Rum and Coke Traditional Geocache

Rum is the largest of the Small Isles, a group of islands south of Skye. In partnership with Scottish Natural Heritage, in June 2017 I visited to collect abandoned caches and set fresh ones, with the intention of encouraging Geocachers to visit and experience this wild and beautiful miniature kingdom. Please dress for the weather, and expect a change of weather! Cache with care and consideration, and look up from your GPS or phone to enjoy this unique location.

Introduction: If you like eagles, this a great place to pause with your binoculars or zoom lens as they're nesting (at the time of setting) on the flanks of Barkeval, to the east of this location. They can be seen circling in the bowl formed by four mountains in a crescent. Be warned, it's a long walk from 'town' so consider bringing a bicycle or hiring one in the village. It's also a stiff climb as the cache is at approx. 110m/360ft above sea level, but you'll need to get much higher to reach here by road...

The location: Beside the track to Harris. This is a great viewpoint down into Glen Harris, with its striking and lonely mausoleum. If climbing back up from Harris, it's a good rest point, as you've about this height (plus a bit!) further to climb on the track back to Kinloch (254m-ish at its highest point).

The route: Leave the village by the Harris/Kilmory track, south of the river. Keep the river on your right, pass through a gate and after approx. 2 miles, you'll reach a junction. Bear left and continue to climb, passing two bridges and the highest point of the track, before swinging around a corner and beginning to descend towards Harris. It's approx. 5 miles/8Km each way from civilisation. You'll also pass the final of my Letterbox/Hybrid geocache on Rum on the way here.

The terrain: Good track all the way. Ideal for mountain bike, but quite a climb -over 250m/820ft- Allow several hours to try for this one, even if cycling. Not suited to a day visitor.

The name: A feature at GZ hints at a relaxing trip to Rum. Maybe with a beverage.

Please rehide this cache with care by placing the rock on it slowly! It's a tough micro-cache, but not indestructible!

My other Rum caches:
Rum Runner.
Rum Fellow.
Rum Truffles.
Red Rum.
Rum Deal.
Rum Do.
Rum Bunch.
Rum Punch.
Eilean Rum (Isle of Rum, Small Isles).

Finally, sincere thanks to Scottish Natural Heritage for permission to hide this cache in the Rum National Nature Reserve and to Sean, who's its local guardian. I hope it brings extra visitors to their remarkable island.