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Published: August 6th 2007
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Day 3
After breakfast we made our picnic lunches,today being Saturday we had no work tasks and we were to set off for a full day walking guided by Hugh to explore more of the island.
It promised to be a good day as the sky was clear blue and the temperature was rising.
As a group we set off from the village to the head dyke to meet the tarmac road that linked the base to the radar installations.
This road was constructed in 1957 by, Hard Rock Task Force,5004 Airfield Construction Squadron RAF,very steep and with several hairpin bends in places,the road passes the quarry blasted out of the hillside, the stone then being used for its foundation.This was quite an acheivement for a visting party,including naturlists, given the task of taking stock of the archipelago, who persuaded the military against bulldozing the village and using the demolition material for roadstone.What a tragedy that would have been!!!
Before reaching the line of the old dyke that runs around the head of Gleann Mor,Hugh pointed out a "Zebra"crossing on the road and told of an old Bus Stop sign that once had been erected on the verge!
At this point
A Bonxie attacking
Photo courtesy of Kerry-Anne Mairs Hugh brought us together and pointed out the line of cleiatann leaving the valley below that we could follow in bad weather, this would lead to the saddle where we were standing.it was hard to imagine that the girls and women of the village had to make this journey twice a day whenever cows were grazing the pastures of Gleann Mor.
Traversing the head of the valley we made our way to Mullach Bi,it was here that we had our first encounter with the dive bombing Great Skuas or Bonxies,the Stukas of the bird world.These sizable birds, protecting their breeding sites swooped on us whenever they felt threatend.We were very vunerable and exposed, many close encounters were to be had over the next two weeks,I never remembered to take Hughs advice and carry something like a walking stick that could be raised in the event of an attack,(the Bonxies attack the highest point)being folically challanged, mine would have definately flown the white flag!!
Soon we were at the lovers stone on Mullach Bi where St Kildan men, in order to win the hand of the lady of their desires had to perform an act of bravery on the
lovers stone. Here, in the presence of witnesses the suitor had to balance at the edge of the rock on one leg and touch with his hand the foot of the other.I wonder how many eligable batchelors came to grief whilst performing this feat?
From here we went on to descened Carn Mor, a precipitous grassy slope that seemed to drop right into the surf that was crashing below.On reaching the rocks we at last could almost relax to admire the birdlife that was all around.
Back to the relative safety of Mullach Bi it was onward to the Cambir where we sat and had lunch, admiring the view over to Soay.Our "tour guide" Hugh was invaluble,having an endless supply of fascinating facts about our new environs,the isolation of Soay was put in perspective when he told us that since Everest was conquered in 1953, hundreds more people had been on the summit than had set foot on Soay,definite food for thought.The wreck of one of 3, WW2 aircraft that crashed on St Kilda could seen through binoculars scattered over the eastern face of Soay,which again was food for thought.With so many thought prevoking reflections it was hard to
leave the stunning
Descending Carn Mor
vista and head back "home" via Mullach Mor, knowing that it was to be a hard slog for much of the way.
Like much of hill walking on Hirta there was no real path to follow,just sheep tracks which often came to nothing, the sheep obviously not caring to go to the village!On our journey we encountered parts of another WW2 aircraft that had come to grief,the wreckage over the passing years, has been blown far away from the crash site.It was at this site,Hugh told us, that an airman had survived the crash and had managed to crawl into a cleit but must have died of his injuries/starvation,skeletal remains being found years later.
On reaching the saddle overlooking village bay I decided to make staight tracks avoiding the road as after 8 1/2 hrs the staightest route is usually the quickest and so it proved.A full and rewarding day that was rounded off with a shower,a wonderful meal and a wee dram in the Puffinn.
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