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At the end of May I had 7 days starting and ending in Barra to make a bit of an expedition for myself. As Barra wouldn't last me a whole week I needed to head north to South Uist for some exploring. Poring over maps, the obvious area to head for was the east coast. Maybe I could start off at Usinis bothy and head south to Loch Aineort then south again to Lochboisdale and maybe even south again to Eriskay. I had a tent and 5 days worth of 'expedition' food and a really naive belief in my abilities to carry the lot over rough terrain day after day.
On the plus side, I had met Danny from South Lochboisdale a couple of years ago when I gave him a lift to Eisgen in the Pairc district of Lewis. We then met again in the Bunkhouse on Rum last year. He told me that a few hours after our first meeting he had had his worst ever hill accident when he fell into a river and badly injured a leg. If only I hadn't given him a lift he'd have been nowhere near that river and his accident wouldn't have happened! Anyway I hoped to meet up with him when passing. So after the near 5 hour ferry trip from Oban I arrived at Barra.
Arriving at Barra
barra1 by
Peter Lynn, on Flickr
Castlebay
barra2 by
Peter Lynn, on Flickr
The next step in the morning, after a night at the Dunard Hostel, was to get across Barra to the Eriskay ferry. Thoughts of going 'over the top' were discouraged by the weight of my pack (about 14kg at this point) and the rapid appearance of low cloud obscuring the tops. So I walked on the road round the east side to Airdmor.
Ferry waiting to unload
barra3 by
Peter Lynn, on Flickr
Communication was to prove very frustrating this week but after several attempts I managed to contact Danny and he agreed to put me up for the night after meeting me later at 'the cafe'. I foolishly omitted to get the exact details of this cafe. I assumed it was on Eriskay (there isn't a cafe as such) but it turned out to be at the campsite at West Kilbride. We did bump into each other on the road later so it worked out ok. In the meantime I got off the ferry and decided I ought to have a try at lugging this pack up a hill so headed off up Ben Sciathan - Eriskay's highest point. The main effect of the pack was on my balance - as I discovered when climbing over a barbed wire fence later, ending up neatly pirouetting backwards onto my pack.
View back to the Ferry and Barra peeping above the cloud
barra4 by
Peter Lynn, on Flickr
View over the Sound of Eriskay to South Uist
barra5 by
Peter Lynn, on Flickr
So after encountering Danny on the road not far from the West Kilbride campsite (and its cafe) Danny drove me to his and entertained me royally for the evening as we watched the FA cup final and the rain fell outside.
Sunday dawned fine, if cloudy, and Danny agreed to come with me to the bothy (a decision he regretted from time to time during the next 24 hours) and he drove us to the starting point due west of the bothy.
hecla1 by
Peter Lynn, on Flickr
Before we set off another couple of elderly walkers (who were heading for Hecla, their last Marilyn in the Uists), said hello and, on hearing we were off to Usinis bothy warned us against the rats. This didn't please Danny too much as he is the MO for the bothy and has a regular campaign of rat trapping. So we set off for a short distance down the track before heading off over the bog in the direction of the bealach between Hecla and Ben Corodale.
Danny sets off with Hecla and Ben Corodale behind
hecla2 by
Peter Lynn, on Flickr
The bog was unusually dry after the good spring up here so presented no problems. Eventually we intersected with the other two and it turned out both Margaret and Roger taught at St Andrews when Danny was a student there - though their subjects didn't intersect. So quite some time passed while all this reminiscence was going on with me enjoying the view.
Roger, Margaret and Danny
hecla3 by
Peter Lynn, on Flickr
It turned out that I had read a number of walk reports from Roger and Margaret (aka Realsquiz and Squiz) on Scottish Hills Forum. In some ways they were responsible for me choosing this area. All this jolly chat led Danny into suggested we could go over Hecla to the bothy if I was ok carrying my pack up there. So we did.
Danny up ahead
hecla4 by
Peter Lynn, on Flickr
Sudden view north to Benbecula and North Uist on reaching the ridge
hecla5 by
Peter Lynn, on Flickr
South to Ben Corodale and Ben Mor
hecla6 by
Peter Lynn, on Flickr
After a bit of huffing and puffing up the final slope, and Danny thinking aloud that we shouldn't have done this and he had a lot of gardening to get done at home, we got to the strange overhanging rock that is Hecla's summit.
Danny on top
hecla7 by
Peter Lynn, on Flickr
I could now see south down the coast where I hoped to be walking for the next few days. The first little peninsula with a small island beyond the end of Ben Mor's east ridge is where I would camp a couple of nights later.
hecla8 by
Peter Lynn, on Flickr
Shortly after we'd had a drink and snack, Roger (80) and Margaret (77) arrived at the top. Hope I'm going as well in another 13 years!
hecla10 by
Peter Lynn, on Flickr
The first part of the descent was great on shortish grass - and downhill. But soon we were into what Danny had warned me about - rank heather, hidden rocks, bracken and ticks.
hecla11 by
Peter Lynn, on Flickr
After about an hour of this we finally came into sight of the bothy. What a great situation over looking a wide bay, the Skye Cuillins and Rum on the horizon and a long way from anywhere.
hecla12 by
Peter Lynn, on Flickr
We arrived at the bothy at the exact same time as a kayaking couple Alice and Angers who were setting up camp and just inspecting the bothy. I pitched my tent in an old sheepfold near the bothy and set about helping Danny with a few repairs to the stove flue and fitting a new cowl on the chimney of the bothy. I felt I'd done a little to repay Danny's help in getting here. Then after a great evening in front of the peat fuelled stove I retired to my tent. I was kept awake by the breeze rustling the fabric of my lightweight tent but fatigue got the better of me and I slept well. To be continued.