In between the last blog post and this one, I have become the owner of a VW Caddy Camper. Little Gunter joined us on 4th February and has opened up a whole new raft of opportunities. This finally meant that a trip to Mull over two nights without booking accommodation and potentially being rained off was a realistic proposition. I wasn't willing to wait to be honest, so I booked the ferry for me and Gunter and set about buying a load of stuff for the van to make the experience a pleasant one.
I left Glasgow just before 1800 after a fairly hectic working day and headed off up the A82, dropping into the Real Food Cafe at Tyndrum for fish and chips. There had been a couple of showers on the way up but the forecast hadn't been too bad. I made Oban about 2030 and sat in the queue for the ferry, eventually arriving at Craignure and rolling off the boat at 2230. I headed straight for Salen and then over the hill towards the car park at Dhiseig, where I parked up for the night. I cracked open a beer and the guitar for a wee bit and then hit the hay. It had turned out to be a wild night, the wee van being rocked by wind and rain until about 0400 when it all seemed to calm down.
I awoke just before 0700 and was glad I wasn't in a tent. Sheep were baa'ing outside and as I got up, I got out for a wee look about in the dawn light.
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| Gunter in the morning |
I got ready, made breakfast and spent some time taking photos, then it was time to head off for the walk. I left the van at 0830 and wandered along to the small hydro scheme at the foot of the Abhainn na h-Uamha. That was a lovely walk, the sun starting to shine over the hills, the islands being lit up and then I spotted two otters frolicking in the bay, not noticing me. Between that and the red-throated divers, cormorants and buzzards, it was an eventful 1.5km!
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| Morning light |
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| Gunter blending into the landscape |
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| Otter |
Once I got to the hydro station, I started following Abhainn na h-Uamha on it's northern side. The sun was coming up ahead and the ground had some ice under it meaning it wasn't a complete bog.
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| Sun poking through |
I couldn't believe the contrast between the weather last night and this, it was incredible. Soon, the Buffalo was off and I was down to a base layer and t-shirt. The views out to the coast were amazing, I could pick out the Dutchman's Cap, but that was about all I know!
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| Maritime views |
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| Waterfalls |
More inland, I was gaining height and the waterfalls on the burn were just stunning.
Just as I thought the weather was settled, it was ready to shift again, cloud started rolling into the glen from the SE, over the top of where I was headed.
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| Change in the weather |
I made the bealach at 1050, and stopped to admire the views, inlcuding a fogbow.
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| Happy Wee Man |
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| Fogbow |
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| Towards A' Chioch and Ben More |
Despite it being February, it was not cold. I needed my Buffalo to keep the breeze off, but no gloves. I headed up the slope and followed the path to A' Chioch. The inversion was beginning to fill everywhere below me.
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| Inversion rolling in |
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| A' Chioch and Ben More |
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| Summit of A' Chioch |
I hit the summit of A' Chioch at 1145 and then headed down to the next bealach and up the track towards Ben More. There was a bit of scrambling involved.
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| Ben More |
I ended up veering off the path at one point and found myself in even more scrambling territory, but stayed calm and worked a way up to the summit without any difficulty. I hit the summit at 1245 where I met a farmer from Biggar who had been on the 0525 ferry that morning. He was enjoying some time away from the farm before the lambing starts.
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| Summit of Ben More |
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| Even Happier Wee Man, on the summit |
I headed down the ridge path, which seemed to go on forever, but I did meet one other couple on the way up. It was a quiet day on the hill and I was really glad to have taken the route I did. I made it back down to wee Gunter and put the kettle on pretty much bang on 2pm.
Here's the relive:
Hike Ascent: 1014m
Hike Time: 5h 29m
Munros Completed: 196
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