Mass exodus from E to W! Norm arrived spot on time at 0630 to collect me and bulging rucksack. It was bright and sunny and hopefully going to stay that way as we sped off along the back road past Kinloss RAF (soon to be Army) Base to Forres, where we met up with Ian and a packed car. We off loaded some of the rucksacks from his car boot, along with Tom who came to sit in the front of the van with Norm and myself. The journey westward was uneventful, the sunlit views across Loch Ness looking as good as ever. About two hours saw us turning off the A82 near Fort William and onto The Road To The Isles heading towards Mallaig. A brief stop at Glenfinnan and then on to Mallaig. At the Cal-Mac ticket office disaster!! my bus pass had recently been renewed in Moray and it's only Highland Region pass holders go for free! £25 for a ticket to Rum, then on to Eigg and back to Mallaig, not a bad price really I suppose. Time to spare so a second breakfast was called for! Just around the corner from the ferry ticket office is the Seamen's Mission, where a brew and bacon and egg roll was the choice for me. An hour or so later and we were well under-way, many of the passengers enjoying the sunshine and on the lookout for dolphins or the chance sighting of a whale!
Rum, sunshine and NO midges!!! A five minute walk along the track brought us to the camp site, dry ground, a tap and toilets close by, that, and the views across the loch what more would you want! Tent sites were selected and the camp began to take shape, time for another brew. Some of the guys walked up to have a look at Kinloch Castle while the more hardy wandered down to the old jetty for a dip! Having visited Rum a number of times for work it was great just to relax, enjoy the sun and general ambience. Eventually time to eat again (well you've got to keep your strength up!). My mini Trangia was ideal, all I
needed was the pan for water as all my meals were
freeze dried, this evening was Thai chilli chicken
soup with lemon grass, followed by a meat and
potato hot pot, pud was an apple and another brew, then before bed a mug of hot chocolate. A clear night brought the temperature down but was not uncomfortable and around three am it was easy enough to see to read, and around five the sun was hitting the tents.
Breakfast, a sachet of porridge and hand full of raisins in my mug with a good squeeze of condensed milk, some boiling water and a good stir! Yum! A smidgin of water to swill the mug, throw in a tea bag and more water and that's breakfast done. Sleeping bags were pushed into their stuff sacks and tents were packed away, boots pulled on and we were about ready to head off to Harris, a bay on the south west of the island. The route was straight forward, about eight miles of hard packed 'landroverable' track so rucksacs shouldered, a last check around the camp site, best foot forward and all that, and off we went. Some more from Rum later.
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