful – and the real thing was pretty breath-taking too, surrounded as it is with all those high jaggy Cuillin  peaks!  I looked forward to seeing it again.

However, first I drove down the single track road to hopefully get views of the Black Cuillin (as opposed to the Red Cuillin, that surely get their name from the evening sun that catches them, turning them red?  I don’t know!)  Janet and Colin had both mentioned the Fairy Pools so that would be my first stop.  Parking up in the car park I took myself off down a path that was evidently the way to Sligachan.  It followed the burn down into the valley, and continued across it to climb into the hills!  Not for me.  I’m not able any more for that sort of thing!  Instead I followed the sound of the water and found a series of cascades, falling over rocky outcrops into pools and on downwards to the next one.  Very pretty.  These must be the Fairy Pools!  Not being too clever with balance and not having brought my walking poles, when I finally got to the point where the path crosses the river, there was too big a gap to jump over – I knew me!  I’d land in the water –

  so I pottered around there taking pictures for a while before climbing back up the hill to the car.  It turned out when I saw the others later that the actual fairy pools were further on across the gap I couldn’t jump!    Never mind!  Next time maybe!  I was quite happy with what I had seen! 

 

 

 

I drove on, stopping to take a pic of this big fellow, and eventually I reached the end of the road at the gate to the Glenbrittle Camping site.  The views of the mountains were rather cloud-ridden , but rather atmospheric with the cloud rolling around the peaks.  I decided to go paddling in the sea, just to see how cold or otherwise the water might be.  It was perfect!  Not cold really!   Very enjoyable and relaxing!

I loved how the land in the distance echoed the shape of the promontory in front.   So with Loch Coruisk at the other side of the cloudy mountains  I started on the road back to Carbost, where I will pick you up next time.

Talk again soon.