Читать книгу Walking on Rum and the Small Isles. Rum, Eigg, Muck, Canna, Coll and Tiree онлайн

4 страница из 49

ssss1

ssss1

ssss1

ssss1

ssss1

ssss1

ssss1

ssss1

ssss1

ssss1

Wild goats at Harris Bay, Ruinsival in the background (Walk 3, Day 2)

Climbing to the Bealach Bairc-mheall, from Coire Dubh (Walk 1)

INTRODUCTION

Askival, with Ainshval beyond from the summit of Hallival (Walk 1)

The wild, beautiful and remote Small Isles lie scattered off Scotland’s Atlantic coast, north of Ardnamurchan, west of Morar, south of Skye and east of the Outer Hebridean isles of Barra and South Uist. To the south-west, the Small Isles’ near neighbours, Coll and Tiree – the Hebridean Twins, lie to the west of Mull. The Small Isles, Coll and Tiree provide the adventurous walker with a fine and diverse range of walking, from the towering peaks of the Rum Cuillin to the dunes and machair pastures of low-lying Tiree.

Many of the routes in this guidebook are coastal walks traversing extremely varied terrain, from rugged, rocky shores and vertiginous cliffs to vast expanses of flower-carpeted machair and white sandy beaches. These coastal landscapes teem with wildlife, and with remarkable geological features, including raised beaches, caves, natural arches, sea stacks and basalt dikes. Many traces of the islands’ histories, both ancient and more recent, are found around these coastlines, from Bronze Age duns (fortifications) perched on rocky promontories to abandoned settlements, mute testaments to the Highland Clearances.