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The west-facing road heads across the island to Harris where the Bullough family mausoleum has stood watch over the clifftops for well over a hundred years. This comprised of a short wander around Kinloch followed by a hill walk up Hallival and a cycle to Kilmory Bay, with extra time allocated for picnic stops and plenty of photos. Unless you are planning to arrive by kayak, or take a boat trip from the Kylesku Hotel, there is no direct route to Glencoul. Approaches from West and North both require concentration and good navigation skills, particularly in poor weather conditions. Key Attractions: Hiking: The island boasts spectacular terrain with rugged hills and a beautiful coastline. There are several marked trails, but the challenge of climbing Rum’s highest peak, Askival, is a must-do for experienced hikers. Actually that’s not true, he rightly made the point that this was no race and the views from the top of Trollaval would also be excellent. So I got up there in a great frame of mind.. fuelled by another pork pie and some Jelly Babies (yes that does make me sound like a fat boy but we were all eating a lot to keep energy up of course).
On a clear day you can see St. Kilda and the Flannan Isles, while in the evening the blink of the lighthouse on Eilean Molach is a comforting friend. The bothy was designed and built by John and Lorna Norgrove more than 30 years ago and at first its construction aroused little interest, but then people began to visit and admire it. Most notably, these included three spirits, each of which received the maximum 3 star accreditation from the 355 judges, who attended 86 days of socially-distanced judging in London and Dorset, and included food writer Xanthe Clay and Kavi Thakrar, founder of Dishoom. There’s also Tayport Distillery’s Scots Pine Gin, which was inspired by the Fife coastline, festive memories and Tentsmuir Forest. The judges said; “There's an almost menthol-freshness to the juniper and pine nose, nicely balanced by citrus and cinnamon softness”. Last year, Tayport Distillery also won the regional Golden Fork Trophy for their 1992 Raspberry Liqueur, which is made using local berries. We never actually saw a group larger than this – to say there are about 1500 Red Deer on Rum I had expected to see more but I think they congregate around the other side of the island.Wildlife watching. Rum is owned and managed by Nature Scot who looks after the nature reserve that’s home to a huge variety of animals.
Inside the rather large but rather dark room, there is a sturdy table, a scattering of chairs, and a bizarre candelabra hanging from the ceiling. In 2012 the Friends of Bob Scott’s donated a stove – a very welcome addition. A steep wooden ladder leads up to an attic space. There are thriving colonies of golden eagles and sea eagles, one of the world’s largest breeding colonies of Manx shearwater, and a coastline that’s a favourite breeding ground for otters and seals.The road to Kilmory is around 12 miles return while the road to Harris is around 15 miles return, which potentially puts either destination out of reach of walkers but is certainly possible for those on two wheels. During late September and early October the annual red deer rut takes place. This is the deer mating season, and while fascinating to watch, stags can be extremely dangerous during this time and should be given a wide berth. While the entire range can be broken down into short sections, the majority of people attempt the classic Cuillin Ridge Walk (link to the Walk Highlands guide) which crosses 5 peaks over 13 miles. Visiting Tips I, with a couple of the other guys took that route. But it still required a steady foot and a good grip in some places, so getting my phone out a la tourist just didn’t happen 🙂 Which has meant quite a few evenings of work and less head space of late. But also, for the first few days after my return, I found it hard to type for any length of time.
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