Solway sojourn - a spectacular sunset

As we had time in hand before sunset we decided to paddle around Little Ross Island rather than heading directly to the beach where we'd camp.

The majority of the coast of this small island is defended by jagged outcrops of rock......

....and some more wonderfully contorted rock formations. 

The quality of the evening light was extraordinary, almost a spotlight effect against the dark clouds which had formed over the mainland to the north.  We paddled a little faster in order that we could land and pitch our tents before climbing the island to watch what we hoped would be a spectacular sunset.

We were certainly not disappointed.  Having landed on a steep pebble beach at the north of the island and pitched our tents on a level grassy platform, we got to the summit of the island just as the sun was setting beyond distant Burrow Head.  Behind us a secondary sunset was occurring.....

...in gorgeous reflection on the windows of the lighthouse buildings.

As is so often the case the best colours developed well after the sun was below the horizon.  The smoulder of the horizon was enhanced by vivid colouration on the undersides of the clouds.
 

Gradually the reflected sunset crept up the window of the lighthouse building as the light changed, until there was one final flourish from the real thing......

Simply stunning.

After the exertion of getting to the top of the island and then standing to enjoy the sunset, we suddenly became aware of  a chilly evening breeze which had started up - it was time to return to the tents, prepare dinner and get a fire going.

I've got no images of the evening although Douglas has some here  as there was a technical difficulty with my camera - suspected at the time and confirmed in daylight to be Operator Error.   It turned out to be an evening of minor mishaps for me; when I stood up to get another log for the fire my chair pitched forward in the breeze and was only rescued from the fire by Mike's lightning reactions.  Not five minutes later the chair leg slipped off a flat stone as I sat down and I damaged the frame by falling sideways, knocking over my sports recovery drink container in the process!

We retired to our tents quite early as it had been a long day and the breeze was chilly despite the fire.  In the small hours we were wakened suddenly by a nightmarish, inhuman screeching - and bear in mind that Little Ross Island is reputed to be haunted!  It took only a second or two for me to recognise the commotion as an argument between two grumpy Herons - and somewhat longer for my heart rate to return to normal levels - fortunately the remainder of the night was quieter.....

Solway sojourn - signs of stress

The coastline between Meggerland Point and Borness Point contains some really great geology.  We paddled along past strata which have been folded and contorted into an astonishing variety of shapes and patterns.  Wigtown Bay is one of the better places to view the results of the stresses of the collision between Scotland and England some 460 million years ago.

 Getting right in close at the base of the cliffs reveals that there's two different types of rock layered like plywood, and in this image thrust vertical.

500 million years ago Scotland and England were at opposite sides of the Iapetus Ocean, which lay to the south of the Laurentian supercontinent.  The rocks which would end up exposed here in Wigtown Bay were formed by submarine mudslides interspersed with periods of steady sedimentary accumulation.  The submarine slide process is called "turbidity" and the resulting Silurian grey mudstones layered with red sandstones are described as "alternating turbidite lithofacies" (which is a phrase I must remember!). 

The impact as the islands which would become Scotland and England crunched together  would affect much of Scotland by throwing up alpine-scale mountain ranges in the Caledonian Orogeny.....so we have our southern neighbours to thank for the superb hillwalking we enjoy today!

The point at which the Iapetus Ocean finally disappeared as Scotland and England joined together (the Iapetus Suture) lies just a little to the south of Wigtown Bay, so the effects on the rocks here are pretty dramatic, and made even more so by much later glacial action.

 We explored caves topped by elaborately folded rock......

...and paddled along the bases of colourful cliffs.....

 .....which reached out to steep headlands.

 The relatively soft sandstones and mudstones have been further eroded and altered by relentless wave action as here at Meikle Pinnacle.  We were very fortunate in enjoying calm conditions, a rarity along this coast of strong tides and exposure to the prevailing weather.

 There are "Dove Caves" above the level of the sea.....

...and caves which are submerged at higher states of the tide and lined with colourful anemones.

 Rounding Dunrod Point we paddled towards Brighouse Bay and a last chance to stop before arrival at our intended destination for the evening.

We landed on a tiny wave-cut pebble beach between fangs of rock at the Mull of Ross and found a stone seat on which to sit and survey the stresses which surrounded us.....any resemblance to the three wise monkeys is entirely coincidental.......

The rocks which surrounded us may have been stressed, but we certainly weren't.  We relaxed in the sunshine under a huge Solway skyscape with a view out to the distant Isle of Man.  It seemed that we'd been on our Solway sojourn for quite some time and yet it was still only the first day.  It was, however, late in the afternoon of that day and we still had to make the final distance to our camp for the night.