Geograph Blog ::

A Walk towards Bolsa, Islay

By Becky Williamson

Once again I was caught out with the weather. This really is a walk to do on a cold, crisp winter's day before the bracken, midges and tourists are out in force! We can say it snowed without lying, although it wasn't exactly blizzard conditions! But whilst my last walk was in relentless sunshine (for which I suffered a headache, not having taken my sunhat), the sun only made an appearance when the last car door was closed at the end of the walk - and I'd taken my sunhat! Of course! And my 'good' camera - which meant I didn't have a close enough zoom for the magnificent views of the otter we had at the half way mark. Typical!

We started at Gortantoid trigpoint, somewhere I'd visited before in sunnier conditions. NR3374 : Trigpoint at Gortantoid, Islay by Becky Williamson and followed the coastline north-eastwards towards Bolsa, hoping to reach the caves at the very north of the island. It really is a fascinating stretch of coastline, dotted with caves and natural arches and waterfalls round every bend (of which there are a lot), down every hill (of which there are a lot!) and back up every hill (of which there are a lot!). So you've gathered, there's lots of undulation on this walk if you insist (as I did) on following the coastline religiously. ('Yes, there's a track but it's nowhere near as interesting' for which read 'Yes, there's a track but it doesn't go through the gridsquares I need!') My friends know me too well to be fooled by my lie and I did relent and allow us to take the path (which actually only goes some of the way) on the way back.

Enough preamble, from the trigpoint we came upon a tiny lochan which was covered with a thin layer of ice NR3474 : Tiny frozen lochan north of Gortantoid, Islay by Becky Williamson. the rocky coastline follows a north-easterly course with inlets and beaches NR3374 : Coastline north of Gortantoid, Islay by Becky Williamson, NR3676 : Coastline north of Gortantoid, Islay by Becky Williamson, NR3576 : Coastline north of Gortantoid, Islay by Becky Williamson, NR3575 : Coastline north of Gortantoid, Islay by Becky Williamson, NR3575 : Rock formations near Bolsa, Islay by Becky Williamson, NR3474 : Volcanic sill north of Gortantoid, Islay by Becky Williamson, NR3475 : Coastline north of Gortantoid, Islay by Becky Williamson, caves, NR3676 : Caves north of Gortantoid, Islay by Becky Williamson, NR3474 : Caves north of Gortantoid, Islay by Becky Williamson and NR3676 : Cave south of Bolsa, Islay by Becky Williamson and natural arches NR3676 : Caves and natural arches north of Gortantoid, Islay by Becky Williamson and NR3676 : Waterfalls and natural arches south of Bolsa, Islay by Becky Williamson. My favourite vista was the furthest north. having left the weary others behind for my final gridsquare of the day, I scaled a cliff face (!) up yet another hill and came upon this view NR3676 : Looking towards Mala Bholsa, Islay by Becky Williamson - well worth the extra climb! On the way back I was pleased to visit the fragments of the Doodilbeg ruin - a name which had long intrigued me on the map, which consists of the largish remains of a house NR3474 : Remains of Doodilbeg, Islay by Becky Williamson and, about 50 metres SW, two corn drying kilns. NR3474 : Corn Kilns at Doodilbeg, Islay by Becky Williamson. For more information on these ruins, visit LinkExternal link.

What a shame that as well as natural wonders, this coastline (and sadly all of Islay's coastline) is also littered with unnatural 'wonders' NR3676 : Anyone missing a buoy? by Becky Williamson and NR3474 : 'Lizy' from Falmouth by Becky Williamson. It's difficult to walk past without doing a beach clean en route, but it would take all day and more folk - anyone up for the task?


Loading map...
Marker only shows grid square

When
Sun, 24 Feb 2013 at 21:29
Grid Square
geotagged! NR3676

blog comments powered by Disqus
You are not logged in login | register