Today we went to Clachtoll because I wanted to visit its sandy beach and perhaps swim there. Also, I have read that there are many very interesting geological features there that I thought James would be interested in. In the end, I didn’t swim because we ran out of time after our geological walk, but the several beaches look absolutely beautiful and hopefully I will swim there before too long. The beaches have lovely dunes and machair behind them with the iconic Split Rock to the south but today we walked north around the coast to the bay of Stoer. The sea was a spectacular turquoise colour and there were amazing sandstone ridges leading down into the sea.
The remains of a 2000 year old Iron Age broch has recently been cleared of fallen stones to reveal an interior staircase, a hearth, and cavities in the walls which may have been used for sleeping or storage. It’s a good size in circumference and although only one storey remains, it was apparently once eight storeys high.
We continued North to another beach, which had amazing large stripy stones and some sand at the shore. At the far end of it we could see layers of rock running diagonally from the hill into the sea. James went to investigate a small but famous rock, called Stac Fada.
This band of sandstone has a dark green rock mixed through it. And that means that it is the ejecta from a meteor strike millions of years ago. It has not been established whether the meteor struck inland or out in the Minch, but it was exciting to see the evidence.
Back in Lochinver we had a late lunch sitting outdoors at the pie shop, James had the Cullen Skink which he said was delicious and I had a chocolate and pear pie. It was very warm and we were happy in just shorts and t shirts.
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