Wednesday 27 June 2012

Guests in the garden at Inverkirkaig


Leaving Soyea Island, my route back to Inverkirkaig first went across Loch Inver to Kirkaig Point.  A modern looking fishing vessel passed ahead of me on her way out of Lochinver; the "Kambur" (FD 454), a Faroese registered trawler.


South from Kirkaig Point, the entrance to Loch Kirkaig is another which is not immediately obvious from seaward. A small skerry lies in mid channel and the enclosing rocky arms conceal views of the loch on the approach.



Once past the skerry the view opens up nicely.  Loch Kirkaig is shallow and dries out for a kilometre at low water.  As along much of this coast, Suilven dominates the view inland.  The name Kirkaig derives from the Norse "Kirku vik" (church bay) indicating that there was once a church in the vicinity.

In this view, our accommodation at Kirkaig Chalets can be just made out as the shoreline building at the left end of the shore.



I was able to land at high water just in front of the chalet.  Carrying the boat up it seemed that we had guests...


Two Red Deer were busily cropping the grass, one of them on the enclosed garden area.  Both seemed to be quite young animals and were fairly small and skinny, perhaps reflecting the lack of really good grazing on this coast.


The deer were quite accustomed to being in close proximity of people and allowed fairly close approach.  Although the gate was shut and a fence enclosed the grassy garden, the method of entry and exit presented no problems!

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