Reflections

As forecast, the morning turned overcast as I paddled back towards the mouth of Loch a' Chairn Bhain.  Whilst exploring in a bay which I'd passed the previous day, I found this sheltered beach. Time for second breakfast........

The shore was composed of beautiful banded gneiss pebbles with occasional quartz and red sandstone ones; a fair representation of the local geology.

Immediately behind the top of the shore lay this lochan, a perfectly still reflecting pool fringed with lillies and rushes.  Salt and fresh water are just a few meters apart here, but seem totally separate as there's no obvious outflow from the lochan to the sea.

With the seaward view in one direction and the lochan in the other, this would have made a lovely spot to spend some time except for one small thing  - well actually millions of small things!  The midges waited until I'd got my stove going before making a ferocious attack.  I was sufficiently "motivated" to take my cup of tea and balance it on the foredeck of the boat whilst backing off the shore to leave the biting hordes behind.  I sat in the bay and enjoyed a midge-free second breakfast.....

The still and overcast conditions, whilst ideal for midges, also made for great reflections as I headed back towards Kylesku.

 
Scree fans reflected in the still water made for interesting patterns......

...including this delta-wing shape.

The sun was beginning to burn away the cloud as I neared the Kylesku Bridge, which itself was making a nice symmetrical reflection.

I arrived back at the old ferry slip at Kylesku just as the sun burned away the last shreds of cloud from Quinag - the mountain which had been my constant companion on this short journey.  Just less than 100 km in the three days, but I could add my own reflections of a superb few days to those on the waters of the loch.