Isle of Rum April 08

[weeleo]

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This a belated trip report as I was lucky enough to spend a week on Rum with a study tour at the end of April and promised photos but have been up to my neck with work and college so never got round to it.

It is also the very shortened version as I had completed the bulk of the report when my computer crashed and I lost it all (another hour and a half wasted by computers )

Anyway, this report is about an absolutely stunning island, the full island being a National Nature reserve, and rightly so.... No words or pictures can come close to describing how amazing and inspiring the island is (it was warm and sunny nearly all week ). All joking aside, it truely is a beautiful place

We got the early ferry from Malaig, so left the house before dawn to drive up. when we arrived the sun was already shining.

View to Rum from Malaig


We got the ferry, first stop Eigg.

Isle of Eigg & An Sgurr


Then continuing on almost flat calm seas to our destination, the Isle of Rum.

Rum Cuillin from Ferry


Heading into the bay you get a better view of two of the main peaks of the Cuillin ridge

Halival & Askival


And also a view of our accommodation for the week (the hotel being in the back of the building) More info on the castle here http://www.isleofrum.com/index.html

Kinloch Castle


Our first night we settled in, playing cards on the grass, walking to the pier to check out the wildlife, watching the sun set over the mainland, just soaking in the atmosphere of Rum.

Dusk, looking at the mainland


The next day we headed off to Kilmory Bay, for those of you who have seen "Autumnwatch", this is where the rutting greens are that are shown on Autumnwatch. Rum is great, there are no tarmac roads, just a couple of landrover tracks which take you to the north and south of the island. We trekked along to the north for our first outing.

On way to Kilmory Bay, with Skye beyond


Deer hinds on the greens at Kilmory


Beautiful Kilmory Bay




Some of the gang before stopping for lunch


Lunch stops don't get much better than this


After lunch we had a talk from the staff at the deer study and did college work. later in the afternoon we headed back in time for light refreshments at the local shop. The shop is run on a voluntary basis, open from 5pm to 7pm and sells chilled alcohol along with other basic items

They also open bottles for you, which can be enjoyed on tables provided outside....

The gang having been to the store


Day two we were heading for Harris bay. This time from Kinloch in the east, along the landrover track and down to the south of the island. The weather didn't start out too great this day so we started in waterproofs but they were off within half an hour or so.

On route to Harris, Barkeval and Trolleval on the clouds


On the way to Harris we met the Rum ponies


On reaching Harris the south is very different to the north, with a more rugged feel...

The Mausoleum and the Cuillin behind


Stunning sea cliffs and sunshine


More sea, waves and sun


We enjoyed Harris, spent time there for our college assessments but also enjoying the amazing views and soaking up the sunshine, acknowledging just how lucky we'd been so far with the weather and how stunning the island really was.....wow!

On the way back met these chaps


And again, back to shop for a light refreshment.....

Next day we were heading up to Coire Dubh for assessments. Our luck broke with the weather and it was low cloud and pouring with rain, boo!

Coire Dubh


Ecology in the rain


not many photos for this part of the trip but after sheltering behind a boulder for lunch and half the group going back to the accommodation too wet and cold to continue the sun began to come out and there was a little surprise in store for us.

On the island there is one of the largest colonies of breeding Manx shearwater birds. These little cuties....

Manx Shearwater


They nest high up on the sides of the mountains on Rum but they are under threat from rat predation, rats are eating the eggs. A survey was started in 2006 monitoring burrows on eggs, chicks and adults and we were lucky enough to get involved whilst there.

We had to walk trap grids, closing traps and recording findings...

One rat, bad news for the Manx


Walking the grid, high on Hallival's steep slopes


After taking part in this, the staff let us get involved with the actual birds. I got asked if I wanted to pull a bird, we'll that 's new to me, but hey i'll giveit a go in the name of science joking!! I actually got to pull a chick out of it's burrow to be ringed/check it's ring.

Get your coat love, you've pulled


But i'm not into biting, y'know


What a cutie, Manx Shearwater


Another "Shearwater" girl, pulls a chick


Only one girl had done this on Rum (tally now three girls) before so I was well chuffed!!, A grin from ear to ear for the rest of the week, AWESOME!!!! we also had some stunning views being fairly high up the side of Hallival

Across to Eigg


After that amazing experience we headed to the usual place, stopping for a photo of where we had just been.

Hallival


That night we headed to the pub in the hostel. I say pub but it was a room with a fire, some chairs and a bar, but it was brilliant after a long day outdoors. The seats around the fire were always a delight and again the bar is run by SNH staff, who are also serving dinner so you have to call on them so best wait til a few need a drink save them running back and forth.

some of the shearwater team in the bar


The next day was a free day and after a few alcohol refreshments the night before we decided to take it easy, going to the hide to watch for otters and what ever else was about.

Saturday was our day for leaving so we packed on Friday, up early for the short walk to the ferry (the castle staff take your bags in a landrover).

Waiting for the ferry in the rain, the whole gang


The weather was none too kind that day and we set off on the ferry in a force 7 or 8 I think the captain said. It was rough

Choppy seas


The ferry missed out some of the islands it was supposed to go to as the weather was so bad and I spent the whole ferry trip lying face down, sleeping on one of the couches, feeling fairly worse for wear!!

but it cleared up and we even got to see our Shearwaters in flight

Manx Shearwaters at sea


All in all a totally awesome experience. One of those experiences that i'll never forget. The island is a wonderful place, especialy in the april sunshine, but I think spending a week there and being able to visit different parts of the island made it all the more special.

Some links for more info

Isle of Rum in general http://www.isleofrum.com/
Manx shearwaters in Rum (under construction mostly) http://manxshearwater.co.uk/home.html

And as a final note on the island, those of you who enjoy flora and fauna there was plenty all over the island. We had rarities such as red throated diver and king eider. We also saw wheatear just back from Africa and I saw the first cuckoo of the year. There was a mixture of wild flowers too, alot still to flower being early in the year and snow still on the hill tops.

All in all a small island that had it all and more!!

Sorry for the long report, it's hard to condense five days somewhere like Rum.

[kinley]

Thanks for that - we've been looking at Rum's sensational outline on and off for 2 weeks and we really want to go there. Great report!

[ChrisM]

That was brilliant. What a trip for you! And the shot of the highland coo is a belter!
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[JimH]

Excellent report. Thanks. Really enjoyed that.
Liked the shots of the Manx Shearwaters. Pretty sure i've never seen one before.

[goth_angel]

[johnm]

Great report - would love to climb the Rum Cullin.

[weeleo]

[AdrianL]

That sounds like a really fantastic trip. So much to see, and you actually got involved with the local wildlife too. Brilliant!

Scotland is such a great place. There are so many really fantastic places to visit. This is another one to add to the list. I would really like to visit some time.

[WolfofBadenoch]

[kinley]

shaken not stirred

[Hazel]

Thanks for this report - really interesting place - lots of great wildlife in your photos too. Nice to see the "springwatch" site in real life as it were.

Also like Wolf's pics - don't think many of us have the sea-legs for that!

[Cuillin]

Hi Lorna, pleased that you managed to get your amazing experiences posted up - I'll wager that you'll never forget that trip.

They really do justice to this unique island which ranks very high amongst the best trips I've ever done, not just in Scotland but also abroad.

Really liked the Kilmory pictures as DodgyKnee and I bypassed this on our way to stay at Guirdil Bothy. Didn't realise you'd been working with the Manx Shearwaters and that must've been fascinating for you all. I saw the burrows on Hallival, Askival & Trolloval but it was only when I got back that I found out that they migrate from Brazil with 70% of the world population nesting on Rum!!

Thanks again for a superb report of a very special place.

I've inserted a link to my two Hill & Bothy reports for Rum below:
Click For Rum Hills
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Being on the hills gives you a sense of where you are, where you've been, where you're going and why!

[weeleo]

Thanks Cuillin, it truely is an amazing place.

[Cuillin]

If SNH employ the Canna rat catcher, I'm sure they'll bring them under control, although it has to be said that Rum is much, much larger than Canna.
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Being on the hills gives you a sense of where you are, where you've been, where you're going and why!

[weeleo]