Arran 2018 - Day two

Ken reports again:

"Friday

Weather forecast for Friday – not great, grey, overcast, squally showers.  We hoped for some breaks in the weather and gathered at Lochranza by the estuary.  There were a few glimpses of sunshine as we set off up the well-worn track to Laggan, over the other side of the hill.  As we reached the crest, the rain started and didn’t really relent until we were nearly finished the walk.  As the bells chimed for noon, Jeb pulled out a full bottle of whisky from his rucksack and we toasted his recent 60^th birthday with a generous dram and water (au naturel).  We yomped down to the bothy at Laggan where a couple of other chaps were sheltering – suffice to say this particular des. res. requires some work and does not offer the type of lunch stop to which we became accustomed in our last trip (to the Yorkshire Dales).  Replete, we set off along the coast in search of a renowned geological site – the famous Huttons Unconformity.  As had been forewarned, the coastal path was somewhat gnarly, and we reached the flatter area after much groaning and grumbling.  Quote John D…”this is much more likely to break my leg than the skiing which I have recently given up!”.  On a scale of 0-10 for shit weather, the walk leader estimated a good 7.  Anyway, we reached Huttons site and finally located the unconformity …. frankly it had been a little bit oversold and could do with a workover to improve the customer experience.  Strictly for afficionados.  The walk was duly completed in a mere drizzle and we retired to the Lochranza distillery café for a warming coffee and cake.  We picked up a hitchhiker on the way back to Blackwaterfoot (turned out to be Ian St out for a stroll following his later arrival).  Drinks and dinner were served at the Blackwaterfoot Lodge hotel where we enjoyed good food, good drink (until the beer ran out) and warming coal fire. An excellent way to finish the day."

Does this make it any clearer?

I was a latecomer, not arriving on Arran until 2pm and I was greeted by a huge downpour as I drove off the ferry. My thoughts went out to the team - surely they're not walking in this? I certainly wasn't going to venture out in this weather - I would just drive over to Blackwaterfoot, check in to the hotel and head straight for the warmth of the pool and sauna. Well, blow me, by the time I had driven to the other side of the island, the rain had stopped, so I decided to head out for a walk after all - along the road north to Machrie, from where, as Ken reported above, I was given a lift back to our hotel in good time for the dinner that evening: