Day 64 – Keillmore to Ronachan - 23rd July – 14.8 nm
Tayvallich sneakily
hides us from the wind, the various forecasts disagree today, so it’s a
just-in-case early start and we head down the narrow road once again back to
Keillmore.
The exposed finger
of a headland is windswept and the sound is full of a choppy white-caps, we are
not going anywhere for a while. We take a little nosey around but soon tire of
the wind and return to the shelter of the van. There is not a lot of life today, we are both
tired.
We sit and wait for
developments once again, it’s a tiring and frustrating way to spend a day, waiting for something that may or may not happen. It feels that we are not doing anything
productive, but it does give us a little time to catch up, even if motivation
is a little lacking. Reluctantly diaries are written, planning done, kit
checked and snoozes happen. Time usefully spent after all...
The wind rattles
all day, the odd visitors appear, following a not-quite-telling-the-full-story
map, before they struggle to turn their cars around and head back towards the
bright lights of Tayvallich.
Early evening the
wind does eventually ease a little and we take the decision to go, there’s not
much left of the day but every mile counts.
As I leave, TM heads
up to visit the nearby restored chapel. It’s obviously been there a long while, as it watches history pass by.
There’s still a
stiff breeze from the south, there’s nothing white out there now and no swell there's still a bit of chop left over. I shadow the coastline as the
miles steadily tick off.
It’s a remote part
of the world. The Knapdale peninsula falls behind and the Kintyre one lies just
ahead. Another stress-inducing part of the world to come, but we’ll cross that
bridge later...
The optimistic end
of the plan called for a landing at Point Sands campsite across from Gigha. I
have fond 2012 memories from there (it started well when a beer was thrust into my hand before I could clear the beach) and Team Manager was keen to see what I've
been waffling on about. But as I close on Ronachan Point I realise that disappointment lies ahead once again. Light is fading, the temperature drops and now I'm
cold, the desire to continue has faded. I know I’ll regret not taking the miles
tomorrow, but that’s the way it is some days.
3 hrs 30 and 14 nm, oh well.
We are only a month since the longest day, but as we gradually make our way south there is already a noticeable difference in the length of the days. Just as I was getting used to the all-night daylight of the northern bit. The evening sunlight seems to grow thinner each day somehow.
We both think it’s
too late to go hunting for a campsite now and so we set up in the lay-by. It’s
a busy road and everything goes by too fast to see just what it was. Eventually
things settle as the night draws in and we have a surprisingly good night of
sleep on the edge of the road.
