B A C K PA C K I N G
SPECIAL
T r ip acc o u nt Isle of rum, Scotland
David Lintern enjoys a magical trip backpacking between bothies on the Forbidden Isle
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There are many things I love about
backpacking: the exercise, the challenges of navigation and weather, the simplicity of taking only what you can carry, but most of all – the finding out. Exploring at two to four miles an hour is just about the perfect pace to discover all the details of a new place. Backpacking is like all the best pastimes – a minute to learn, a lifetime to master, and the best excuse for discovery without it feeling like school. And so it was with our first visit to Rum. As it transpired, there was a lot to discover. Rum is a rough diamond of an island about 10 miles on each side, to the west of Mallaig and the south of Skye, right out there in the Atlantic. The minute you land,
it feels far from the madding crowds, but it’s blessed with good transport links. You could leave any city in the UK one evening and be on its highest summit or in the deepest glen well under 24 hours later. It’s a primeval mess of volcanic rock, with no roads, sogg y paths of inter mittent usefulness, and a very chewy centre filled with two Grahams, one Corbett and one of the very best high altitude walks in the whole of the Hebrides. It’s possible the name originates, like so many on the island, from Old Norse – in this case, rúmr, meaning roomy. And there is room for other meanings of the word too – Rum combines the eerie and the oddball in its past, mixed with a dash of optimism for the future.
Rum do
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in memory of two of its founders – For 100 renovated Tom and Margaret Brown of Glasgow. However, settlement was inhabited for centuries. It years, Rum this stands under Bloodstone Hill, taking its name was known from the hard red mineral used throughout the Hebrides for spears and arrows by early settlers. as the Much later, the clearances hit Rum hard – by 1826 only one family remained. For 100 years, Rum Forbidden was known as the Forbidden Isle, as successive restocked for sheep, then for deer, Isle, as landlords and were hostile to anyone not on the guest list. like Guirdil fell into ruin. successive Buildings We had an hour’s grace to scavenge dried to burn, but the storm, when it came, landlords seaweed made the rafters shake and the walls at the back bothy sweat cold water from the pressure were hostile ofof thethe gale. ln between successive weather fronts outside in the gloaming. Deer grazed in to anyone Itheventured shelter of the ruins, goats ate kelp on the beach. few moments of stillness in between gusts and not on the Asqualls. Another quote, this time from Waugh a friend of the Bulloughs: “There is nothing guest list (1883), left to mark the presence of its old population save
The ferry dropped us into Kinloch village, an hour and a half after leaving Mallaig. Our plan was simple: walk around the island anticlockwise over three or four days, and head back to the village before tackling the Rum Cuillin as a grand finale. In our hands was a copy of Peter Edward’s excellent Walking on Rum and the Small Isles (Cicerone) that had already alerted me to the fact that this wouldn’t be as simple as it sounded. It began gently enough under a welcoming sun on the path towards Dibidil, which follows the southern contour of the island under the mountains of Hallival and Askival. Like most of the tracks on Rum (and there aren’t many!) the Dibidil path is poorly drained, but expansive views towards Eigg more than compensated for soggy trail shoes. The geology makes for constant surprises. Waterfalls cascaded off the heights to our right, funnelled through long dark fissures set at in bizarre diagonals to the sea cliffs below. The path became increasingly dramatic before dropping down into Dibidil (meaning simply, ‘deep glen’). This was fine elevated coastal walking equal to anything in Pembroke or Skye. The hirsel (an area of pasture) in Dibidil was established in 1848 and the original cottage occupied by ‘Johnny Come Over’ and his wife, her sister and six children. So we took Johnny up on his offer, and stayed the night. The Mountain Bothy Association (MBA) renovated his cottage in 1970, with the help of a party of school children. The sun slowly ebbed away to leave the hills of Morar blushing, and Eigg rested under moonlight, a beautiful first night. Reluctantly, we retreated to one of two rooms, ours cosy with wood burner and sleeping platform. The following morning we aimed for Papadil, the ‘priest’s glen’. It’s an interesting place – once the home of the early Christian hermit St. Beccán, then medieval crofts farming kelp and sheep, and finally a hunting lodge. After taking ownership in 1957, the Nature Conservancy Council (later to become Scottish Natural Heritage) believed the lodge was used by deer poachers and so removed the roof. It’s a shame they didn’t intervene to remove the rhododendrons, which are now overrunning the woodlands. After a tick-infested lunch stop, we continued north. The stretch of coastline under Ruinsival is blessed with a sense of real remoteness, but hard-going. It took three to four hours to walk the same number of kilometres to Glen Harris, with its strange raised beach, where we hobbled off the hillside, bow-legged from contouring off trail. As we put up our tent, the rain began. It was time for soup and an early night. We were not alone, and I thought I’d better say hello to the neighbours. We were sharing the glen with Rum’s eccentric Edwardian laird, George Bullough and family, who are buried here. With the cloud almost at the floor, the Mausoleum cast an unearthly, slightly ghastly shadow in the late evening light. Later still, a bright yellow helicopter emerged from the mist - Skye Air Sea Rescue looking for a couple stranded on Hallival, we discovered later. It took two teams and eight hours to find them. A nosy seal joined us for breakfast as the weather lifted. Passing goats grazed lazily near hidden lochans as we aimed for the more rounded hills that characterise the north of the island. Orval and Fionchra are split by a steep descent but our route made a sweeping inverted S, which had a pleasing logic about it. With the Rum Cuillin now behind us, we made for the second bothy of the trip, its tin roof shining in the distance on Rum’s northern shores. 114
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Guirdil is another historic building for the MBA,
the foundations of their dwellings. Their lives and their legends have no other memorials but the nettles growing in waste places.” As you might expect from the MBA, these days the bothy is thankfully more than just foundations below – there are two rooms and a sleeping loft. It’s more I’m beginning to think of a sea shanty affair than Dibidil, with all manner I can cure a rainy day of interesting flotsam on display – I particularly enjoyed the ‘Buddhist prayer wheel’ adapted from a pram buggy caster. Casting an eye through the bothy book, I find a quote from Henri Bosco that sums up our situation: “When the shelter is sure, the storm is good’’. And the shelter is surely that. The following morning, and the river at Glen Shellesder is still in spate and a little daunting. We descend slowly to the beach and wade gingerly underneath a thundering waterfall. Another two hours across country, and finally we glimpse the golden sands at Kilmory. This is home to the oldest mammal study in the world: the Red Deer project, often filmed for BBC Nature Watch. It’s also home to Ranger Mike, who is busy keeping a weather eye on newborn calves. We collect driftwood and move on, heading for a grandstand position on a tiny beach facing Skye. Pitching our tent with snow stakes carried specially for the occasion, we settle down for a perfect camp watching Eider Ducks and Oyster Catchers swooping low over an incoming tide. We nurse our driftwood fire into the magic hour, beach hoppers jumping into our teacups as the sun casts an amber glow over all. Gulls nest on the dunes behind us, and the Cuillin drew clouds like a magnet from the four quarters of the sea. This was the stuff of wild camping dreams. Another half day of wading through waist high heather and dodging lochans hidden amongst rock terraces, and we found ourselves back at Kinloch, eating ice cream. The village is very much dominated by the castle, chief legacy of the Bullough dynasty. The Accrington based John Bullough made good from a series of inventions in loom manufacture, and his son George was as good at spending as John was at earning. The family’s initially modest origins may explain the sheer folly of Kinloch castle, which has to be seen to be believed. This preserved hunting lodge is chock full of the status symbols of the day: stuffed animals, giant vases, incense burners, an enormous ivory eagle, and a Victorian juke box in the hallway. George also inherited his father’s interest in the latest modern contrivances. Kinloch boasts air conditioning, central heating,
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Both y M agic Bothies are buildings usually owned by the landowner and maintained by the MBA for independent travellers, who enjoy the wildness and solitude of remote places. There are three cardinal rules: The door is always open, so commercial groups cannot hire them exclusively, and all should be made welcome. They should not be ‘taken over’ by large groups. Bothies depend on mutual co-operation – fuel and candles are always useful things to leave as gifts. Tidiness is a virtue – sweep up to prevent mice and rat infestations, and carry out all litter. Go to the toilet well away from the building and the water supply.
And a few extra tips
• Bring a bag you can hang your food in. Keeping it off the floor makes life more difficult for nosey rodents. • Bring a more padded sleeping mat – sleeping on wooden platforms and floors can be uncomfortable. • Bring night-lights or candles – the interiors are often very dark at night time. • Bring fuel! The most important one – Bothies can often be very cold, and fuel in the British hills is in short supply due to centuries of overgrazing and a cool, damp climate. Bring kindling, coal or wood, if at all possible leave enough for the next visitor. Bothies often have saws lying around to assist maintenance, but these should be left on the hook! From the hillside, avoid using deadfall if possible, do not cut live wood EVER, and only burn driftwood or dried seaweed. mountainbothies.org.uk
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double-glazing, flushing toilets, the worlds first standing Jacuzzi’s, a heated conservatory and greenhouses filled at the time with humming birds and alligators. The list of exotica and class compensations goes on, and no trip to Rum is complete without a visit to the castle. ‘’Bizarre, battlemented and pseudo-baronial’’ (Williamson, 1963) pretty much sums it up. In 2009, SNH, who took on the castle along with the Island, offered the 17-strong local community the opportunity to run their own affairs. Five years later, and 40 people now live on Rum, now free of laird old and new to make their own income from tourism and crofting. The little shop and tearoom are thriving, a new bunkhouse is being built, and land is being let. Rum is a place of rich contradictions, its excesses and extremes are hard to contain. Much of the island feels owned by ghosts, places pregnant with histories often enigmatic, melancholic or just plain traumatic. The ridiculous opulence of Kinloch Castle jars with the glens empty of people, and mountainsides covered in wildlife. But there’s a new story brewing, a more positive tale of people forging a sustainable future for themselves. It’s no longer solely the ‘Isle of graves’ that Waugh wrote about. Kinloch village feels like the beginning of something. Actually, it felt a little like the Mediterranean as we lounged for a day in more bright sunshine, visiting the castle, the otter hide, and enjoying the company of all manner of noisy birdlife. But there was work to do before we left: that chewy mountainous centre beckoned. The Rum Cuillin is a long, 13-hour day out and offers up ascent to the tune of Spring 2014 T h e G r e at O u t d oo r s
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David’s kit This was my Rum gear list, with shared items at the bottom. My partner and I have a fair amount of similar kit, the main difference being she brings more insulation, and prefers to wear (supposedly) water-resistant boots rather than permeable trail shoes. She dreads river crossings! • Backpack – Go lite Pinnacle 70ltr (allowed extra capacity for bulkier tent and collecting driftwood for fires when suitable) • Sleeping mat – Thermarest CCF and half Z lite • Poles – Pacerpoles Aluminium • Sleeping bag – Go lite Adrenaline 3 season • Cup – ancient woolworths Plastic 500ml • Bowl – child’s plastic picnic hamper • Spork – sea to summit • Rain Jacket – Berghaus Mount Asgard Jacket • Rain Trouser – Rab eVent Drillium • Gloves – trek mate synthetic liner, ME windstoppers, Tuff Mitt waterproof overglove • Hat – generic thinsulate beanie • Walking top – Smartwool merino long sleeve/zipped neck 200g • Fleece – Montane Horizon jacket • Trousers – Montane terra pants convertible
Insulation – Montane Prism jacket Trail Shoes – La Sportiva Raptor Gaiter – Innov8 mini Midge head net, repellent and coils Merino socks and undies x 2 Merino baselayer (sleeping) Merino long johns (sleeping) Water bottles – 2x platy, 5 litres capacity • Small washbag, flannel • Printed maps/compass/camera, single lens + tripod/phone with Viewranger software • Petzl headtorch
• • • • • • • •
Shared gear: • Stove – Primus ETA gas stove, wind shield and canister • Pot – Granite Gear 1.8litre pot • Shelter – MSR Hubba Hubba tent with extra guys and y pegs • Snow/sand stakes for planned beach camping • Very small first aid/tick kit
Kilmory DAVID’S ROUTE
Sgaorishal Bloodstone Hill Orval An Dornabac
Mullach Mor Kinloch Barkeval Hallival
Harris Ruinsival
1800m. Leaving early and passing Bullough’s Hydro scheme (that still powers the village), we follow a massive sweep of crumbling rock across six summits. The complex and shattered descents are steeper and harder than the climbs, but most of the scrambling is easy enough and not exposed unless you choose the harder lines. On the way to the summit of Hallival, we pass hundreds of tiny burrows. Rum hosts a third of the world population of Manx Shearwater, who make their nests in the grassy hillsides. Near the Pinnacle, their discarded beaks scattered on a ridge betray an Eagle’s feeding place. We descend slowly from Askival, the highest peak on the Island, slipping on scree banks in the simmering heat of early afternoon. By the time we reach the Bealach an Oir (pass of gold), before Trallval, we are ourselves as shattered as this high wild line. A huge knuckle of gabbro protects Ainshval and it looks like it won’t go at all, but it does. Eventually. We reach the last hill and look out to sea. A truly breathtaking day in every sense of the word, and there remained the not inconsiderable task of coming off Sgurr nan Gillean. We were dehydrated and long out of Haribo as we picked our way slowly through steep crags and finally reached the path to Dibidil bothy. There was no way we were going any further if we had the chance to enjoy the magic and stillness of the deep glen one more time. We would walk to the ferry in the morning. 118
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Askival Ainshval Sgurr nan Gillean
Isle of rum Guidebook Peter Edwards Walking on Rum and the Small Isles (cicerone) Discount Cicerone have offered 20% reduction on Peter’s book to readers of TGO: cicerone.co.uk/ product/detail.cfm/book/662/title/ walking-on-rum-and-the-small-isles MAP OS Explorer Map 397 Rum, Eigg, Muck, Canna and Sanday TRAVEL From Fort William: drive the A830, or take the most scenic train ride in the country, to Arisaig or Mallaig. For the ferry, there are two options: a.The big fish calmac.co.uk sails from Mallaig. b.Or support local Ronnie Dyer and travel on the ‘Shearwater’, which departs from nearby Arisaig arisaig.co.uk MORE INFORMATION No cars allowed
on Rum, but bikes might be useful and are free to take across on the Calmac (not sure about Ronnie). Rum has a café offering hot drinks and light meals, a campsite, and a post office/general store. Note that Kinloch castle has now stopped offering accommodation or food within the castle itself. A temporary bunkhouse has been set up whilst a new wing is being built near the school. All of this is now community owned. More information can be found at: isleofrum.com Details of the republication of the Irvine Butterfield classic A Hebridean Adventure, about the renovation of Dibidil bothy can be found here: mountainbothies.org.uk/newsgeneral-item.asp?item_id=203