L2L Day 84 Tangasdal to Bayherivagh - 8 miles
A relaxed start for a relatively short walk today.
The machair full of yellow buttercups
Cattle enjoying the lush grass and all those buttercups...while their calves lie low, taking shelter from the breeze.
After a short section of road walking we turned off and followed the waymarkers into the hills.
The weather clearly takes its toll on buildings and vehicles. It does bring to mind "Resistance is futile". The weather and climate will eventually get the better of us!
Interesting herring-bone slating.
Some of the older abandoned buildings have walls 900mm thick.
It was good to see Planning Conservation notices on some of the more prominent abandoned buildings. They seem to sit in the landscape far more appropriately than most of the more recent buildings.
Stonechat
Lapwing
On the track up into the hills we passed banks of Iris
Marsh orchid
Ragged Robin
and Thrift.
The visibility dininished as we climbed up. The route often becoming quite boggy.
Mother of Thyme
Heath bedstraw
As we reached the top, at about 550 ft, the rain stopped, so we stopped for a flask of coffee and as the visibiity improved, we could see both East and West coasts.
After a boggy descent,
we reached Lochan na Cartach - appropriately named Loch of the Water lillies - which were just starting to blossom.
Then, as the rain started again,
we had a final climb around the top of Beinn Eireabhal at 350ft
and then the descent with views through the mizzle of our ferry for tomorrow, threading it's way between the islands,
and then Barra airport, famous for its runway on the sandy beach.
Back down, just above sea level, as we walked to our accommodation, the rain cleared as quickly as it had arrived.
Our host had been a nurse for 48 years before retiring earlier this year. Having worked away in Aberdeen, she'd returned as a Senior Nurse Practioner for Barra dealing with patients, as she put it 'from cradle to grave' and explained to us the unavoidably convoluted process of evacuating any patients with complications to either Uist or the mainland.
Lapwing
On the track up into the hills we passed banks of Iris
Marsh orchid
Ragged Robin
and Thrift.
The visibility dininished as we climbed up. The route often becoming quite boggy.
Mother of Thyme
As we reached the top, at about 550 ft, the rain stopped, so we stopped for a flask of coffee and as the visibiity improved, we could see both East and West coasts.
After a boggy descent,
we reached Lochan na Cartach - appropriately named Loch of the Water lillies - which were just starting to blossom.
Then, as the rain started again,
we had a final climb around the top of Beinn Eireabhal at 350ft
and then the descent with views through the mizzle of our ferry for tomorrow, threading it's way between the islands,
and then Barra airport, famous for its runway on the sandy beach.
Back down, just above sea level, as we walked to our accommodation, the rain cleared as quickly as it had arrived.
Our host had been a nurse for 48 years before retiring earlier this year. Having worked away in Aberdeen, she'd returned as a Senior Nurse Practioner for Barra dealing with patients, as she put it 'from cradle to grave' and explained to us the unavoidably convoluted process of evacuating any patients with complications to either Uist or the mainland.
Every year, in her own spare time, she accompanies disabled pilgrims to Lourdes on a hospital bus. Quite a lady!
Love the way the birds all appear to be happy to pose for a photo!!!xx
ReplyDeleteI know!!! They're all very obliging...apart from Gold finches which I can't get to sit still long enough for love nor money.
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