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- Tarbert. A lovely village worth visiting.
Having stayed overnight in Tarbert which is a lovely village, I took the bus down to Clachan which is a small hamlet. It was a very hot day.
Here is a a summary of my experiences of this walk.
* From Clachan the walk starts through some woodland. At this time of year the grass is very high. Straight away you are walking through high grass so HIGH STRENGTH DEET IS ESSENTIAL to help avoid ticks.
* Throughout the whole walk, with a few exceptions, you are walking through thick grass paths so be tick aware
* The OS map indicates you will be walking on tracks as opposed to paths, however these tracks are now so old they are overgrown. The route nevertheless is distinct.
* If these paths are not managed, they will be impassible in two or three years time!
* Apart from through the initial woodland from Clachan, the whole route is exposed to the sun, there is no respite! This includes even in the forest areas because the trees are so far away from the paths they offer no shade. This is important as, on a hot day, it could be dangerous on such a long walk.
* The middle part of the walk is a long hard slog through moorland. Outside of summer the grass may be shorter but it would be much more boggy adding to the slog!
* There are no good views on this walk until the end when Arran comes into view. Mostly it is of barren moorland and boring forestry.
* The route is well signposted.
As you may have guessed by now, this was not a favourite walk of mine. It was one to tick off my list never to be repeated!
Once I reached Claonaig, I caught the 1620 boat over to Lochranza, bus down to Brodick then boat to Ardrossan. A long day out but an achievement nonetheless 😅
