3 - Barra and Vatersay - Part 2

Barra and Vatersay - Part 2 - Saturday Afternoon
Returning to my rucksack, I devoured two chicken thighs held between slices of bread, while a sense of doubt crept in about the distance to Castlebay with the ascents and descents along the hill tops. ‘Onwards anyway, take it gently’ became my theme. I was rising onto Grianan (295 m), about 1:15 pm when an eagle rose up from the eastern edge of the top, a white / pale feature visible where the long tail left the body – on the rump or below it or both, I could not tell. I realised I would not take a good photo, but wanted both proof and an aid to distinguish Golden Eagle from Sea Eagle when my bird guide was available. As I tried to lift my camera, the strap was under my rucksack shoulder strap, I attempted to release the strap extension clip and found I had the strap on back to front so I would have been able to swing out the camera behind me but not in front of me. I attempted to lift off the rucksack, but once its weight was off my right shoulder, I found the map case strap was over it and I could neither lift the rucksack back on or get the map case off. Thus, in desperation, I flipped out the viewing screen on the camera, zoomed in on the now ascending bird, and attempted a few snaps with the camera held against my waist, before depositing myself horizontally on my side to disentangle three lots of straps and try one futile snap of a dot in the sky majestically rising without any wing movement or effort. The contrast between my uncoordinated collapse and the eagle’s serene ascent did not escape my notice – fortunately there were no other witnesses. Passing over the hilltop, I discovered a dead lamb – almost completely intact, a ready meal to be returned for later - and a little further on, the scattered remnants of a dead gull – a meal thoroughly completed. My blurred snaps later confirmed my encounter with a Goldie – if I’d done my homework first, I’d have had no doubt. Body, pale patch, long dark tail, not the short wedge-tapered tail ending with a white border of tail feathers.

Making my way down to Beul a’ Bhealaich – 1:40 pm – and then up on to Harabhal (356 m) by 2:00 pm, my left foot big toe was burning, and I realised that my orthotic arch supports don’t breathe or absorb moisture and it was getting rather wet under my toes and the ball of my foot, so I stopped to air my socks and change the orthotics for Meindl insoles and my own homemade instep supports (cut with a very sharp knife from old Karrimat, closed cell foam). At 2:40 pm I was on the top of Hartabhal (356 m) and by 3:15 on Heabhal (383 m), with a splendid view all around; the view SSW over Castlebay to the line of retreating islands – Vatersay, Sandray, Pabbay, Mingulay and Berneray – backlit by afternoon sun; the hills of Barra leading the eye to the NNW, to Eriskay and South Uist. It was very blowy on the top, so after taking photos to the north and south, I took advantage of the conveniently positioned crest of rocks which provided a sheltered summit rest.

Looking down over Castlebay from Heabhal

The Cuillins of Skye - east from Heabhal

From the map I set a 172-degree bearing towards the parking area on the ‘main road’ and descended roughly in that direction, following a series of ‘best options’ of sketchy tracks down the steep slope - passing the statue (Our Lady, Star of the Sea) – smaller than I expected – and down to the parking place, then right, along the road through Castlebay.

Deviating a little, I followed the lower street past a few shops, to pass the ferry terminal and jetty, then on to the co-op (656985), where I bought two bananas, grapes and the cheapest ice-lolly (£3.50 in total) – the latter to be eaten on a convenient sunny bench just outside the store, where I was assured by a lady, eyeing my camera and saying it was a good day for photos, that ‘May is always the best and driest month here’. She then proceeded to recount the monthly summer weather for the past five years.
 

Looking back at Castlebay

By 5:30 pm I was heading for Vatersay, but with aching arches, so I sat by the roadside on the climb away from Castlebay, swapping the insoles back again, with the addition of extra support of my own. However, at 6:10 pm my extra supports were out again, since they were too much. Now staggering onwards at my most leisurely pace, aiming for the community campsite on Vatersay 6339955, I accepted that my left foot arch could not walk that far – a rest now and I would risk being too late to pitch and eat and prepare to sleep – I decided not to pass any acceptable pitching place if I saw one. At 635966 beside Bagh Chornaig, finding an old stone enclosure with some slightly soggy hollows almost the length of my body, looking nearly adequate – a bit too wet in the levelest hollows, inconveniently scattered sheep droppings and cow pats, hardly room for the groundsheet part of my tent. So, I set up my tiny tent on the humpy, sloping strip of land between shore and road, the slope running downwards to my feet and with a cow pat in the doorway. The difficulty here was that the tent was too low to sit up in, so entering a long low side door over a cow pat while almost lying down, was a risk, but only really needed to be done once entering in the evening and once exiting in the morning. A couple of cars passed during the remainder of the evening, with drivers possibly wondering why I should choose such an unsuitable spot, 3.5 km short of fine, smooth grass, on a well-drained pitch with loos and water taps. By 8:00 pm I was pitched and settled in my hollow, so with two chicken thighs between sliced bread assigned a gastric location (one thigh sandwich left for tomorrow), I lay down to rest.