Arran Coastal Way: Sannox to Lochranza

After a cozy night of sleep – this is way more comfortable than backpacking – we awoke to breakfast. Jen tried a โ€œFull Scottish Breakfastโ€ (minus the mushrooms), while Dave had porridge with โ€œreal Canadian maple syrup.โ€

A โ€œFull Scottish Breakfastโ€ adds fried mushrooms to this: tatty scone, fried egg, sausage, beans, back bacon, blood pudding, and a tomato.

Our driver then shuttled us back to Sannox to begin our hike. After hopping across the stream on concrete blocks, we followed a path along the beach edge.

The start

Eventually the path joined an old forest service road, and the walking was excellent despite the drizzle and wind that would plague us most of the day.

We *thought* this was a lot of fernsโ€ฆ
A conglomerate wall
Bracken fern

After some quick-paced progress, we started to slow down as the trail entered endless forests of bracken ferns, aka the car wash.

Misty moments
An easy but faint footpath
A cave
Dave took this from the trail, looking back at me several meters behind him on the trail

As we came to several headlands, the trail remained a trace through the ferns, though the footing got trickier as we stepped up and down slippery, wet rocks.

An old home
Old walls from when they worked a coal seam nearby

We eventually reached Huttonโ€™s Unconformity, which I understand is pretty cool for geologists. The trail also improved here, which was cool for us, and we made progress back to warm showers and a hot meal.

Great trail!
Scottish thistle
End of route
Jen had Scottish salmon with potatoes, spinach and beurre blanc. Delicious.
Dave had confit of chickpeas with tomatoes, mint yogurt, and homemade naan.
We both had Arran Whiskey and pecan tarts with Arran ice cream for dessert. Yum!

Highlights un-photographed included two frogs, a gray seal, a mouse running across Jenโ€™s toes, more oystercatchers, and cormorants.

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2 responses to “Arran Coastal Way: Sannox to Lochranza”

  1. Dasun Kalpana Avatar
    Dasun Kalpana

    It looks like you’re having a blast! The food looks delicious too. Enjoy your vacation. Take care! ๐Ÿ˜Š๐ŸŒด๐Ÿฝ๏ธ

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