Rum At Last!

Fine Weather over Rum as we head back to the mainland

With two planned trips to Rum abandoned for various reasons over the last couple of years we decided that despite the forecast for strong winds, snow and lightening, to throw caution to the wind and head to the Isle of Rum anyway, accepting the fact that our plans to walk the main ridge might have to be modified. So Sunday afternoon we headed off after work to spend a night at the Independent Hostel in Glencoe before continuing to Mallaig the following morning. We arrived at the hostel in Glencoe in time to dump our stuff and head the the Clachaig Inn for a couple of beers.

The dramatic light as a squall passes through as we approach Eigg

Leaving Fort William for Mallaig the signs were not great with warnings of ferry cancellations and delays being displayed on the large illuminated roadside information board, ever optimistic we pressed on and parked up in the large free car park just before you reach the ferry terminal. Fortunately the ferry had not been cancelled. Unfortunately, for me at least, it was very rough. Having said that the changing light as squalls passed through was amazing as it was for the whole trip.

Arriving at Guirdil Bothy

The tame deer that hang around Guirdil

The weather had made our decision fairly straight forward as we weren’t keen on being on the ridge with the wind strength and risk of lightening, so plan B was to spend a night in the two bothies on the island with a walk round the southern coast on our middle day, so we left Kinloch passed the castle and onto a landrover track which we followed until it split with the right hand branch leading to Kilmory. We followed for a short while before following a faint path uphill on the left before heading down the shallow valley of Glen Shellester to the coast then south to Guirdil Bay and our first bothy.

Guirdil Bothy on day 2 with Canna in the distance

With a small maintenance team from the Mountain Bothies Association staying for a few days and Geoff Allan author of the Scottish Bothy Bible, we had an enjoyable evening swapping stories and drinking whisky around a good fire in the newly installed grate.

The portable angle grinder seems to be doing the trick

The newly installed grate being put to good use

After a cold night hoping the maintenance team had done a good job on the roof and being thankful for our Mountain Equipment sleeping bags we left the bothy and headed for Bealach a’ Bhraigh Bhig keeping high on the north side of the valley following a very faint Argo track before dropping down to the landrover track that leads to the small “settlement” of Harris with its impressive mausoleum in a complete bizarre location.

Views across to Canna from the Bothy

The Bullough’s Family Mausoleum at Harris

This short section is the only part of the route where you could confidently say a path existed and the remainder of the walk to Dibidil and our second bothy was extremely rough going but with absolutely sensational views and scenery. I had read somewhere that contouring at around 150m above the sea was a good option but we found that going a little higher proved a little easier.

Looking back towards Harris as we head to Dibidil

Dibidil Bothy is in the bay on the left

There is a steep descent to the sea at the ruined Papadil Lodge and if you can find your way through the overgrown rhododendrons you’ll find a faint path that heads back uphill to pass Loch Dubh an Sgorr at around 170m before descending to Dibidil, another bothy in a truly sensational location.

We found Geoff, who is the MBA  maintenance officer for Dibidil already there and a young couple who had been on the ferry with us who were spending their second night at the bothy. Dibidil has a small stove and Geoff, who been back to Kinloch, had carried in a small amount of coal so we got the stove going to warm the place up.

At least our Fjallraven pants aren’t matching colours!

The walk from Dididil back to Kinloch is a little easier with a more obvious path which is quite wet in places so we arrived back at the “ferry terminal” in plenty of time for the afternoon sailing.

The “Ferry Terminal” on Rum

The return crossing produced the best weather of the trip and by contrast the sea was flat calm and we spent most of our time outside enjoying the views of the Rum and Skye Cuillin. As we approached Mallaig with impressive views towards Knoydart I felt sure that I would be back soon.