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Grahams: Cruach Choireadail
Date walked: 01/03/2011
Distance: 3km
Ascent: 480m
Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Weather: Calm but cloud base at about 450m
Had a
great Monday - unusual when not on holiday, but with the weather due to go downhill a bit today, I was surprised to be woken in Craignure by bright sunshine. I immediately regretted not setting my alarm earlier, as I could have got up a quick hill in the morning prior to doing my site visit. Instead, I drove over to Tobermory and got on with work. It was a work trip after all!
I was finished after lunch, so as there was no chance of getting back to the office in time to do any work, I changed my ferry to 5pm and decided to have another walk. The cloud had dropped, and there was the odd shower. Having forgotten my maps, I bought a map of West Mull in Tobermory, deciding that I couldn't remember any more of the routes I'd had in mind. I decided to drive the long way round to Glen More, passing Loch na Keal. Very scenic and impressive, but the B8035 is barely a surfaced road!
I was aiming for Cruach Choireadail, a Graham which could be done pretty fast before heading back to Craignure for the ferry. Compared to Beinn Talaidh round the corner, it was a much rockier affair, and I wondered how to get onto it. A handy parking bay appeared, so I stopped there and examined the cliffs closer. I could see a rake of grass up to the left of a waterfall, so I decided to go this way.
East along Glen More from the parking space. Some sunshine that I won't be getting
:
Waterfall at start (more water-dribble). My route went to the easy ground on the left:
Steep work, and initially boggy, but soon I was on short, dry turf (this seems to be a feature f the higher hills on Mull). Above the falls, the hillside disappeared up into the murk, but there didn't appear to be any difficulties. Just weave through the crags.
Back to the start point from the top of the falls:
Goodbye summit. Nice rocky outcrops though:
After half an hour, a boggy pool appeared in the mist. I was glad I'd brought the map, as this confirmed I was on the right hill at least! Compass had been forgotten at home, but I had a sneaky suspicion I was amongst some of the magnetic gabbro which can be found on Mull, so didn't feel inconvenienced. I reached the summit in about 45 minutes, and sadly there was no view. A couple of patches of blue sky whipped over my head, suggesting a possible clearing, but it didn't happen. Oh well.
Apologies for yet another misty summit cairn:
Back down approximately the same way, although it was hard to remember what that was! Found the lochan OK, but drifted slightly too far east from the gap in the crags next to the waterfall. As I was back out of the clouds, I corrected myself and took a couple of photos.
Glen More and Loch Scridain from the descent:
The car and handy parking space:
Back at the car in little over an hour. Not the most eventful walk, but a hill that could be very enjoyable on a clear day. Climbing these hills piecemeal is not my favourite way of doing them, especially when a great circuit over the lot from Loch Ba exists, but I love tagging these little walks onto work site visits.
I was down in plenty of time to get back to Craignure, even allowing for island delays like sheep herding or impromptu road repairs. At one point, my hill looked as if it might clear, but it didn't (at least not until I was well out of sight anyway).
A mile down the road and it looks like the summit might clear:
It didn't clear, but I consoled myself with a couple of moody shots from the ferry back to Craignure and Dun Da Gaothie:
A brilliant two days. Reminds me that I must have a proper holiday on Mull sometime - one which doesn't involve dashing about like a blue arsed fly!
