There is an easy way to reach the island, which is to walk down a track leading to a couple of houses and then to walk round the last house and down to the shore. However I didn't want to intrude on anyone's privacy and also didn't want to be refused permission to access the island, so I chose the longer alternative route, which avoided the houses and involved walking over the hill to the north of the island and then over to the east coast. It started well with a grazed field but after the first field the route became very overgrown with no discernible paths. The ground was uneven and I couldn't see where I was putting my feet. At some points the undergrowth was almost as tall as me. Thankfully it wasn't boggy, as it hadn't rained for several weeks. I eventually made it to the crossing point and over 30 metres of seaweed covered rocks to the island.
The island is covered in bracken and heather with a few patches of rough grass, a few very small elder and birch trees and some bare rocky outcrops. Tormentil, milkwort, lousewort, cottongrass were in flower when I visited in early June 2018. There is evidence of old peat cuttings but the island doesn't seem to be grazed at the moment.
On my return journey I spotted what looked to me like the remains of an old stone fish trap located to the north east of Eilean Dubh Chollaim between an unnamed rock and the mainland (grid reference NG 15676 91370). There is a fish trap listed on the Canmore website at Collam but not at the location of the one I found. I can't think what else it could be. I took a photo of it - see below.
Looking north west from Eilean Dubh Chollaim towards Collam
Collam from Eilean Dubh Chollaim
Old peat cuttings on Eilean Dubh Chollaim
Looking south east from Eilean Dubh Chollaim towards Caiream
The seaweed covered crossing point
Old fish trap?
Eilean Dubh Chollaim is in the background
Looking south towards Eilean Dubh Chollaim
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