Killinallan Walk - Islay Walking Week 2007, Scotland

After the quite hazy weather the previous few days we were greeted with brilliant sunshine and clear views for our third walk of the week. Iain MacPherson would take us beach walking past Killinallan Point along the dunes at Tràgh Baile Aonghais and out to Gortantaoid. 30 walkers met at Killinallan Gate. Iain told us a bit about the walk and the area and off we went. After a short distance on the track we turned left and walked down to the shore of Loch Gruinart. We could see seals on the sandbanks in the loch, basking in the mild spring sun. Walking on the beach we walked north towards Killinallan Point. Luckily the tide was just right, it was low tide while we were walking this stretch. At other times this area is flooded and you have to walk along the dunes.

	After just over a mile we reached Killinallan Point and started to turn east. Some impressive views over the beach at Tràigh Baile Aonghais with some of the hills in the north east of Islay as the backdrop. Some clouds over land, but almost no clouds to be seen over the sea and the beach. Just past Killinallan Point we stopped and Iain told us a number of stories. Misguided attempts to invade Islay, murder and bloodshed, soothsayers not being listened to, those kind of stories. From near Killinallan Point we had a fantastic view over the beach, the sea and the landscape around. For a better view try the 180° Quicktime VR panorama of Killinallan Point and Tràigh Baile Aonghais:

Walking along the beach we had a lot of nice views, including the shoreline out to Mala Bholsa (127m). We had walked there the previous year during the Bholsa and Rhuvaal walk for WalkIslay 2006. But we weren't going to walk that far today, we would only go as far as Gortantaoid Point. Quite a few pictures were taken, including a rare one of myself. Others were ‘dueling’ and taking pictures of each other taking pictures while I took a picture of them on the beach. With perfect timing we arrived at Gortaintaoid Point just in time for lunch. We sat down on the rocks just above the beach, eating our sandwiches, muesli bars and fruit in the sun with a great view over the sea and back to Killinallan Point.

	Refreshed after the lunch and the rest it was time to move on, we still had a few miles to cover. Leaving Gortantaoid Point we continued north east for a short time. Looking back we had a great view over Tràigh Baile Aonghais and out to Ardnave and Nave Island. The sheep were probably oblivious to the view though. We walked as far as just past the trig point (at 24m one of the lowest I've ever seen, usually they're on the top of hills I think) until we reached a deer fence. Here we turned south east to reach a track leading to Gortantaoid. The long walk back to Killinallan had begun...

	We had a short stop at Gortantaoid to prepare for the long walk back along the track. Someone found some ‘wild’ (from the old farm garden) rhubarb, several people picked some to take it home and eat it. Then we left along the track. It's a fairly long slog, but in the nice weather and with all the other walkers to chat with it was still quite nice. We looked east, wondering where we were going to walk the next day, at least those who were going to join Jack's walk from Loch Gruinart to Loch Indaal. After a very nice walk in beautiful weather we arrived back at our cars. I stayed on a little bit and took a few more pictures of Loch Gruinart. Later I drove back to Bridgend to relax a little bit before leaving for the Visitors Welcome Evening.

If you are interested in more information about Islay, Colonsay and Jura you might also be interested in my Isle of Islay pages. There you will find many more pictures and further information about Islay, Jura and Colonsay.

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Killinallan Walk, Isle of Islay