I met up with Mark and Ian early on Thursday and headed across to Arisaig to catch the wildlife cruise boat that would serve as our ferry. A few hours later, after a few short stops to admire some dolphins and a whale or two, we finally left behind the grey-cloud-ridden mainland and arrived on Rum about 12.30 pm to be greeted by glorious sunshine.
As soon as we'd landed we started our long slog up towards the first mountain, Hallival. As we reached the ridge line we could see the afternoon's route ahead of us, it looked like a long way with big descents between each of the summits. By the time we were approaching the second peak, Askival, the cloud was beginning to close in on the island and the interesting scrambly sections up the ridge became slightly more interesting with the greasy rock - our big packs didn't really help.
After descending to about 450 metres we took a well deserved rest and donned jackets before tackling Ainshval and the final section of ridge. It was beginning to get late and we were conscious of the time and we still had a long way to go before setting up camp on the south-west coast of the island. We finally got the tents set up about 9 pm.
After an initial battle with the midges the next morning (they won!) we followed the coast a little way to the Bullough Mausoleum at Harris (a two house hamlet!) and then followed a track, with only one small detour to avoid some highland cattle, all the way across the island. My feet were complaining about the weight of my pack for the last few miles but we got to the beaches on the north coast in great time and set up our camp nice and early with great views across the ocean to the Skye Cuillin.
Ian had brought his fishing gear and headed off to catch us some tea. Unfortunately, all he caught was three packets of freeze dried beef stroganoff, anyway, I've heard freshly caught mackerel barbecued on the beach is overrated.
After a leisurely start and breakfast on the beach we made it back to Kinloch with a couple of hours to spare before the ferry took us home. There wasn't much going on at the tea afternoon in the village hall, but one of the locals offered to lend Ian his canoe so he could have another crack at the elusive mackerel. Ian and I headed out across Loch Scresort towards the ocean, unfortunately even the local's insider knowledge didn't help us and all we caught was a few cans of pop and a Toblerone. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon though, despite the lack of fish.
I've had a great few days on Rum, have seen deer, golden eagles, mountain goats, seals, wild rum ponies, scary path-blocking highland cattle and enough midges and ticks to last me a while. But it's good to get back to the Hostel, just to make sure Jen is running everything up to my standards.
Finally, a word from our sponsors...
--Matt
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