Isle of Mull- More than just Ben More

[Mountainlove]

Ever since I had climbed Ben More during my first Munro round (no views from the summit) , I had wanted to come back to Mull. I think my bucket list of places I need to revisit is bigger than the actual places I would like to see! However the call of the far north west had always been stronger and many years had passed until October provided an opportunity to visit Mull again.

The ferry crossing at Lochaline

By the time we planned the holiday, most direct ferries from Oban to Mull had already been sold out, which meant we had to take a slightly longer journey to catch the two short ferries at Corran and Lochaline. This had the advantage that we could just turn up and take the next available ferry.

On Mull we used Craignure campsite as home for the week and we were allocated a spot right next to the water. The campsite has fake grass pitches...which sound great, however hearing your tent neighbor farts at night, meant that the pitches were simply too close to each other. at least for my liking

Luckily our noisy neighbor only stayed the one night and from then onward we had the area to our self.

View from the campsite towards the ferry

With a few hours of daylight left, we decided to walk from Craignure to Toronsay Castle.
From the main road we took the private road through the beautiful forest. The trees still managed to hold onto their leaves and toad stools were plentiful.

A pretty walk through the forest

The rather grant castle

Old ruins lay hidden to explore on the way

Back at the campsite a few beers were cracked open and we settled in for the night. As much as I had enjoyed watching the ferry coming in and out...we had not anticipated that we would be woken every morning around 6:30 am by the noise of the ferry getting readied for the first sailing

A bit bleary eyed we decided that nothing is better than a dip in the sea and having gathered our snorkeling stuff we set off to Uisken Bay.

At Uisken Bay

Equipped with 5mm wetsuits we set off to explore the underwater world and discover the many hidden beaches. 3 h later we had covered a good 5km swimming and needless to say I was feeling a bit on the cold side. However we had seen some pretty amazing creatures underwater...

A Medusa (type of jellyfish)

A flounder

Blue rayed limpets

Discovering many of the hidden beaches from the sea

From the water I had noticed acairn above the beach, which was the last thing to discover that day. Getting quickly dressed, towel wrapped around my head, I set off, up a small track lead all the way up to the viewpoint.It was a lovely short walk and I was rewarded with great views down to the beach.

The viewpoint

Views on the way back

During the next day it was raining, so what's better than a visit to Tobermory, sample some local Tobermory cheese, relax in a cafe and take a walk out towards the lighthouse and try our luck with fishing.

Tobermory

Walk towards the lighthouse

Yes we even caught some fish

We had made plans or the next day to explore the area around Carsaig and had wanted to walk the coastal path towards Lochbui, however torrential rain cut this walk to a short 5km, but the rain, strong winds and location made this walk a very memorable one

The phone box in the middle of nowhere

The old pier

View from one of the many caves which brought short relieve from the rain while we explored them

Along the coastal path

Needless to say we were drenched when we got back to the tent, but a good weather window was foretasted for the next day and plans were made to climb Ben More again.
I have to say that my first climb up Ben More wasn't a very memorable one. With no views the only thing I remember was that I got electrocuted while stepping over an electric fence

However on my return, the dreaded fence was gone and the weather was absolutely amazing

On the way up Ben More...what a difference in weather a day can make!

A farmer gathering sheep

Finally I got my views

From the valley below stags were roaring which was magic to hear

As usual during days like this we stayed at the top or a long time savoring the views and listening to the stags roaring, before we headed back.

On the way back

Our holiday was coming to an end and we decided to drive down to Lochbuie, so that at least would see it. It was a cold, misty and wet day when we arrived and putting already wet and cold wetsuits on, wasn't the most pleasurable experience. However the cold was soon forgotten when we emerged under water.

A sunstar

Typical underwater world of a sea loch

It might be grey and miserable outside, but underwater can be rather colorful and this bloody harry starfish and yellow sponge will show you

Anemones are plentiful too

We stayed nearly an hour and snorkeled around the bay, which was probably the best activity for that day. Stepping out of the water we started a deer which was patrolling the beach and 'barked' at us angrily before heading back into the forest.

Deer at Lochbui

Leaving Mull I had seen so much more than the first time I had visited the island, but also realized that there is so much more to explore and as usual a return trip is planned in the future

[Graeme D]

Very nice, but it's not real camping unless you clock the occasional neighbourly fart during the night!

[John Doh]

Fantastic

[rockhopper]

Agreed - good to make more time to explore the area instead of smash 'n grab for the hills (something of which I know I'm guilty at times ) - cheers

[litljortindan]

Interesting to see a bit of what's under the water there and a big surprise (to me anyway) to see a deer on the beach. Great photos from Ben More too!

[Klaasloopt]

Great report!
Pretty unique, this snorkelling/hillwalking combination. Amazing.