27th August: The sign at the little parking place describes Loch Shianta as “The Enchanted, Holy or Magical Loch”. There’s certainly something magical about the water in this well-hidden pool – it’s the clearest water I’ve ever seen, with a curious turquoise tint. Is it something in the water, or just its rocky bed? Sadly, neither the depth nor the clarity come through in the photos – it has to be seen to be believed.
The path down to the loch is short and well-made, with little plaques every few yards, mostly in Gaelic. “Gabh seo, a ghaoil” seems to translate (Google) as “take this, love”. Is that perhaps too literal? Though it’s late in the season, this is a colourful walk, with plenty of knapweed and scabious, not to mention a patch or two of ragwort. Just off the path. there’s a super small colony of fly agaric (“flying Eric”, as my nephew once misheard), and as ever, there are great views of islands and the highlands.
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=147067&Y=869865&A=Y&Z=115
