Calgary Bay

Friday early morning, the winds of last night are gone, the rain is light, little more than drizzle. While seven slumber in their beds, one is heading out for a bit of a scamper by Calgary Bay, in the north-east of the Isle of Mull.

I'm starting from a small car park by the beach at Calgary Bay. Sheep are grazing on the machair above the beach. This is a beautiful place. To the right there's a track running along the coast toward an old stone pier. The track turns right leading uphill to a sheepwash and there I leave to the left on a small footpath around the south of the Mornish peninsula. The terrain is delightful. The scenery is stunning.

Sheep grazing on the machair

Calgary Bay

Calgary Bay

Track from Calgary Bay along the Mornish peninusla

Nice view over the sands of Calgary Bay

The old stone pier

Track turns and ascends

Leading to a good small footpath

Stepping stones

Delightful terrain 

Stunning scenery

Standing stone

The sun is making a valiant but fruitless effort to break through the clouds this morning. The rain is a little heavier but I don't mind, I'm really enjoying myself this morning. What a fantastic contrast with the conditions in Pune last week. I'm continuing around the peninsula and turning north. There are lots of small clusters of abandoned dwellings here. The inhabitants must had led hard hard lives, in these small stone houses, in this wild and isolated place, exposed to the force of the elements.

The Sun tries to shine through the clouds

Turning to the north along the peninsula

Abandoned dwellings

Abandoned dwellings

The scenery continues to captivate me. The track I'm following turns and ascends to the right of this prominent rocky outcrop. The ground higher up is waterlogged but I don't care, my feet can not get more wet now anyway. There are more abandoned dwellings here. I'm going to cross the fence and then continue ascending on sheep tracks and rough ground. I don't have much clue where I am or which direction I should go, but no matter, I'll just keep going up for now. Hacking through the heather on the high ground Calgary Bay comes into sight below. This is good, I now have a vague idea where I am, and in which direction to continue.

The track ascends here to the right of the prominent rocky outcrop

The ground here is waterlogged, nice and soft

More abandoned dwellings

Ascending on rough ground

Calgary Bay comes into sight below

I'm running over rough ground and sometimes sheep tracks above the crags heading back toward the beach. I just love this kind of running. I can see the sheepwash above the old stone pier down below me, I could descend here, but I've got plenty of time, so it's up again for me, then down the other side I drop onto a farm track and there's another cluster of abandoned dwellings. The farm track turns to the right and descends past the sheepwash returning me on the track back to the beach car park.

Heading back toward the beach on rough ground ...

...and sheep tracks

The sheepwash by the old stone pier is below me ...

...but I'll head up here and then down the other side.

I drop onto a farm track and there are more abandoned dwellings ahead

I've descended to the track back to the beach car park

I can't resist the sight of white sands and the sound of the sea, I'm going to run across the bay on the sand, and return on the machair. The tide is well out, the exposed sand still wet is great underfoot. I meet some folk on the beach at the other side of bay, and receive some kind assistance with the camera.

I cant resist the sight of the white sand ...

... and the sound of the sea

The exposed wet sand is great underfoot

I've had a brilliant morning outing of running and exploring and perhaps a little too much time spent snapping. The terrain has been great, the views have been wonderful. I've been going for about eighty minutes, at an easy pace, and I've done a little under 10km, with about 330m of climb.

Update: I've uploaded the complete photo set from this outing here.

Enjoy!