TRIP 15. KYLESKU AGAIN.

Day 1 Friday 30th October 2020

Once a year we go to Kylesku Hotel with our neighbours, Pam and Hugh. We all really like the hotel and the peace and quiet surrounding it.

It is not entirely a holiday, though. There is a poignant side to the trip. Pam and Hugh's son, Craig lost his life in Loch Assynt 12 years ago now. They have placed a memorial bench at the lochside. We also placed a geocache there in August 2017. At the time of writing this, 237 people had visited the cache and many of them had something good to say about the location and the reason for the cache being where it is.

Craig was an adventurous young man, and we are sure he would have approved of bringing people from all over the world to this wonderful spot.

It was a fine morning before we left Inverness to meet up with Pam and Hugh at Ullapool. Due to stupid covid, we had to travel in separate cars. Inconvenient, but not the end of the world.

The sunshine in Inverness held out a bit of promise for a nice trip and clement weather in the west. We would need that, because the forecast for the Saturday was apocalyptic.

We were not to be disappointed in the weather and the scenery as we travelled west. There were blue skies over Contin. Contin gets its name from the Gaelic and is thought to mean fort of the dog. It is not a big place, but it is always worth a visit to Coul House Hotel, where we have stayed and eaten a few times. There is also a nice little churchyard hidden away down by the river and the walking round about is all pretty good.

We kept the blue sky and the empty road as we got past Garve and along the side of the Black Water. It really is a joy to drive on these roads when they are quiet like this. There are far fewer tourists about at this time of year.

We did find a car along the side of Loch Glascarnoch. We also seemed to find a few more clouds, but you could still see the hills to the west, which is usually a good sign.

The west coast is only about an hour away from home for us, so Ullapool is an easy drive and a good place to stop for something to eat and drink. We usually go to the Frigate for a spot of lunch and we did so again, today. Service was a little slow and the mushroom soup we all ordered was cold to begin with, but that was soon sorted. The soup was delicious as was the cheeky wee cake afterwards.

Ullapool is from the Norse, meaning Olaf's settlement, so it was probably raided by the Vikings over a thousand years ago. It was developed by the British Fisheries Society in 1788 and it remains an important fishing and ferry port today.

It is also an interesting and pretty village, strung out along the shore, with an old grid pattern of nice houses behind. It is a vibrant community with lots of artistic and musical festivals.

There are great views out to sea from the main street.

There were still some flowers in bloom and you could see the approaching storm clouds behind them, which didn't really augur well for the rest of our day.

North of Ullapool, the weather improved again and there were some spectacular views to the Sutherland hills. These mountains are not very high in Highland terms, but they are spectacular and they look higher and more imposing because they sit above relatively flat ground. They are also very old - over 1000 million years.

Our first sight of Loch Assynt. The name is thought to mean seen from afar, and might be a reference to the many distinctive mountains rising from the flat land that can be seen from the sea. Again, the root of the name is Norse, so the area was probably named by the Vikings.

It might have looked benign, but it was bitterly cold as we walked down to Craig's bench.

The bench is in a savagely beautiful spot. There are fabulous views and the setting is both sombre and spectacular.

We scattered roses that Pam and Hugh had brought with them on the water. This is always a bit hazardous given the wind, which seems determined to blow the flowers back at us.

The sun shone quite brilliantly on us as we were getting ready to leave after a covid breaking group hug.

Although it was cold, it was still dry and we decided that we could all do with a bit of a walk. Just a short drive away is an all abilities trail leading to a number of small lochs.

We parked up and set off on what turned out to be a really nice little walk.

The first loch you come to is Loch Leitir Easaidh, which roughly means the hillside by the water, which is a reasonably accurate description. There is a small shelter, a toilet and a jetty here, with some fine views into the back of Quinag.

Who can resist a photo on a jetty - just ignore the lack of social distancing - they were trying to keep warm, honest?

As you go uphill a bit from the loch you get much better views of the whole of the Quinag massif. Quinag is from the Gaelic A' Chuineag, meaning Milk Pail. The mountain is said to resemble an upturned milking pail - can't really see it myself, but then I haven't come across too many milking pails to compare it to. It is pretty spectacular, though.

Another jetty and another socially distanced photo. You can tell it was cold and we needed a bit of huddling.

This was Loch na h' Innse Fraoich, meaning the loch of the heather grazing. You can see plenty of heather in this photo.

Not having a tripod with me was not an impediment to taking a photo of the four of us at the loch. Of course, that doesn't record the frantic dash from the other side of the table for me to get into the photo.

A bit further on was a viewpoint, which overlooked Loch Torr an Lochan, which translates as the mound of the lochan and presumably refers to the little hill we were standing on. The big hill in the distance is Suilven.

Nanook of the North was well insulated against the cold wind, but we were thinking it was time to get to the hotel as the light was beginning to fade and we were all in need of a wee drink.

So, we headed back to the cars and then on to the hotel as the sun began to sink in the west.

There was still enough daylight left when we got to Kylesku Hotel to record the view up Loch Glendhu from our bedroom window. This is not a view you would ever tire of.

Kylesku means the narrow narrows, describing the narrow sea entrance to the mouth of three sea lochs.

I'm not likely to ever tire of this view either - a nice pint of Black Isle Blond beer, which appeared to be on fire, but thankfully was not.

The hotel looked very warm and cosy from the deck, but due to stupid covid, we were only able to have alcohol outside. 

Nobody seemed willing to sit inside with a glass of lemonade when there was a perfectly good firepit and some blankets outside.

Why would you, when the view from the deck was this good even in the fading light?

Eventually, there was a bit of rain in the wind and we were beginning to feel the cold, so into the hotel we went for a warming bath before our dinner. Not all together, of course; that would definitely have been against the social distancing rules.

As always, the dinner was very good, with a bit of an emphasis on seafood, most of which is landed by the local boats at the slipway right beside the hotel.

I had the delicious Spineys in garlic butter with homemade focaccia. Spineys are squat lobsters, which are the size of prawns. They cannot be kept alive and transported like langoustines and they are seldom found anywhere that is any distance from where they are caught and this guarantees their freshness. They were lovely.

Sharon had whipped goat's cheese with roasted beetroot and chicory salad, hazelnuts and a balsamic dressing.

Pam and Hugh both had smoked mackerel pate with a pickled vegetable salad and crostini.

Sharon and I had the pan roasted turbot, crushed new potatoes, green beans and a white wine sauce, which was delightful. Hugh and Pam had sirloin steak, which they both enjoyed.

I finished with sticky toffee pudding which did what it said on the tin. The others all had affogato, although Pam did go that bit further and had a Baileys with hers.

By the end of that, it was time to retire after a full day.

Day 2 Saturday 31st October 2020

Sharon managed to sleep very well through the howling gale that was Storm Aiden as it battered the hotel during the early hours of Halloween morning.

It was very windy and not a little damp when we got up to start eating again. The view up Loch Glendhu was a bit more gloomy than when we had arrived yesterday. It was living up to its name as the black glen.

 

The wind was so strong that it was whipping up the surface of the water at the head of the loch, almost forming water spouts.

We are quite keen to take the boat trip up Loch Glencoul to see the highest waterfall in the UK, but luckily the boat was not running at this time of year. We will be back when there is a better chance of calmer seas!

After breakfast, we checked out and started back for home. Remarkably, the weather greatly improved . It was still very windy, but there was blue sky and some periods of sunshine on the way home. In fact, by the time we got back to Inverness, the temperature was reading 17 degrees. It did not feel like that in the wind, though.

The changeable weather made for some fine photos on the journey. 

The change was already apparent just a mile from the hotel, looking up Loch Glencoul. It was still threatening, but there was a touch of blue.

Over the top of the pass you get a good view of Suilven, which actually looked like it was on fire. What the photo does not show is the speed at which the clouds were moving - almost like a steam train.

On the way down from the pass, there are views into the lowering Loch Assynt - quite forbidding, really.

By the time we got closer to Ullapool the bay at Ardmair looked almost calm and serene - in fact the rain was almost horizontal!

At Contin, there was almost a rainbow.

Then we were home, where there was a very fine rainbow which we could see from our kitchen window as it formed over Hugh and Pam's house. I'm sure it must have represented something deep and meaningful - it was certainly pretty smart.

That was the end of a short, enjoyable and poignant night away. It is a mixture of fun and sorrow, a bit like life itself. I am sure that we will continue to make this journey together for years to come and we will do it at different times when we might be more sure of good weather. I hope that doing this together is helpful for Hugh and Pam. I know that we both find it meaningful and thought provoking. It really is the most fascinating and compelling part of the Highlands. It is impossible not to be moved and inspired by it.