Ancient Bones and Ruins

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29/11/2024

Friday was a drab damp and windy day. It was also the day we realised we only had a week left to get back home for our family Christmas celebration. With our mood slightly depressed we decided to lift it by having a special lunch. We drove south to Kylesku where we parked next to the bridge and walked down to the Kylesku hotel.

Kylesku

Kylesku Bridge crosses a long narrow inlet formed by sea lochs. It might be taken for granted today, but prior to 1984 there was only a ferry crossing with a single track winding inland road a long and unwelcome alternative. We toyed with sleeping by the bridge, but the clunk-clunk of crossing vehicles put us off.

 

We had booked a table for a late lunch earlier that morning. It was quiet in the bar when we arrived but a few other couples arrived and slowly the restaurant and bar became a little less deserted. Someone who turned up un-booked was told they would have limited choice, the chef had only made allowance for booked guests and they would be taking their chances. We were glad we had booked up. The food was delicious, freshly cooked and succulent fish in beautiful sauces. We lingered over our lunch, watching the loch from the window and trying to decide where we would stay that evening.

Ardvreck Castle

Further south we stopped to take a stroll at Ardvreck Castle. This ruined keep stands on an island promontory at the edge of Loch Assynt, which I mistakenly believed to be another sea inlet but is actually a fresh water loch. Nearby Calda House was built by the Mackenzies after they sacked Ardvreck caste in 1672. Calda House itself was then razed by the MacRaes in 1760 and now only the shell of the mansion remains roofless by the car park. 

The castle ruins make a pleasing statement against the loch, probably more interesting than the plan rectangular tower would have been when it was built in the 15th century. The crossing to the island was about ankle deep in water and we decided it wasn’t worth getting our feet wet. 

The Bone Caves Parking

We stopped for the evening at the Bone Caves just south of Inchnadamph. After trying to get flat on the  sloping free car park we gave up and drove through the car park to the paid parking beyond which I assume is operated by the local estate. We popped £10 into the honesty box and got a nice flat spot to park for the night. It was so quiet we slept really well.

Walking to the Bone Caves

The next morning we woke up to find a herd of deer grazing next to our parking spot. They sauntered off as we opened up our blinds. Not very sociable but not easily spooked either, we were to see plenty more deer on our walk to the cave, more than we’d seen in our whole trip so far.

Watching the deer watching us

The trail up to the bone caves wasn’t long. From the car park we followed the waters of the Allt nan Uamh past a couple of small cascades and into a valley. The water appeared and disappeared from the rocky river bed as it found different channels through the limestone.

Following the stream up through the valley – the Bone Caves are on the right

Part way up the valley the path split and we crossed the river bed to ascend the side of the hill towards the cave. The path started to get a little more narrow as we reached the bottom of the crag, I think if it was busy it would be a lot easier if everyone was following the route in the same direction, but at this time in the morning it was just us and the deer.

The caves are obvious dark archways in the base of the limestone crag. Each cave offering a dark but shallow hollow in the rock for a little exploration if you are happy to edge around the slimy pigeon poo. There isn’t much to see now, but over the course of the last hundred or so years excavations have found the remains of ancient mammals who occupied the caves before and between ice ages. Bones of lynx, reindeer, wolves and even a polar bear have been found. Perhaps they hibernated in these caves, or maybe their bones were just washed here by the waters that carved the chambers. The bones of prehistoric humans have also been discovered although there is no evidence that the caves were ever used as dwellings.

Looking from the caves back towards our parking spot

After peering into the caves we made our way onwards and down a gully back to the  Allt nan Uamh. There was still a bit of snow on the ground here and we had to skirt around it to avoid accidentally stepping into the stream or getting our feet stuck between rocks. As we descended back to Bertie we passed a few other people making the walk up to the caves, a sure sign it was a weekend.

 

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