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