Guirdil Bothy
It was finally time to see my first bothy! I hiked out from the bunkhouse with two Scottish women who were visiting for a few days; they were headed to Harris, so I joined them for the first part of the walk and got to chat a bit before I split off and took the fork to Kilmory.
My path to Guirdil, through Glen Shellesder
I had a full pack with me, since I was planning to stay the night. It made for very slow going through the still mucky path, but the views were pretty epic.
As I got closer to the coast, a knobby green hill kept peeking out to the left. This was ‘Bloodstone Hill’ — yes, that’s it’s real name — which sits directly next to the bothy. It was super exciting to see it get closer and closer, and then to make that last turn into Glen Guirdil and see the bothy for the first time.
Bloodstone Hill
Guirdil Bothy, at the base of Bloodstone Hill
It was thrilling to finally lay eyes on this place I’ve been researching for so long! Once I picked my way down into the glen, I got to see it up close and poke around inside. It’s rustic, to say the least, but there were lots of great bits of history pinned up on the walls. There was also a whale vertebrae outside, and the rocky beach was studded with bloodstone (a green sort of jasper with hematite inclusions that look like drops of blood) that rolls down off the hill.
Soon I settled in for some dinner and writing. I had been hoping for a sunset, but mist started to blanket the whole area as the tide came in, so instead I got a very atmospheric and inspiring evening!
