Eaval, The Highest Hillock On North Uist, by Packraft

It has to be said that the Hebridean islands off Scotland’s west coast are a superb location for a paddle. This was my 4th day paddling on Uist, and sadly my final day before getting the big boat north to Harris.

I had been out in the boat in the morning, bagging a wee hill on Benbecula, it was from the top of this that I spotted Eaval (347M). Walkhighlands commented about the ‘boggy path’, but the map made it clear that this could be entirely avoided by anyone with a boat!

By the time I got to the start, and parked the van, it was already 5PM, it took me a further half-hour to walk to the loch and get the boat setup. Loch Obasaraigh is tidal, thanks to a narrow inlet from the sea, but its very sheltered with delayed tides vs the loch that feeds it. A very pleasant paddle saw me at the foot of the hill in glorious sunshine with a breeze to keep the midges off.

An uneventful walk saw me on the summit soaking up the spectacular views below, then it was back to the boat for the return paddle.

360 Photo – Use your mouse to look around! – Many more on Google Maps

Must have been about 8:45PM by the time I returned to the boat, and the sun was getting low in the sky, to avoid a paddle totally in the dark, some speed was required! The paddle there had involved easy route finding – simply paddle towards the obvious hill! Returning was not so obvious due to a lack of landmarks and my inability from sea level to determine what was simply an island and what was ‘mainland’. My phone came to the rescue, perched on on the bow of the boat with Anquet maps running!

I managed to get the boat to bits in the darkness, and get back to the van for the hours drive to Berneray for my 7AM ferry to Harris.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Follow Blog

Get the latest posts delivered to your mailbox: