Inchcailloch

 

Saturday 28^th October we left Dumbarton and drove to Luss. We decided to leave as early as we could ( though the boat didn’t leave until 10am) after a hearty breakfast. Luss is a picturesque village on the west shore of loch Lomond. We were glad of the extra time as we spent a while trying to find out if the boat was running and then to get tickets. We parked in the car park initially paying for half an hour while we tried shops and pier.

 A notice on the pier told us to go to the village shop. We’d tried the one by the car park and the young lad serving didn’t know about the boats. A lady in the nearest shop to the pier thought they had stopped running for the winter and she told us there was nothing on Inchcailloch anyway.

The last shop we tried looked like a very smart gift shop but at least it had a village notice board against its wall. At last we had a positive reaction and bought concessionary tickets at £11 each and for a 45 minute trip each way, with Cruise Loch Lomond, this seemed really good value.

We went back to the car to put a parking ticket for 4 hours, at £1 an hour, on the windscreen. We should arrive back at 1 o’clock with the boat leaving the island at 12.15.

We bought sandwiches for me and a steak pasty for Bob from the carpark shop so if there was a problem with getting back…

It was a grey day with drizzle in the air. The wind started to blow in gusts and it was said that the boats might be cancelled later, when there was supposed to be high winds.

It seemed a very small boat but then today there was only 4 of us. The skipper, who luckily was English and easy to understand, gave a running commentary throughout. It was amusing and interesting. There was a toilet and small bar/café on board. There was open deck or some cover from the elements. During the trip out the wind became more intense and the waves started to toss us about, the nearer we got to Inchcailloch which I found surprising but not nauseating like on the sea.

We pass Inchconnachan with free roaming red necked wallabies, which are descended from those brought here in 1940s by Lady Arran Colquhoun who owned the island. She has the reputation of being the fastest granny on water – speeds of 103 mph on Lake Windermere. Some people worry about the effect the wallabies have on the capercaillie population. We saw neither from the boat.

Another island has a rather eccentric owner farmer Roy Rodgers, who wears a cowboy hat, rides his horses to manage the farm and exercises them in the Loch from behind a barge kept on the other side of the island.

We seem to be sailing against the waves as we get near to Inchcailloch and we wonder about the sanity of being dropped off here for which docking proves to be difficult. Eventually the boat is tied to the jetty and we are assured they will be back for us in an hour and a half.

 

 

 

The peace is blissful after the wind and we are perfectly dry, from drizzly rain, under the trees. There was a long jetty and then 2 composting toilets in wooden huts to the left on the shore and picnic tables on the right. Paths led from between these through the woods. We took the one to the summit first which climbs 85 metres.

The island is part of the National Nature Reserve and lies in the SE corner of Loch Lomond.

We were struck by how well maintained the paths are- a good width with stones and steps to make climbing easier. The views were lovely from above even on this dull day. On our way up we spotted 2 deer, large and antlered.

We thought we were completely alone in the hush of the trees where the wind didn’t penetrate, when an Alsatian pulling a young lady, came into view. She said she had come over by fishing boat from Balmaha.

We followed a path to the burial ground but it was quite a quagmire here and difficult to get close to the information boards to read about the place. Inchcailloch means Isle of the cowled women. 1,300 years ago St. Kentigerna, an Irish princess, set up a nunnery hence the name.  Beside the cemetery is the ruin of a small church taking her name. Gravestones range in age from the 13^th to 17^th century and the last burial took place in 1947. I remember reading that often in the past so much drinking was done that sometimes mourners forgot to bury their dead. They would come to the cemetery via coffin valley. There are numbered posts with information on line that perhaps people access via i phones.

At information point 10 we are asked to notice the pudding stone or conglomerate. Much of the island is covered in oak because the farmers were asked to plant acorns. Oak is used in ship building and for the tannin in leather manufacture.

We spotted a white deer ( only roe deer here) and when we saw the dog walker again she said she thought it was a ghost the first time she saw it. There were several black beetles on the path, presumably the Dor or dung beetle on the list of wildlife to watch out for.

We stuck to the path as we felt we should be back in plenty of time for the boat in case it came early. Although we never saw signs to say so walking off the path is discouraged to protect wildlife.

At the picnic tables we ate our lunch and Bob highly recommends the steak pasty which was full of meat. We were joined by 4 fellows who had canoed over from the closest island where they were camping.

Bob spotted the ferry through the trees and we hurried down to the jetty. Once on it we clung tightly to the rails as it moved with the tides. The boat was fastened much quicker this time and we got on. There were several people on it, but no one was allowed off. There were 2 disappointed grandmas with their small charges trying to make the best of their trip by hyping up the waves until one of the children got soaked looking over the side! The waves were deemed to be dangerous enough for the skipper to change course and sail down the west side away from the easterly wind and more sheltered by the islands. Some people were in complimentary capes to keep them dry outside. This was the last time a pleasure boat would be out on the loch today.

At least we got to see the other side of Roy Rodgers island and the “famous” horse exercising barge but we were relieved to disembark at Luss. The Loch is over 30 km long and we had travelled down less than a third of its length. Our sat nav said we were doing 6 mile an hour.

Still in rain, we left Loch Lomond for home, a car journey of 4-5 hours. It would have been nice to have seen Inchmurrin ( we’d passed the ferry point on our bike ride from Balloch to Luss) and tried out the boat from Balmaha. The boats mostly stop running at the end of October till the Spring so we were lucky to get our trip in this year. Beautiful, even in the rain!