Knoydart (1 Viewer)

Has anyone like myself visited this remote area in Scotland called Knoydart. The only way to access this area is by ferry or a 16 mile trek in very rough terrain. I visited in my teenage years and as I'm now 68 years of age I probably will never visit there again. Here’s a link about Knoydart. https://www.visitknoydart.co.uk/about
Ian.

Sadly I've not Ian. Skirted round it many times.

Like you I doubt I'll manage it now either.

Fun fact: I had never been to Knoydart... until today! I went over on the ferry from Mallaig to meet up with my brother and his partner, who are staying over there. We just stuck to the area around Inverie, so nothing too adventurous. The weather was mostly good and I saw a nice selection of birds. The highlights were a couple of decent views of Golden Eagles and some close views of Red-throated Divers on Loch Nevis.

Here are a couple of pictures.

Oh...... jealousy is seeping out through every pore Andrew!!!

Why can't we have a Bash over there then!!!

I am jealous. I haven’t visited since the late 1960’s in my teenage years and that fortnights holiday in that decade was a mixture of birdwatching and fell-walking that my father loved to do.
Ian.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lbsvLco3nXA&t=22s
Ive been trying to post this video link about Knoydart. Bur for some reason this YouTube video won’t play.
Ian.

IAN JAMES THOMPSON said:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lbsvLco3nXA&t=22s
Ive been trying to post this video link about Knoydart. Bur for some reason this YouTube video won’t play.
Ian.

Click to expand...

Hm! It's just saying 'this video is unavailable' !

S

Sandra (Taylor) said:

Hm! It's just saying 'this video is unavailable' !

S

Click to expand...

I know I don’t know why. When I play the video on my iPad I can watch the full 7-8 minute video.
Ian

Back in the 1980s I did a number of solo backpacking trips through Knoydart. I'd "discovered" mountains by trudging up the somewhat tedious tourist path on Ben Nevis so the next obvious step was a solo multi day trip across one of the remotest and roughest parts of Scotland!

On the second night of the first trip I had camped at one of Knoydart's high passes with a lovely view from the tent door looking down the glen and out towards the Isle of Rum. Whilst I was sitting outside the tent cooking dinner a large bird of prey appeared soaring over the high ridge above me. It had to be a Golden Eagle. Almost immediately it turned and came swooping down the steep ground directly towards me. It was only then that I spotted the herd of Red Deer making their way across the crags.

Just as the eagle reached the deer it spread out its wings to slow its descent and appeared to almost touch one of the hinds as it skimmed across her back. I remember thinking how big the eagle was and how small the deer was. In reality it was probably just a small hind and a large female eagle but at the time the hind seemed to be completely dwarfed by the eagle. The hind lost her footing and stumbled briefly but then regained her composure and continued across the crags with the rest of the herd.

The eagle banked away and landed on a rocky outcrop not far away giving me a good view through my cheap lightweight bins. I turned back to my now partially burnt dinner and managed to salvage some of it. When I next looked back to the eagle's perch she had gone. It was only some years later that I read that Golden Eagles will sometimes try to "startle" deer over cliffs. It was my first sighting of a Golden Eagle and still ranks as one of my most exciting bits of birdwatching ever.