Where were we? Lochranza Campsite
Intended destination - The wilderness south east of Lochranza
Date - 7 May - 10 May 2015
Driver - The train driver took us to Ardrossan. The ship captain took us to Brodick and my friend Archie took us to Lochranza
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| These memories last forever |
The fact that we decided to go to Arran was borne more out of laziness than the beautifulness of Arran. Arran is of course beautiful but when I (Ewan) suggested the idea I used the lack of driving as my main carrot. In fairness it took almost no persuading as we always like to go camping.
Anyway, the Marleys were dead to begin with. It was Thursday the 7th of May and as far as I can remember it was a good dry day. I got to Andy Cowan's house at lunchtime and he kindly made myself and Andrew Tait some toast and cheese. This gave us the strength to drive to my house in Dalry. We had a quick turnaround and with our ridiculously heavy and over filled backpacks that had camping stuff hanging from every possible strap we started the walk to the train station. Although it doesn't sound it. One backpack is a huge leap in the right direction. It's just over a mile to the train station but early on Andy Tait had major problems with his left arm as it was going numb. He didn't get too much sympathy from me and Andy Cowan. By the time we got to the station this was unbearable for him and he had grave concerns about continuing. You'll be pleased to know that the problem didn't reoccur and like a true KT warrior he carried on.
The train was pleasant and we made full use of the rule that allows you to drink on a train. We bought our tickets at the ferry terminal and enjoyed a game of Frisbee. We had another beer on the boat and my good friend Archie picked us up in Brodick. I know that you imagine Archie from Brodick to be an old balding man who is slightly over weight with a grown up family and black lab but he is actually a young 22 year old whipper snapper and proved to be good company.
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| Outside my house with one pack each. 2007 Ewan would never have believed that |
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| Everyone can drink on the train!! |
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| A superb selfie with Ardrossan Harbour in the back ground |
We got dropped off at the Arran distillery. I think I may have mentiioned about our heavy backpacks. We cut down on clothes but filled every spare gap with Guinness or red wine. My backpack holds 75 litres and I would estimate that 35 litres were liquid in my pack. Guinness is thicker than water so it must be heavier. We walked by the campsite even though it was suggested by myself and Andy Tait that we should settle for a night then find a spot tomorrow with no packs on our back. We didn't believe in this idea as much as we should have done and the walk ahead of us was brutal. It was a mile to the shore then at least 2 miles along the coast maybe 3. In the same way as wind chill factor can make a day colder then backpack factor makes a walk longer and the backpack factor turned the 4 miles into at least the equivalent of 11.5. I'm relatively new to backpack factor but that is an extremely accurate estimate. Anyway, around the fairy glen or something like that we headed off track and up-field as there were too many people about. We found a relatively unremote spot near an obvious track and in plain sight of anything within a mile. After about an hour of faffing around with the weight of a canonball on my shoulders we headed back to the coast where we heroically decided to take the long walk back to the campsite. It was tough going and my body was stiff for days. It is however these things you remember. I don't want a boring trip.
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| Andy resting the bag of anvils on his back |
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| The walk was tough but we got some glorious pictures |
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| Figuring out what we could see |
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| does this look a bit like Andy's hand is on my thigh? |
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| resting our weary shoulders and contemplating what to do |
I had stayed at Lochranza campsite before and knew it was beautiful. We got some great pictures that night as we rested our weary bones and settled down to some food, Frisbee and dumble.
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| Lovely spot to pitch a tent. I was happy to pay for it |
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| Deer and stag roam free at the campsite living peacefully with humans |
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| The wind up radio is always good for news and music |
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| Inflatable pillows are a great addition to lighten our backpacks |
On Friday when I woke up I could barely stand up straight after the previous days exertions. I had followed the walk by sitting for hours almost doubled over on my camping chair. When I did eventually stand up I realised it was wet out and we ended up sitting in our glorious new tent for the day. We had had grand plans of getting the bus to goat fell and climbing it but all we managed was an evening stroll to the castle which was beautifully scenic.
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| Andy got spooked |
Some would say we squandered the day but I had a superb time relaxing in the tent as did the other two.
When we woke up on Saturday we knew it was time for action and we had decided to walk the cock of Arran (no sniggering) There is also a butt of Arran and if I had one magic wish it would be that I could create a path linking the two and call it the gooch of Arran. I would die a happy man.
It was a good day and the scenery was spectacular. The walk is about an 8 mile round trip from the campsite. This meant we had walked 21.5 miles with backpack factor over the weekend. We were tired when we got back but felt great.
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| Looking over towards Buteish from northern Arran |
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| Chiiling back at the tent |
You may have noticed Andy Cowan on a massive stone. He did well to climb it and it looked for a while like he would never come down but he did.
We really mastered one pot meals and cleaning up quickly on this trip. We all just chipped some food into the pot and had it with bread and butter. It was just as camping should be.
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| It looks rubbish but it was glorious. Noodle a la ravioli on a sandwich of bread |
It was a wet night outside but mainly dry in the tent. We headed home in the rain but it had been another great trip.
