Up and doon the Doon, before breakfast!

The third day of our round Arran trip dawned grey but dry. We had camped beneath a dramatic tertiary sill called the Doon.

Over a cup of fresh brewed coffee...

...David suggested trying to get to the top. The volcanic sill had been used as an Iron Age fort more than 2,000 years ago. Today its only inhabitants were fulmars, which were nesting high on its inaccessible ledges.

We cut across

Luncheon below a volcano.

We turned north east from the mouth of Loch Feochan and entered the Sound of Kerrera which would take us to Oban harbour.The steep rocks that rise from the shore of the sound show much evidence of volcanic activity.Indeed we could see that Dun Ormidale is a former volcanic vent. There is an Iron Age fort on its summit, which takes advantage of its natural defensive structure.We decided to stop

A cottage and a castle at Loch Feochan

We took a diversion into a little bay near the north shore of the mouth of Loch Feochan.At its head stood a delightful cottage with a wisp of smoke rising from its chimney. Access is only by a footpath rising over the hills. There was no sign of a boat. This cottage was used in the 1969 film "Ring of Bright Water" to represent Gavin Maxwell's house Camusfearna (bay of the alders). Other filming