I don't think I should moan about the weather, when it has been mainly dry and I even spotted the sun for a few minutes this afternoon. But that strong northeasterly wind, blowing at a steady 25 mph, made it feel quite cold when we jumped off the bus at Lower Shader to visit the Steinacleit homestead. Didn't hang about for long, but doubled back to the village and walked through to the shore. Headed southwest along the shinglebank, crossed the Shader River and ended up at Ballantrushal. Why they don't get rid of all the scrap cars and trucks in that village is beyond me. Visited the Trushal Stone, where a friend of mine broke an ankle last September. Could see the stones that brought them to grief. Proceeded to the moor beyond and headed due west to a fenceline. Had to walk for nearly half a mile to find a stile to cross the barbed wire, then continued southwest, broadly parallel to the coastline. Initially quite high up, about 150 feet above the pounding waves, then gently descending towards the strand off Barvas. Walked the curve of the beach as far as the outflow of Loch Mor Bharabhas. Was amazed to find an array of machair flowers already out in bloom, something that reaches its peak in July. Once at the outflow, an old green bus had been parked, and we had to turn round to regain the paved road at Loch Street, going straight into the teeth of the wind. Had to wait for a bit to catch the 4.20pm bus back to town.
I shall post pics in a separate post in a few days' time.
