Rubha Hunish

Right at the north end of Skye, it's somewhere I've never been, good for climbing and good for birds. A couple of miles walk in that sounded okay for Mrs L but I decided to stay with her rather than head off with Mick and Angela. Simon was moving just about okay and wanted to test himself on the walk, so the three of us had another cup of tea and headed off a bit later. Slightly unwisely as I'd not be carrying any of the climbing gear I'd asked Mick if there was anything he needed carrying in. That was how I ended up with a full sized sledgehammer and a couple of very robust metal stakes sticking out the top of my rucksack.

Simon, unsure of whether he was going to make it, headed off first while I was still arranging the contents of my sack. That was the last we saw of him on the walk in, the next sighting was as he was abseiling down to Mick and Angela, just to see whether he was up to climbing!

It was a pleasant enough walk in until we reached the point where the path cut diagonally down across a cliff. Okay, I got down it with my heavy rucksack and carrying the camera in one hand so it wasn't that difficult, but it was quite exposed. Mrs L got herself close to the top, but no further, she couldn't even look at it. Given everyone else were "climbers" the severity of this part of the route had perhaps been understated in our discussions last night. So I abandoned Mrs L at the top of the cliff and headed off to deliver my payload. Actually she was quite happy sitting there with telescope and binoculars and chatting to a few likeminded souls that were also going no further.

As Mick, Angela and now Simon were all climbing I didn't feel guilty about letting them get on with it. Unfortunately it transpired that given the tide conditions the sledgehammer and metal stakes were not required. However the metal stakes have been discretely hidden away for future use, so it was only the sledgehammer that I had to carry back up the cliff.

Mrs L and I then spent a leisurely time bird watching and exploring round the coastguard lookout that is now a MBA bothy - a fine place to spend a night.

On the way back RCB managed to capture a fine Rock Dove - no it's not a feral pigeon - look at the slim bill and the tiny white fleshy patch (cere) at the base.