20th December, walk to Back of Keppoch

There is a coastal route, a 'B' road, out of Arisaig that leads to Back of Keppoch, this is the road we decided to walk on the 20th, because the coastal path marked on the map was difficult to find! The day was beautiful though cold and the road gave us clear views back towards the Roshven Mountains and out across Loch nan Ceall.

There was little traffic on the road and few pedestrians, not surprising given that we were in a fairly remote part of Scotland, and the weather was very wintry i.e. snowy, icy and bitterly cold! What we didn't expect see was a man on his mobility scooter, looking for all the world as if he was heading down Sauchiehall Street!  And, what we definitely didn't expect to see shortly after, was Santa driving a snow plough!!

Coming into the Back of Keppoch one of the first things you notice is Cnoc-na-Faire, a hotel in an excellent situation - standing on a hill overlooking the township. The hotel is also remarkable for its art deco-style building. We visited Cnoc-na-Faire afer our beach walk and enjoyed a delicious bowl of homemade tomato soup and a warm bread roll, while taking in great views of the winter landscape, and, after chatting to the landlord, made plans to visit again for an evening meal before it closed for a few days over Christmas.

Our pre-prandial walk took us down an icy road through a campsite (closed!) at the mouth of a frozen river, Allt Cam Carrach. A moored boat provided Daisy with another boat photo opportunity.

We wandered onto the snowy beach and spent sometime exploring and sitting on the rocks, watching the sea and the distant islands, keeping out the cold by sipping Drambuie from our hip flask.