A Hebridean Campsite

Last month I made a three-day hike into the interior of Lewis. I was searching for beehive cell dwellings, and found plenty: the most amazing at Loch a' Sguair, Gearraidh Ascleit, and another place further south called Airidh a' Chlair Mhoir. Along with the delight of finding intact cells, another satisfying thing during hikes like this is to find a campsite in a beautiful spot, a place to rest and savour the silence.

It was a wet August afternoon when, after exploring the cells at Gearraidh Ascleit, a village of eight beehives, three of them intact, I set out in search of a place to spend the night. I hoped to make it as far as Gleann Shanndaig, where there are many shieling ruins.

Beehive cell at Ascleit - the hill Roineabhal to the right

Glen Shanndaig lies seven kilometres south of Kinlochroag, five east of Kinlochreasort. To get there from Ascleit requires following a zig-zaggy route of five kilometres. First you have to cut across the south shoulder of Ascleit, then cross a stream that flows from a small, unnamed loch into Loch Lomhainn. From there fifteen minutes of hiking leads up to the interesting settlement of Gearraidh Druim Lomhainn: a linear set of four ruined cells spread out on the Druim Lomhainn ridge. 

Gearraidh Druim Lomhainn

My legs were getting weary at that point, but I was still an hour out from Glean Shanndaig. It’s not a straightforward route, as 230 metre high Sgalabhal Shanndaig stands in the way. The hill’s flanks are guarded by the cliffs of Creag Maralltan and Speireag, which forced me to head south to the saddle between Sgalabhal Shanndaig and Sgalabhal Beag. From the pass it was an easy hike down into Gleann Shanndaig.

The lumpy terrain in the glen was confusing: a maze of streams winding to and fro between grass-grown mounds of sand and gravel. The first ruin I came to was a large, tumbled double beehive at NB 150175. It sat just above a small grassy peninsula, nearly an island, surrounded on three sides by a loop of the Abhainn Gleann Shanndaig. The peninsula looked like the perfect campsite, or so my still weary legs were telling me, and so I dropped the pack on the ground.

The tent was pitched, I filtered some icy-cold water from the stream, and then wandered through the glen, on the lookout for intact beehive cells. But there were none to be found. What I did find were a half-dozen collapsed cells, and several rectangular shielings. I ventured farther south to a much larger stream, the Abhainn Gleann a’ Ghàraidh. There were ruins there, too, but none of them beehives.

It was a quiet evening – just the trickle of the stream breaking the silence. The Perseid meteor shower peaked that night (Aug 12); but if there were any shooting-stars to see they were hidden behind heavy clouds. In the morning I set out, under a light rain, to search for more beehives. I would be successful in that. I would also be successful in finding yet another outstanding campsite on the far shores of Loch Reasort.