Monday 16 June - Kearvaig to Sandwood Bay

Woke early and out of habit, rolled up my sleeping bag and roll mat before going for a wander on the beach.  This burst of efficiency turned out to be a Good Thing.






Crossing a freshwater stream I explored a little cave on the left before going onto the rocks at the other end to see the puffins on the rocks there.

As I left the beach I saw a vehicle drive down the track.  We'd already appreciated that it's unusual to see vehicles here other than the tourist minibuses.  A girl informed me that there was a bombing raid due and we all had to clear out.  She would take us to the lighthouse.  We had ten minutes to pack!

It's amazing what you can do in ten minutes.  We were walking back up the path when she came for us, and it meant we had a lift for the last couple of miles to the lighthouse where we were to kick our heels for an hour or so.

(Lighthouse information here). 

The military takes these things very seriously.  The whole area is completely sealed off; visitors, locals, everyone locked down for the duration.  They bomb a tiny island (Garvie) just off the mainland and it's heavy stuff, involving thousand-pounders sometimes - and apparently, although this has been going on since about 1927, the island remains unchanged.  It says something for the obduracy of Scottish granite.

Looking over at Garvie (small lump of rock on the left)

Well we waited, and we had sandwiches and coffee at the cafe there, and we walked about, but nothing really happened (this may have been held up due to a small sailing boat going round the coast) but even when the bombs did drop I heard and saw nothing other than a small plume of smoke from the lump of rock.

Upon being  allowed to leave we  went south, passing a small group of red deer and leaving the road to cross the trackless bog towards Sandalwood Bay.  This was hard  going in parts.  The bog was dry, which was good but there were some very deep ravines to be got around and at one point we became separated when we went in slightly different directions.  But the scenery was amazing, desolate, wild, and huge on a scale that's difficult to remember afterwards.  At lunchtime the sun came out and I started to regret using dry oil as midge repellent.
 Because of the strong sun, the sea looked very blue and we could have been in the Med with the wild bays and the steep rocky cliffs, the stacks of rock and the pale sand.  At one rest stop we actually saw wild otters playing in the sea, climbing on to a rock and diving back in.  Wonderful.

Looking down to Sandwood Bay 

There was one final river to be crossed (pic left) before reaching the fabled Sandwood Bay and for this my boots came off.  The water was clear, fresh and cold.  We had no concerns about being able to fill our water bottles in this area.




Sandwood Bay is huge.  After Kearvaig, it was just massive.  We pitched up on sand between the freshwater loch and the sea and I took a walk on the beach, but it feels as if you can walk for ages and not get closer to the cliff edge.  Sandwood is famous; let it get the visitors; Kearvaig was more accessible and really the superior beach - and likely to remain reasonably exclusive due to its location.



The midges were bad, so we retired to our tents, trying to sleep against the sun that never seems to set.