Saturday 20 November 2010

A short way along Loch Long

Once the ice had cleared away, I decided to finish my day by paddling up Loch Long (Ship Loch - a name of Norse origin).


The entrance to the loch at Dornie is spanned by the A87 main road to Kyle of Lochalsh and Skye.  My original launch point is just out of shot on the left hand side - a useful slipway with some public toilets nearby (part of the village hall) which are immaculately kept.



Loch Long is a narrow fjiord-like sea loch reaching some 8 kilometres inland to Killilan (a version of Cill Fhaolain - Cell of Fillan. St Fillan was a Columban missionary who travelled widely in Scotland and has several places named after him).

In parts the loch is less than 200 metres wide, and twists about so that it seems to be coming to an end.  It's easy to imagine Longships or Birlinns being rowed up this loch.



This wind blasted Larch tree is growing on an exposed rocky point near the final turn in the loch.



The view which opens up is unexpected and very scenic.  The loch becomes wider and shallower near the head and is backed by two hills, Ben Killilan on the left and Sguman Coinntich (Mossy peak) on the right.

The head of this loch was also covered by ice, which was heading out towards the narrower parts on the ebbing tide.  I could go no further and paddled back before I got caught up in the ice again.

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