Isle of Lismore

I am in the land of Argyll and the Isles. Not only that but I'm staying in the home that once belonged to the Bishop of Argyll and the Isles. My choices today were to climb a Munro (mountain of more than 3,000 feet--there's a lot of them in the highlands). Or take a ferry to Lismore. I did the latter and have no regrets. First few photos are from the drive along Loch Linnhe.

Above is Stalker's Castle. As in deer stalker. There are lots of stalker's paths as well. This is what greats me when I get to the pier in Port Appin where I catch the ferry. There are few people in the world who dislike seafood as strongly as I do.

Here's a nearby restaurant opening for the first time. Scottish restaurants have only begun opening in the last week. They were taking a photo for their website.

Here's the ferry.

The first photo on Lismore.

On the ferry I met Julie and Steve from Yorkshire and their springer, Molly. They were going the same way I was so I had the luxury of following them instead of reading the eight laminated cards with directions from HF Holidays. There aren't a lot of paths on the island so directions have you looking for gates and crossing fields and so on. Julie and Steve have been on the island many times so I was in good hands. Steve leading the way.

It was a day of unremitting beauty.

There was a row of cottages at Port Ramsay, fronted by a lane. In between the lane and the loch was a row of what looked like allotments.

Picturesque as can be. Julie and Steve have hiked all over the world, the Rockies, Bolivia, Nepal. We had fun trading stories of bears and bad weather.

This cottage had a grass-covered thatch roof with sunlights. Very on trend.

I've seen quite a few rope swings. Is it possible children still know how to play out of doors?

You can walk 10 miles easily when you are enjoying the view.

Quite a few ruins. You do wonder what it was like to live in these remote places before mod cons.

Someone needs a haircut.

Above we have Coeffin Castle, built in the 13th century. There were three horses grazing nearby and a sailboat went by. I edited the photo to try to make the horses and sailboat more visible but I think I mucked it up.

We had lunch at the castle. Molly, the springer, didn't try to eat their lunch. And healed when told to and roamed when told to and behaved on a leash. In other words, the opposite of Paddy. But that's down to me not training him properly.

We come to a field with highland cattle. Steve goes to one end of the field. Julie, Molly and I stay at the other. Steve calls and Molly is supposed to run along the fence line to Steve by a far gate. Molly enters the field and the two big horned cows and one calf make for the fence to cut her off. She runs back to Julie. We try twice, and Molly, one smart cookie, is having none of it. I suggested we go through the lower field, which has only one horned cow and no calf. That worked a treat and we went on our way. This is looking back after we got to the far gate. I didn't go toward the cows to get a closer picture because I agreed with Molly they are not to be messed with.

In the far distance, barely visible, are the two humps of Ben Nevis. I didn't climb anything substantial while I was here, giving me a good excuse to come back.

So here we are back at the pier waiting for the ferry. There's a phone box with baked items inside and an honour system for paying for the goods. What a great use for old phone boxes.

I got back to Alltshellach just in time for dinner after a beautiful drive along Loch Linnhe. My final dinner--sad face. After dinner, the hikers sit and chat and compare notes on the day's hike. I will miss this group--just a very friendly bunch of people who, like me, can't get enough of the highlands.

July 24