Jura West Coast 2016

[Kieren]

Arising amongst the many conversations around the campfire this weekend was the notoriously badly documented Jura trip (which, the way things are going may become a little better documented tonight).

After the disappointment of my trip this year I would very much like to have another crack at getting down the west coast from Glengarrisdale to Loch Tarbert. There are a few details that need the input of anyone interested, such as:
Do we want to walk across from the road and rejoin the road near Loch Tarbert or would we like to have a boat drop us at Glengarrisdale and collect us from wherever we end up later in the journey?
When is the best time to go? etc.

First of all though how much interest will there be?

I'm going to suggest that we look at planning for May or there abouts, simply because this is most likely to be a time that is convenient for me. If there is a time better suited to the majority though I am happy to be flexible.

The one thing I will say is from experience we need to do some proper planning, we need to make sure we have escape plans, a first aider, a carefully constructed kit list and work out how we can make it the safest and most enjoyable trip we can hope for.

If you fancy it please comment below.

Cheers all.

[Stevie]

Hi fella, I'm game.
Although I'm a qualified first aider I probably wouldn't feel confident dealing with much unless the answer is to tie something round it really tight or put a plaster on it!
May suits me. It will give us all time to plan although think I'd like to hear more about what went wrong other than a sore ankle! 😉
Regarding the journey, I'm happy to go with general consensus.
Cheers

[TobyH]

As suggested in our chat, I'm up for it. Like Stevie I'm qualified as a first aider, but certainly ain't no paramedic. I think we could pack a suitable medical kit for everything we could deal with, but in the end a helicopter is likely to be the best backup out there. We could check on coastguard locations, take a VHF, and ask relevant questions of the various rescue authorities. If there is a few more people then we could probably cope with carrying someone if required. Anyway lots to think about. Will have to gen up on my coastal foraging/cooking!!

May is also good for me. Are we talking about 1 week or more?

[Kieren]

I'd guess a week would be good. Don't think it would be fair on my family if I was gone for much more than that.

[Paulm]

I've been meaning to do a coastal trip on the west of Scotland for some time and not got around to it and it would be great if we could do something as a group.

I'm flexible on timing and format and promise I would only pack the one rucksack and leave the other pile of kit, cool boxes and chairs behind !

Cheers, Paul

[Kieren]

I would only pack the one rucksack and leave the other pile of kit, cool boxes and chairs behind !

Cheers, Paul

Was rather hoping that you would bring the cool box :-)

[TobyH]

I'm sure we could convert a golf trolley to take the 'extras'...

[Paulm]

Haha, hadn't thought of a golf trolley, not a bad idea !

Cheers, Paul

[Tardis]

I'm definitely interested in this trip. May sounds good too!

[Tardis]

Having seen a TV programme recently about Jura it appears to be pretty bleak and not a vast amount of woodland. So my question is would this trip include trying to hang from rock outcrops? Just trying to assess what kind of trip this would be

[Gooner]

Yep interested in this depending on exact dates, May seems good and a week great

[Diamond Dave]

Yes, sounds like a great adventure...seriously interested in this.

[GadgetUK437]

The trees are on the east coast ain't they?

[Kieren]

There are a few different options depending on what people want to get out of the trip. When I went up in June I drove as far as you are permitted to drive, ditched the car at the end of the permitted road about 1.5km past a place called Lealt and followed an ATV track across to Glengarrisdale. I was then going to follow the coast down to Loch Tarbet and then follow the road back up to the car. Unfortunately it didn't work out that way and I had to cross back the way I had come.

Aside from the ATV tracks, which are not all marked on the maps the best two ways to get around are stick to the peaks or travel along the coast where possible. The peaks are a great option if you enjoy amazing views and are relatively fit but there are obviously lots of ups and downs and there are often burns to cross between the peaks. The coastline is another nice option and realistically, if you want to sleep in a hammock and are on the west coast we would have to visit the coast each evening anyway as there are virtually no trees anywhere and so hanging from rocks is the only option, more about that later. The road being on the east side of the island, the west coast is uninhabited. That said it is visited here and there and on the second morning in Glengarrisdale the army visited as did a couple in a boat. There seems to be an uncharacteristic lack of driftwood these days too, as on the coast of Islay down the hill from my aunt and uncles crofts so it may be worth looking into having fuel dropped off if we choose to do the west coast.

We would also need to have a realistic discussion about what gear and weight everyone was going to bring along. I was a little overloaded when I went and it made things a little more difficult. Other things to think about are having a good first aider and a way of getting help fairly quickly if things go wrong.

Another good option would be to pay someone to drop us off on the west coast and arrange to be collected a few days later. This way we could be based in one place and do whatever we wanted to so we could take a load of fuel for a fire and lots of food. While this is probably a slightly more sensible option it also seems a little less interesting than trying to get somewhere.

There are also a number of patches of woodland scattered around the island. There is obviously the right to roam up there but in the interests of keeping good relations I'm not prepared to go anywhere where we are not given permission to burn wood and attack beds to trees. The estate owner of the area I visited was very forthcoming and I was able to let them know where I was expecting to be and when I was expecting to be back. They declined permission for me to take my rifle but gave me permission to do a couple of things that I wouldn't have been able to do otherwise so the whole arrangement worked out nicely for me.

So that's really all I can tell you. Whatever we decide to do it's almost certainly going to be a fantastic trip so here are the things I think we need to think about first:

Dates?

West coast and hang from rocks, find woodland or alternatives?

Use a base or travel from departure point to a destination?

Accessing wherever we choose to go?

Also, if everyone who is interested can state their interest below and give an idea of experience of previous trips similar below, that way we can get an idea of the balance of experience. It's not Everest but it's not without its hazards either so would be good to have a couple of people who can cope if it all goes horrible wrong and we need to bail out quickly.

[Freeforester]

"They declined permission for me to take my rifle " - what were you intending to shoot?

[Kieren]

Bunnys and hare.

[Freeforester]

Hares would be out of season, at least in Scotland, legislated to give them some protection during the breeding season. God luck with finding a bunny on Jura's West, best bet might be a pet one in Craighouse!

[Paulm]

Hmm, wondering if I'm being overly ambitious thinking my fitness levels would be good enough for this.

Plenty of camping experience, hammock and tarp, bivi and tarp, tents, so not concerned on that front. Mostly long weekends with the car nearby though, or weeks in the New Forest with a base camp and then out walking or on the mountain bike with a day pack doing five to ten miles.

So no experience of covering a few miles on rough terrain with a fully loaded pack and that may be asking for problems for someone who has an essentially sedentary lifestyle, is "a bit" overweight, and not as young as they used to be !!!

I saw the same TV programme recently as Grant (Tardis) mentions above and was similarly struck by the barrenness of the slopes and areas shown, and wikipedia mentions similar and large areas of blanket bog to contend with, so I'm hoping maybe they just missed the good bits ?!!!

Will get a better feel for it I guess as others chip in and see what the final form and preferences might end up being and how realistic that may be for me. I might be better suited to a car based camping tour of some of the islands and distilleries , but I like the idea of some wilder coastal camping with a bunch of mates, so will see how it shapes up I guess

Cheers, Paul