free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
This week's title refers to Nico's wonderfully chilling paean to dead Rolling Stone Brian Jones. I'd been listening to Iggy Confidential on 6Music - a very good show where he's talking to Brian Eno - and Nico came up in that, prompting a dive into the Marble Index and Desertshore albums before we left for the weekend. I've loved Nico's otherworldly singing since I was 17 - saw her once towards the end of her career. Allison however is yet to be convinced that listening to Nico can be pleasurable, but I'm working on it!
Anyway - Allison had a couple days of annual leave to use up before the end of her leave year so we opted to take tis as a 5 day weekend. Ideally we'd have headed up to the northwest corner, but the weather, typically, was less than obliging - everywhere looked pants, but the far northwest probably more pants than most places. Having got a taste for island life from our trip to Jura last weekend, Mull offered itself as an option - plenty of hills to get on with there. Sadly I could only get ferry times that suited if we came back on Monday night rather than Tuesday - we had a gig to attend in Glasgow on Tuesday night and the evening sailing from Mull wouldn't get us back in time. So we'd see what we could pack into the four days.
We got the last boat over on Thursday evening - 9pm. A very smooth sailing and a thankfully almost dry night when we landed. Id reckoned we could start with Beinn Fhada on Friday which meant we could head up to Scarisdale and camp on the shore - we'd used that previously when climbing Ben More and it would be easy enough to find in the dark. Or so I thought. We did get to the spot I'd identified, no-one else around, but the flat grassy surface is all of 1cm deep, with hard stones underneath, making pitching all but impossible. Perseverance paid off and I found a spot that allowed slightly more penetration. There was no wind to speak of, so we got our stuff together and got a rather late bedtime. Very quiet overnight - I don't think a vehicle went past til 8am.
6F8C80C6-933A-4AD1-A23F-4B5639B536A7_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
We'd done Beinn Fhada twice before, each time with Ben More - it's a good route. However the Munro wasn't on the agenda today - I rather fancied the Marilyn of Beinn a'Ghraig which permits a nice circular route to be taken. We hadn't been sure whether there would be any snow - it turned out there was only the odd spot here and there, nothing to cause problems - although since we never saw the summit of Ben More I can't say what it was like up there. Packing up the tent, we set off across the boggy hinterland towards the beginning of the rough path up - which becomes more clearly defined as you climb higher. Looking back we could see a couple of folk walking over the grassy bit we'd stopped at - they kept this up for at least an hour, walking backwards and forwards. If they were searching for something they'd lost then they were not being systematic in their search. Personally I thought they had been bewitched by a nearby spirit and were blundering about blindly in the service of that being. Weird things happen out on that side of Mull...
A'Ghraig & Fhada
409F11D9-93D4-4F1B-8AA2-21A76E9E22D3_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
We lost sight of the searchers as we entered the clag and got to the summit of Fhada. From here it was a straightforward descent towards Beinn nan Gobhar, which we ascended just for fun. Some bits of scree on the descent to Beinn a'Ghraig then good ascent and walk along to the summit, following clear deer tracks. I'd been uncertain about the best route to take on the descent, as a'Ghraig is quite craggy on the northwestern aspect - our route SW into the gully posed no problems however and we were able to pick up animal tracks that became an ATV track which led us back to where the car was parked. I'd enjoyed the day so far - Allison less so as she had a bad headache that in fact dogged her all weekend.
1E7570BA-BE80-4876-B739-9010CB3D8B22_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
Summit Fhada
21DA3081-3EA5-4FA6-A397-1D605539A498_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
A'Ghraig
BBE4D7E6-63B7-41E5-B560-0B671EE53D54_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
E4C282CB-57D6-4B74-9AFC-53D697FCF429_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
Rocky summit A'Ghraig
74913BC9-82B2-47EA-B4C0-00C0C5CD554A_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
E6CC8B58-FE4A-4B02-AE66-F5A3BE6AF721_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
B65A5DAA-F531-4622-8FD6-C098CFD709B5_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
It was around 4pm by this time. I'd been looking at various routes to join up hills where possible, and had come up with an interesting looking route joining Beinn Talaidh with Cruach Choireadail and Corry-Bheinn using the track down Glen Forsa and coming back along Loch Ba...in my researches I'd also discovered there was a bothy down Glen Forsa that we might make use of tonight. However I was concerned about where we'd camp the following night and about being stuck on a high level walk for a while (all the way between Talaidh and the end of Cruachan Dearg) when the forecast was for strengthening winds and rain tomorrow. In the end I decided we'd just do Beinn Talaidh, along with the Marilyn of Beinn na Duathnarach. We could still walk into the bothy tonight, which by this time was our most pressing concern.
We drove along to the start of Glen Forsa, where there's some estate buildings including a hatchery, and a parking area for 4-5 cars. The track is stony and made for good progress, past cattle and sheep and some newish looking holiday lets. Further down there's a fancy looking fisherman's hut and on the other side of the River Forsa there's a building that looks like it's been an old shepherd's cottage now updated with satellite receiver and solar panels - don't mistake it for the bothy! Ahead of us roamed a mournful solitary sheep, with bits of its fleece dragging - Allison reckoned it had been making a bid for freedom but was now having to go back the way it had come. The eastern side of the glen is made up of the tail end of the Corbett Dun da Gaoithe - including a couple of Simms I want to get - might scope out an ascent from here sometime. After about 6k on the track, there's a turn off onto a footpath - you can see the roof of the bothy up ahead. A damaged propellor marks a memorial for the RAF Dakota IV that crashed into Beinn Talaidh in early 1945. There's a ford to cross to get to the bothy - was about 6 inches deep on the way over, I reckon because of its construction it would be alright to cross even in very heavy rain.
Track down Glen Forsa
0AF43078-3551-44A6-B8E0-B7155517A89C_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
ACB00480-4DA9-4683-A136-D488AB331521_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
Beinn Talaidh at the end of the glen
FE07E47C-6C78-41FA-9FF4-98BD4A89C3B4_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
63AFAA19-EBEF-4F1F-B564-820157C78A5F_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
Tomsleibhe bothy
B022E756-B967-4647-BF06-3523E64AB3EA_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
Crash memorial
D721938C-11A6-4D5F-AE43-241C7A056D8B_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
And then we were at the door of the bothy - three rooms with sleeping platforms, a library and a collection of bothy logbooks going back to 1980! No fuel or candles however - we were spoiled at Glensuileag - so we chose the smaller middle room as our base and got to making the tea. There's a window just by the sleeping platform in that room, which caused me to imagine the fright that would ensue by the appearance of a ghoulish face lit only by cold starlight in the middle of the night, if you happened to glance out! We enjoyed our meal and a wee dram then settled down to sleep. Although it was quiet (other than the thrumming of the river outside) I didn't manage much sleep - never seem to get over to sleep in bothies - whether this is due to anxiety about unpredictable late arrivals or not I don't know. Nobody did turn up, to no-one's surprise really
DEFE8FB4-1CFF-4C41-95E2-765CD8714918_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
6560094B-9304-40AA-B443-49F01F69FD29_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
Library
81A8C80B-668B-4308-B92A-8311BC36420E_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
93E71EC9-A4D1-4354-86CA-B0E298F10D72_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
The quite good weather of yesterday had departed and today was craggy and rainy from the off. We left our kit in the bothy and headed up Beinn Talaidh - the tallest of Mull's Grahams, indeed an ex-Corbett. Muddy track and some streams to ford, swollen by the overnight rain. Wet sheep. There's something of a path up the mountain, weaving past areas of scree which become more frequent the higher you go. Snow patches, which I used to replenish our drinking supply. Summit reached - the trig column has been blasted by lightning and knocked over since we were here some years ago. Back down the same route, back to the bothy for some lunch. My plan was to head over to Beinn na Duathnarath and also to include the second Marilyn of Beinn Bhuidhe on the way out - it was just there beside the track! We left the bothy and headed to the river behind it, where there's a plunge pool - great on hot sunny days. But the river was swollen and fast flowing and there didn't seem an easy way across without getting wet feet. Now had it been an essential hill, we'd have done that, but I wasn't risking life and limb - or at least wet feet - for a pesky Marilyn...new idea pinged into my head - we'll head up the track, drive round to Sgurr Dearg and do that instead.
Emerging into the rain
45079013-DA89-433C-BF31-5C66E5802A04_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
Talaidh
3D642380-FA03-45E7-8952-0911B63B36D4_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
Dead trig
855970E0-4A81-4357-A653-7CF4070E2AFE_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
Ford on way from the bothy
87D61387-ED9D-44EB-ACFB-FF2C62E419AB_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
05BD8294-3E29-49F2-845A-58E42E6EC4D1_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
The track made for quite quick walking and we were back at the car by just after 2pm - plenty of time for a short steep ascent of Sgurr Dearg then down to Loch Buie where we'd decided to camp for the night. Last time we did Sgurr Dearg as an add on to Dun Da Gaoithe - which features a short scrambly section if I remember. Approaching from the south there are no such concerns - just steep grassy terrain. We parked on a section of the old road, beside a ruin that someone had thoughtfully filled with rubbish bags - and set off over tussocks initially, onto better ground after the first 100m or so. Clag was down - I wanted to keep to the north side of the coire to avoid unnecessary distance. There are rockier sections nearer the top, but on the whole it's a pretty benign experience. On the way down - once we'd exited the clag - we could see the car, so had something to make for, past the plentiful waterfalls.
Sgurr Dearg from the road
9F416D98-BD47-4B59-8A00-5615FA37CC36_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
30937826-01FF-4459-B4B3-8FF7A4E0F716_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
E9D1A3EE-5FBB-4DAE-BEE8-7FC44ABC62DD_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
16842254-C65F-4F69-A031-9CC63AB9389C_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
25DA599A-BE99-4AD8-803B-7773AF9E226C_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
We kept our wet things on in the car as we had only a shortish distance to drive before we'd need to get out into the rain again and set up the tent. We'd only been down the narrow road to Loch Buie once and had fond memories of camping in a circle of gorse bushes in sunshine. I'd forgotten just how long it takes to drive the 8 miles along the road, with few passing places - fortunately we didn't meet anything on the road. The Old Post Office hut has been demolished and replaced by a swanky new glass fronted cafe - which was closed, but at least there's 24 hour access to a toilet there. No longer a supply of provisions and an honesty box though
We parked at the cafe and walked along to the camping area, which is still an "officially designated" wild camping spot. Mostly for vans though. The grass was sodden and much stonier than we remembered, additionally it was absolutely covered in sheep ****. After looking around for a while we reluctantly chose a spot by the gorse bushes, kicking away as much of the sheepshit as possible. A rainy night, but no-one else there, surprisingly for a Saturday night.
Loch Buie
32051649-7CBE-4504-A8D3-4A34973E3AF6_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
None today
6F7CAFD7-B599-4CFA-A0A3-2E1E078B15ED_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
Our target for the next day was the challenging duo of Ben Buie and Creach Bheinn - steep creatures indeed. We'd been beset by adders on our last visit here. I'd originally intended to walk up the path marked on the map that heads to Loch Airde Glais and tackle Creach Bheinn from there, using a line we'd taken on our earlier visit. However, this path - like many others on Mull, it seems - have been allowed to fall into disrepair. There's not a great deal of "path" left - just sodden tussocks and boggy sections - so it made more sense to head up onto the lower slopes of Creach Bheinn and ascend gradually that way. A craggy hill this one - with bits to scramble on or bypass as you wish. I was feeling really drained and tired today for some reason - curious as I'd slept relatively well the night before, lulled by the waves crashing on the shore - but it was slow going for me. increment by increment we inched towards the summit, past lochans. The early drizzle had cleared and Beinn Buie had emerged from clag, looking steeply impressive across from us. Several adventurous sheep were clambering up rocky faces in search of whatever tid-bits reside there. We paused for lunch before the final push to the summit.
Ben Buie
ECA9F2F6-C104-4F0C-97E3-C42D4F69F68B_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
Craggy bits on the way up Creach Bheinn
AC69FAEB-5277-4D1C-993E-D8E9C1AB4331_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
Buie
4756E6A6-DFDD-48B0-99C5-5C088382AD5F_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
61E5B0EC-81C4-4D92-8F33-4F7AD415595F_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
77F6E22C-5FDC-4270-A84E-D5677C576483_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
Getting down from the top is something to be taken carefully, especially if clag is around, as there are some very steep crags off to the NW. We took a line down that seemed alright, then got snarled up in gullies and crags which necessitated walk arounds. At least we could see where we were going - be more challenging in mist. The bealach is a dispiriting 140m, meaning a great deal of re-ascent for Ben Buie. And it's a tussocky mess! We weren't sure which line to take up Buie - it does become craggy higher up as you approach Cnap nan Gobhar, but Allison is generally good at choosing good lines of ascent and did so again today. Flag-bound again at the summit, we headed over Gobhar to the distant- or so it seemed - summit of Buie. Knackered! Now for the descent. The quickest way would be to head off to the SE making straight for the village, but this looked too steep for contemplation today. I'd drawn a route which went much more gradually down over Beinn Bheag and eventually met with a track marked on the map. There are lots of deer tracks to follow, which make the tussocks easier to manage - we ended up basically following the course of one of the streams down until it did indeed meet up with an old stalkers track - again in very poor nick. Past some lovely waterfalls, past a large but derelict-looking house and onto the road just at the camping area.
Beginning descent from Creach Bheinn
488A26EB-AB72-40B8-912E-23FE3219BDBC_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
236C561E-F253-4573-AB26-3F479ABB2848_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
Loch Airde Glais
C387216F-D391-4534-AC28-57F45636D4BE_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
2FFE03DC-91B5-4880-AA84-EAC5166DAB53_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
Heading up Buie
A3233ABD-9567-4A4F-9B46-DDA7FB188E8A_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
EEEB63E9-8242-4C42-8B04-7FF0157741A1_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
AD1378A4-50EB-4F67-B8B5-A8F4B59AAB53_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
D00710F0-1048-410E-A4CB-907368E1AC7B_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
019A0EBE-6E29-4AD6-B7C2-B067B187BC36_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
A couple of vans had arrived, but there was no noise from them - indeed it was a night when the only sounds were the rain on the tent and the breaking waves on the nearby sea. It was almost dry when we got up in the morning. Drove along to the cafe to use the toilet, followed by a flock of sheep who clearly mistook our silver car for the silver car of the farmer who comes to feed them...Spoke to one of the van men who was up from Lancashire and hoping to buy a wee house on Orkney, just beside the Ring of Brodgar, which would be a special place to live right enough.
Our mission today was to finish the final two Grahams on Mull - Corra-Bheinn and Cruach Choireadail. We'd done these last time on a beautiful day in early summer - [url]https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=68061/url] and that report will give a much better visual idea of the area than I can here - clag and rain not assisting my photographic exploits. I wasn't entirely sure what route to take - last time we'd included the Simm of Cruachan Dearg, which we didn't plan to do today. I had chosen to use the "path" marked on the map leading up into Coire Mor, but once again it was in disrepair - an infrequently travelled deer path more than anything - so don't get your hopes up! We did follow it for a way up to the bealach between Corra-Bheinn and Beinn a'Mheadhain then embarked upon the steep grassy slopes of Corra-Bheinn which are easier to tackle from the NE - well at least there are no craggy sections to concern you. There is scree higher up, but I was enjoying the climb - I had my energy back today unlike Allison who - as you can tell from the summit photos today - was having a bit of a time of it. Anyhow, we got onto the summit plateau then wandered for a while in the mist towards the actual top. In the drizzle. Parked ourselves behind a large rocky outcrop for a spot of lunch then descended the way we'd come up to the bealach, with the necessity of going up and over Beinn a'Mheadhain. It is - thankfully - a more gradual grassy ascent than Corra-Bheinn. Down the other side for the short, steep climb up Cruach Choireadail - it's tiny at only 619m and was achieved with less sweat and tears than imagined. Well at least the first bit, Cruachan Beag was. When I told Allison we were not at the actual summit yet she yelled that I had to be joking (I'm paraphrasing here) and flung her poles down in disgust. And it's probably another half km into the mist with various ups and downs before one reaches it too...
I'm not feeding you!
B644DB7E-61D0-47A0-9E4D-EDE2481E4577_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
It was that sort of day...
1AF3FFBE-817D-4289-9BF5-3F19F96CDD57_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
Corra-Bheinn
7D5D2E25-4A85-4F41-A34D-418D44699F4B_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
5D35A0A1-E9C6-4784-9A2B-0A6168CD9EA5_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
Cruach Choireadail
1603D1A0-2E28-4087-B3CB-92587742DAA2_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
33CCFB1C-BE38-4F07-8075-C992DC26DD87_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
When drawing up my route, I'd actually taken us back over Beinn a'Mheadhain and back down the "path" to avoid the crags and slabs I recalled being on the southern aspect of the hillside. But I couldn't face any more ascent, so opted instead to chart a route into the coire, following the stream, hoping that it would be ok when we emerged from the coire - or what might be a hanging valley. Once again we made use of animal tracks following the riverbank. When we emerged onto the steep hillside it proved alright to pick our way down through the crags and we were back at the car by just after 4.
8BC799C9-B882-46A0-8020-C8FE664BA239_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
Route thru crags/slabs
2D0122F8-BF78-436B-8961-D77640BF8D6B_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
B5D5BDE7-3118-467A-A366-EC98420F38EB_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
Our ferry wasn't until 7.20 so we had time to kill - not enough for me to nip up Sgurr Dearg again as I had semi-hoped, although I'm not sure my legs would have made it after all the steep stuff this week. So we drove slowly back to Craignure and parked up. There's not much to do in Craignure in the late afternoon when it's raining - had the weather been otherwise I might have headed up to Tobermory or something, but it wasn't. We looked at options for Tuesday instead - we needed something that wasn't too long or far away that would let us get into Glasgow for tea time and our gig...It came down to Allison either having to do third round Grahams for me, or me having to do fourth round Corbetts for her...I suppose we might have been able to find a happy medium.
Another smooth crossing, off the boat in the dark, along to Lidl to get something for lunch the following day then back Tyndrum way. I'd intended to camp near Ben Lui so I could do Beinn na Sroine myself in the morning, but I drove past the parking area without spotting it til I was past it in the dark...oh well, Dalrigh instead. We could just do Beinn Chuirn as a straightforward day out. Pitched in the spot we've often used here and settled down for another rainy night, with some nice whisky (Kilchoman Loch Gorm) that I'd found in the rucksack.
We got up fairly late on Tuesday, having slept fairly well again, packed up our stuff and walked along the track (good track, not "Mull Track" towards the gold mine and the grassy way up Chuirn. I reflected that we could no longer use the route we'd taken once up by the mine and the north of the Eas Aine as it's all cordoned off with the (re-opened) mine now. Allison commented that as it had been pretty horrific as a way up, it was no great loss
So we used the standard WH approach, more of less. Showery, some rainbows including one that seemed to end just over the gold mine - reminding me of the saying that there's a crock of gold at rainbow's end. Wonder if the mine employs leprechauns?
8A69E884-C971-4FC8-9108-65AD8818031A_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
3031CF0E-78C7-42A7-B6F5-2C69F292C6DD_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
5FD8129C-D770-4925-9EC2-257CD465792A_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
F53F334D-233D-4C3C-BC5A-A830C3C1B386_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
There's gold in them there...mines
BADCBC0A-0543-484C-9545-5530343D5E35_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
0BA09663-50C0-423D-B89B-7140FD230B86_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
1D3EB1CE-6485-42AB-BF3E-68F24283DFC8_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
Back at the car for half three, just nice time to get ready and drive into Glasgow. We'd received a text saying the Venus had changed from the CCA to Mono - the reason for this became clear when Allison tried to go to the CCA and pick up her ticket - barred by a picket taking action over the sacking of three workers from the Saramago cafe inside. Not good publicity for the "liberal left" CCA. The gig was another good one - Ana B Savage - quite a performance
The excellent Anna B Savage
382D4125-63F0-4228-93B3-2197B6AF2EAA_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
F94C13AA-F3DF-4B36-ACA6-A6A0C08EB47D_1_201_a by
Al, on Flickr
*270*
.
