Eilean Shona Adventures

This was written in the guest book in Sawmill Cottage, it's written for the next guests as much as for ourselves. I'd strongly recommend that you consider being one of the next visitors to Sawmill Cottage on Eilean Shona!

You can find more information about Eilean Shona on their website.

Sunday

We lost an hour due to the clocks changing, so after a not-actually-that-long lie-in we inflated our paddle boards and headed over to the island shop. We must have just missed Jonty and Sarah, but we grabbed some rice (for their homemade lamb tagine) and some custard (for the Eve's and sticky toffee puddings) & left a note for Jonty and Sarah. We popped into the Village Hall for some internet to check the weather forecast, the tide times and download the OS map for the island. Snow is no longer forecast! On the way back we spotted lots of frogs and a newt in the lily ponds.

4 images of our first paddle from Sawmill Cottage

Our after lunch SUP was shorter than originally planned as the tide + wind made progress hard! I did see a crab though!

We stashed the SUPs, grabbed a bag and set out along the North Shore path. With some stops to take photos & remove some rhododendrons (see the Eilean Shona conservation page), it took us 45 minutes to get to Baramore.

11 images from our walk along the north shore path from Sawmill to Baramore

After about 30 minutes scrambling on the crags West of Baramore we made it back to the path. We decided to extend our walk and headed over the saddle, onto the "Bottom Path". Along with stunning views, we saw our first two deer silhouetted against the skyline on the saddle, then four more as we made our way back to Sawmill.

16 images from the second half of our walk. From Baramore over "the saddle" and back to Sawmill

All in, we walked 8.5k in 3h20. We walked in trail shoes but would recommend boots to keep your feet dry through the many boggy bits. Make sure you check yourself for ticks!