Ben More - Mull , the last munro ?? - almost but not quite - bloody wind

My wife & i had been looking to book a wee break away & Portugal was favourite for a "cheap" 4 day all inclusive jaunt.
However once the travel firm had been contacted their original cheap e-mail cost had almost doubled ,
drat no Portugal
Plan B arrived in the shape of Mull , which subsequently became "Marvelous Mull" .
The Western Isles Hotel in Tobermoery being the chosen gaff - and a very nice place it is too –
i`d thoroughly recommend this hotel to all , we had a great time
.And although we didn`t take Oskar - dogs are welcome there.

We booked on the 4pm sailing ex Oban , having a lovely pre sail lunch at the Oyster Inn , Connell.
After parking up at the quayside we went for a wander to kill an hour or so.
The crossing was busy , the weather bright , dry but cold.
Luckily we were 2nd off the boat behind an ambulance that turned off , so onwards to Tobermory along exciting & ceratinly different types of road.
Found the hotel easily enough ,perched on a hill with fabulous views over looking Tobermory Bay.
We were immediately joined by 4 or 5 other cars who had all came off the ferry too, so we quickly went into reception to beat the hordes behind us.
Saturday morning 9/3 & i was up early just after 5am, having had an unboozy Fri nite !!
I`d decided to give breakfast a miss as i wanted to be back off the hill to watch the Scotland V Wales rugby match later on.
I shouldn`t have bothered eh!
The waiting staff the night before gave me stuff for my "piece" up the hill as i was away before breakfast started- very nice of them too. (and at no extra cost - result !)
Flask of coffee made , gear packed & i was off before 6am , leaving in the car it was +2 with no frost & dry, the forecast was fair , but a wee bit windy. True , very true !
Off along the A848 via Salen , then the B8035 to Loch na Keal , to park up at Disheig , approaching the Knock eatate buildings the road had a gathering of quite a few deer , no doubt wondering where i was off to at 6am !
It was a lovely drive no-one else about , just me & peace & quiet.
I parked on the grassy verge opposite the access track to Disheig farm & was off in 5 mins .

Ben More clearly visible & looking very close indeed. I`d decided in advance to do this direct route up the hill & not the circular route taking in Beinn Fhada and A`Chioch.
Time was relevant to me , as it was OUR w/end away together & i couldn`t afford all day up the hill - and i wanted to see the rugby. Also the wind was horriffic. It really was very strong.
I walked up the track passing the farm buildings at Disheig , through the gate , then up alongside the Abhainn Dhiseig . After the first wee waterfall i veered left, then through another gate & took the L/H track towards the hill – as opposed to the “better” track continuing alongside the Abhainn Dhiseig.

This L/H route was a bit springy underfoot but very dry –the wind picking up very strongly as I progressed upwards to the old ruined buildings / shielings at around the 300M point.
Over the Abhainn Dhiseig now which was quite low, steadily gaining height & WIND , then bypassing Coire nam Fuaran onto the rockier approach up to Ben More .

The rock appeared much darker in colour closer up now , with some snow – which didn`t come into play.

The frequent marker cairns showing the way up , leading onto a zig zag pathway that made for quite a quick ascent. The ground was frozen here , no loose bits or scree to make life hard.

Once on top the final approach to the summit was partially covered in hard packed snow – but easily crossed , my only concern being the severe wind – once again it was really bad!


I only took a few quick fotos at the snowed in summit shelter before hastily retreating back down quite quickly.



Here I had a quick break, some coffee & time to take in the views & solitude. I felt great. Going back down I decided to follow the Abhainn Dhiseig all the way down – it was more pleasant & scenic than the route up albeit not over a great distance. Back at the car I changed into my trainers & had a chat with a guy who had just pulled up. He wasn`t doing the hill – but was out otter watching – amazing stuff.


I felt a great sense of achievement doing Ben More – my 1st island munro – hopefully there will be more, in time !

On the way back to Tobermory I came round a corner & a car was sitting in the middle of the single lane road , – 2 photographers with huge paparazzi type lenses were taking fotos of an eagle being persued by 3 much smaller black birds – crows ? A wonderful thing to see after applying the brakes . Further on again nearer Tobermory I realised that Formula 1 drivers do not live in Monaco or Monte Carlo (can`t remember which – saw it on tv) they actually live on Mull & drive red Ford Transits or white works vans…….. scary stuff no prisoners taken

And so back to the hotel , shower , change ,late lunch before watching the rugby in The Mishnish Public Bar which was great – the bar not the rugby that’s another story.

Heading home the next day Sun 10/3 we hoped to go to Iona for roughly 2 hours , but en route realised we`d miss the ferry at Fionnphort ........as we descended from the 202M cairn down to Loch tuath we stopped and watched an otter at the lochside only yards away - it was wonderful !! So we continued anyway - missing it by 12 mins & had a coffee & walk around there before heading to Craignure for the boat home.
We had great weather whilst on Mull , driving home things worsened after Crianlarich we`d had the best of the weather way out west !!

It was a fabulous journey stopping off at the beautiful Calgary Beach –

really amazing - with great views of different parts of Mull & Ben More .


Mull –it is marvellous !!!