Friday was a wonderful day for hiking, cloudy with occasional outbursts of sun and wind speed in the single digits. One place yet to be re-explored was the Hermit's Cell, the name for a circular wall of stones that may have been the base for a beehive shaped hut. Those huts had been built across Celtic areas as monk's cells
We hiked up from the south, cutting across the golf course. At the edge of the greens, where the rocks rose quickly is this delightful waterfall. The only waterfall with such a dramatic drop on Iona. Following a map really meant guessing where the trail went, because there were many trails made by the sheep and cattle. Finally reaching the top of another rocky summit there it was.
Can you see it? There is bright oval of green grass around the stones about 1/3 down on the right hand side. On the left there is a large rock wall for a cattle pen. Of course, to get there we still had to cross the wide area of bog in between. With all of the rain the previous days, every low area was pooled with water. But the worst of the boggy areas was yet to come.
We decided to continue hiking north, to come out near the Abbey. Initially we worked our way across the high rocks of the central moorlands, keeping Dun I ahead of us. There were occasional glimpses of the Sound of Iona to the east as well as the Abbey tower, barely visible on the right side of this photo. But between us and the paved road home were the peat bogs. This part of the island provided peat for fires for many centuries.
Different paths were tried, and eventually a way was found. But every gate was surrounded by mud. We were both tired and sore walking the final mile down the road.
Yesterday was a day of solid dark clouds, and regular variations of rain. A day to stay inside, read, work on photographs, needlepoint, and write in my journal. I am reading a biography of George MacLeod, the founder of the Iona community. He was a tumultuous personality, and the reason Iona is known across the globe to this day.
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