Having no food, we had to wait until 09:00 for the shop to open before we could start our breakfast. It was too warm and sunny to want to be inside, but it made sense to visit the museum before seeking out the prehistoric remains. Kilmartin is too remote to be a busy attraction, but long ago it must have been a very important centre. There’s a linear cemetery stretching for several kilometres along the glen, cairns, burial chambers and rock carvings. The museum also houses a very nice café where we lunched on red pepper hommous, cake and coffee.
We changed into our cycling gear and retraced our route as far as the Crinan canal, stopping to look at various prehistoric sites on the way, and rode the one and a half miles along the towpath to the eponymous village at its head. It’s wide enough for sailing boats and made for a lovely ride, with the estuary on the other side of the towpath. This is a part of Scotland I knew nothing about, but there’s plenty to see here. Crinan is quite an exclusive sort of place, with a large hotel and flashy motors in its car park. The café was on the expensive side too.
On the return, we cycled further along the canal and then back to Crinan along the main road, which was fairly quiet, calling in on Dunadd, formerly the capital of the ancient kingdom of Dalriada. We got back to the bothy around 19:00 after a fascinating and relaxing day.