Island 267 - Rubha Da Chuain, Highland

This is another island that I cannot pronounce!  Rubha Da Chuain is a low lying rocky tidal island in 3 parts located 50 metres of the beach at Camusdarach, which is 1.5 miles to the south west of Morar in Highland Region. Some scenes in the film Local Hero, which is one of my favourite films, were filmed here.

It was a low spring tide when I visited and all 3 parts of the island were accessible.  The inner most part is covered in heather, scabious and a few small rowan and birch trees.  The middle section is covered in grass interspersed with pools of dark brown water.



Rubha Da Chuain

 The beach at Camusdarach from Rubha Da Chuain

 Rubha Da Chuain looking west

 Looking north west towards Rubha Da Chuain

Looking south from Rubha Da Chuain

Island 266 - Eilean Toigal, Morar, Highland

Eilean Toigal is a small round tidal island in Morar Bay a couple of miles south of Mallaig.  I was informed by the owner of the B&B in Arisaig where I stayed that it is pronounced to rhyme with Dougal.  It can be accessed off the A830 Morar Bypass.  There is a large layby on the northbound carriageway and just to the north of it there is a sign saying To the Beach, which goes down some well made stone steps.  I made the assumption that if the beach was advertised as a place to visit then the sands probably weren't going to be quicksand.   From the bottom of the steps it is about 500 metres to Eilean Toigal.

I visited on a very wet murky day, so the famous Silver Sands of Morar weren't looking their best.  However I really liked the island. It is obviously visited by people from time to time, as there was a faint path leading up from the south east corner of the island.  The island is mainly covered in heather and bracken with some birch and pine trees, 1 small oak tree and a few rhododendron bushes.  The whole island is covered in a thick carpet of moss and is very boggy.

 Sign by the layby near the steps to the beach.  I don't know how common rhinoceroses are in these parts!
 

 The centre of Eilean Toigal

 Eilean Toigal from the eastern side of Morar Bay

Looking south towards Eilean Toigal

Looking north west towards the mouth of Morar Bay

Eilean Toigal

Looking north from Toigal towards Eilean Toigal at high tide on a sunny day in June 2016

 

 

Island 265 - Sgeirean na Corra-gribhich, Arisaig, Highland

I have no idea how Sgeirean na Corra-gribhich is pronounced!  It is a small tidal island on the north side of the bay at Portnaluchaig two miles to the north of Arisaig and is linked to the mainland by a tombolo of light grey muddy sand.  It can be accessed easily without the need to scramble over any rocks or slippery seaweed.

The island is in 3 parts, which are connected to each other at low tide.   The eastern most part is sandy and covered in marram grass and other grasses, thistles, harebells, thrift and scabious.  The middle section, which is the largest, is covered in bracken, heather, juniper, gorse, short birch trees.  I spotted one rhododendron and one very small oak tree. The western half is little more than a rock covered in a small amount of grass.

Looking west from the end of Sgeirean na Corra-gribhich with Eigg and Rum in the distance

Looking east

Looking north

Looking north up the bay towards Sgeirean na Corra-gribhich

Island 264 - Lon Liath, Arisaig, Highland

Lon Liath is a very small tidal island in a beautiful sandy bay at Portnaluchaig 2 miles to the north of Arisaig.  There are other bigger islands in the area that are not named for some reason.  Lon Liath is no more than about 50 metres in circumference.  It is covered in grass and is only about 100 metres from the mainland.  There are lots of pools filled with dark brown water.  There are also a few flowers - thrift and dandelions.  It is accessible for at least 2 hours either side of low tide.

Golf Course at Portnaluchaig from Lon Liath

 Portnaluchaig Caravan Park from Lon Liath

 Lon Liath from Portnaluchaig

Island 263 - Eilean Ighe, Arisaig, Highland

Eilean Ighe is a strangely shaped island with many arms and legs.  It lies about 200 metres to the west of a house called Gortenachullish at Back of Keppoch a mile to the north of Arisaig.  It can be accessed on foot at low tide.

Peter Caton visited Eilean Ighe in his book No Boat Required: Exploring Tidal Islands.  He walked to it from Arisaig but did not report any problems accessing the island.  I arrived at the end of the public road in my car.  There is a very large turning area, so I parked tidily.  However I could see no path or track heading west towards Eilean Ighe.  There were gates into 2 fields either side of a house, so I chose one at random but just as I was opening it a cross man came out of the house and told me I couldn't go through his field.  I explained that I wanted to visit Eilean Ighe and he said I would have to go round by the beach.  He said he didn't know what state the tide was in but when I said low tide had been 50 minutes earlier he said it should still be accessible and walked back up his garden path, obviously not in a mood for a chat, which was a shame, as I wanted to ask him how to pronounce Ighe - is it eye, eee or ay or something else.  I still don't know, as I didn't want to call him back to ask!

I walked down to the beach where a group of young cows were standing and staring.  I scrambled round the headland but did wonder how I was going to get back again, as the tide was coming in and it was already lapping at the bottom of the rocks.  I walked across another beach where some older cows were grazing and over another small headland.  I was then faced with 200 metres of what looked to me like sandy mud, although it is marked on the OS map as sand.   Peter Caton hadn't reported that it was soft mud, so I tested it with my walking pole and it seemed firmer than it looked.  It was covered in thousands of worm casts but was firm enough.

The island is unremarkable.  Cows obviously cross to it occasionally, as there were dried up cow pats.  However there were none there when I visited.  The eastern side of the island, which I visited is covered in heather and rough grass.  The western side is partly covered in trees.

I didn't stay longer than the 10 minutes required, as I was aware the tide was coming in.  Thanks to the farmer's cows I found an easier way back.  By the time I got back to the beach the young cows had joined the older ones and I was pretty certain they hadn't paddled to get there.  After a minute or two I spotted their route and was soon back at the beach by my car.

 Eilean Ighe looking west towards the wooded part of the island

 Back of Keppoch from Eilean Ighe

Eilean Ighe from the mainland

Caolas Eilean Ighe

Samalaman Island, Glen Uig, Highland - so near but so far

Samalaman Island is a small tidal island 200 metres from the mainland a mile to the west of Glen Uig in the Sound of Arisaig.  I had read in various sources that it was only accessible at low spring tides, so I arranged my entire holiday so that I could be there at a low spring tide.  However I discovered that not all spring tides are the same.  I visited the day before the spring tide when the height was 90 cm.  However there was about a 25 metres stretch of water about 40 cm deep between me and the island.  It would have been possible to wade it but I decided not to risk it, as the tide was about to turn.  The following day the tide was 10 cm lower but I could see that wouldn't be enough.  Having studied the tide times for the rest of the year I can see that some spring tides are as low as 40 or 50 cm, which would probably be enough for the causeway to clear completely.

Samalaman Island, whose name makes it sound as though it should be somewhere in the Indian Ocean, looks to be a delightful little island covered in grass, bushes and a few trees.   I assume it is named after the nearby Samalaman House.   I will be back one day to visit it.

 Samalaman Island with Eigg in the distance

Samalaman Island

Island 262 - Shona Beag, Loch Moidart, Highland

Shona Beag and Shona are one island located on the north side of Loch Moidart and linked by a narrow isthmus.  Shona Beag, which is the smaller part, is accessible at low tide from the mainland via a causeway.  A track runs down to the causeway from the A861 about halfway between Kinlochmoidart and Glenuig.

It was difficult to spot where the track started.  Initially I drove passed it, as there is just a closed gate with no name on it.  After careful consultation of my Explorer map, I realised it was the start of the Shona Beag track.  There was just about enough parking for one small car without blocking the driveway.  It was then a delightful walk in the sunshine down the tree lined track to the ford marked on the map as Atha a' Chaolais.

I arrived about an hour before low tide and the causeway was clear.  On each side of it was mud, so I presume that the causeway has been deliberately built up slightly and made firmer with gravel.  There was no ford to cross.  I met no one on the way down or on the island and there are no notices saying Private, Keep Out.  However I still felt slightly uneasy about being there without permission, so only walked a short way up the track and didn't go as far as the small cluster of houses on the south side of the island at Invermoidart.  The track on the island had been mended recently but the only cars I saw were parked on the mainland side of the causeway.

Shona Beag is covered in widely spaced mature oak and birch trees with heather in between.

A few days later when I was at Castle Tioram on the opposite side of Loch Moidart I watched a boat arrive and depart at Eilean Shona House on Shona.  There is no road access to this house.



Mainland from Shona Beag



 Mainland from Shona Beag

 Mainland from Shona Beag showing the causeway

 

Shona Beag from the mainland.