free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
Grahams: Corra-bheinn, Ben Buie, Creach Bheinn, Sgurr Dearg
Date: 13/06/2015.
Distance: 6.5km + 12.5km + 5.5km.
Ascent: 795m + 1210m + 680m.
Time taken: 2 hours, 20 minutes + 4 hours, 45 minutes + 2 hours, 30 minutes
Weather: Calm with far too much drifting cloud. Showery on Creach Bheinn. Occasional sunshine.
I was hoping to head over to Mull a couple of weeks ago after a meeting in Oban, but someone inconsiderate rescheduled it to be held in Inverness - the buggers
. Still, I'd come up with an overnighter that would take in all of my unclimbed Grahams and it had been on my mind since then. Getting there by public transport looked to be a bit of a chore so I managed to negotiate the car for a couple of days
The weather on the drive down was uninspiring at first, and by the time I'd reached Lochaline, my interest in backpacking was waning. In the end I decided cheat and take the car over. That would allow me to slack off a bit if the weather worsened again, and also walk with a light day pack.
Leaving Lochaline:
I drove round to Teanga Brideig (quicker than hitching, which is what I was planning to do if I'd left the car in Lochaline) and parked on a bit of old main road. Although the cloud was clinging stubbornly to the summits, the weather was quite pleasant. After briefly starting up the stalker's path up the corrie, I hit the shoulder of Corra-Bheinn. It was steep, but like a lot of the ground on Mull, above the first 50 m or so, the going is easy on short grass.
Ben Buie and the Fionnport bus heading up Glen More:
Loch Scriadain:
Beinn Mheadhain:
Ben Buie:
On top there were partial views - better than expected then. The ridge between Corra-Bheinn and Cruachan Dearg was steep with some scree, as was the descent of Cruachan Dearg.
Summit of Corra-bheinn:
Cruachan Dearg from Corra-bheinn:
Ben More should be here:
The path back down the corrie was in equal parts good and boggy. It was a shame not to see anything of Ben More, but I've got used to this type of weather on Mull now - it has happened every other time with only one exception.
Back down at Teanga Brideig:
------------------------------------------------------------
Where next? I couldn't decide whether to do a circuit of Ben Buie and Creach Bheinn from Lochbuie or the Fionnport road. I had a feeling Lochbuie would be more scenic, but the weather was still rather grey and the ridge onto Ben Buie just looked so invitingly easy from the main road past. So that was decided then. I parked on another loop of old road and headed straight up Maol Tobar Leac an t-Sagairt. It was a pretty easy way ontoBen Buie - grassy at first, then lunar looking scree and some nice gabbro outcrops. The Mull hills may not have the same razor-sharp ridges as the Black Cuillin but the gabbro is just as easy and nice to scramble on.
Loch an Ellen and Loch Airde Ghlais below Creach Bheinn:
Back to Cruach Coiredail:
Some nice gabbro and other volcanic rock:
Approaching Cnap nan Gobhar:
Despite the weather, I was lucky to get semi-views from the summit. This would be a great hill to be on in good visibility. I had long suspected that this would be the most interesting Graham on Mull, and it is, with only Ben More as competition.
Across Loch Airde Glais to Creach Bheinn:
Ben Buie and Loch Buie:
Back to Cnap nan Gobhar from Ben Buie:
Summit of Ben Buie:
I decided the best way to continue was to drop down towards Lochbuie initially, before working my way NW to descend to the highest point of Gleann a' Chaiginn Mhoir. I hadn't done my research and soon found the top section of the descent to be steep and very loose scrambling. It also started raining at this point. I took my time and it improved lower down.
Steep SW facing corrie of Ben Buie:
…and a steep descent:
Loch Buie and the Laggan peninsula:
Once across the floor of the glen (which had a lovely rough feel and is probably worth a walk through in its own right), the sun came out for a bit and i made my way up the rough hillside onto Creach Bheinn. This was more heathery than anything I'd encountered so far, but not too bad. Sadly I was properly into the cloud on the summit.
Ascending Creach Bheinn (finally a bit of sunshine):
Across Gleann a’ Chaiginn Mhor to Ben Buie:
West down the Ross of Mull:
I went north from the trig point -probably not the best move as I had to descend some steep scree between bands of crags. On the lower plateau around Creag na h-Iolaire. Things were better again. I had intended to camp somewhere up here if I had bothered to see the overnight walk through - it looked like there would be some decent spots, but given the weather, I didn't feel like I was missing out.
Ben Buie and Loch Airde Glais:
Probably the N end of Jura:
Another steep descent (heathery) took me to Loch Airde Glais, where the marked path was not much drier or better than any of the ground around it. After crossing the burn and passing a boathouse of sorts on Loch an Ellen, I made my way boggier back uphill to the road and the car.
Finally down at the loch:
A great pair of hills that definitely deserve some more exploration in better weather.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
It was now after 7pm, but I decided I had enough time to nip up my last Mull Graham before finishing for the day. Again cloud was hugging the summit and it was an uneventful walk up reasonable slopes from Torness, where I had left the car in yet another loop of old road. Once in the clag it was a bit boring, with the sun frustratingly almost breaking through on the summit, but not quite.
Looking up Sgurr Dearg from the road:
Back to Glen More:
Clear sky is annoyingly close to the summit:
To vary the route, I had decided to descend via Beinn Bhearnach. Good move! Within 30 seconds of leaving the summit cairn, the cloud began to break off the ridge, giving me great views of Loch Spelve and the mainland beyond. There were even some patches of sunshine.
Loch Spelve from Sgurr Dearg:
Along the ridge to Beinn Bhearnach:
Sunlight on Carn Ban:
Unfortunately I was back in the cloud for the second summit, and I made a bit of a navigational faux pas. Instead of looping round the rest of Coire nan Each on easy ground, I was dropping SE through crumbly crags (third summit in a row I had managed to do this on today). There were a couple of steep hairy sections, then steep heather down to the road, where I had half a mile to walk back to the car. I didn't mind once on the road, as the Glen was beautifully quiet and still.
Annoying steep bit of descent:
Creach Bheinn:
Glen More:
Snakeskin:
Walking back to the car:
It was now approaching 10pm. With all of the hills over 2000 feet.on Mull climbed, I thought about what to do tomorrow. Unfortunately baggitis seems to be affecting me more the closer I get to the end of the Corbetts and Grahams. Now the end is in sight, my mind is starting to wander towards hillwalking free of bagging. However in order to get there, the lists must be finished! So I could have spent the next day on a more leisurely tour of Mull, but instead opted to get the first ferry on Sunday morning off so I could nip up my two outstanding Ardgour Grahams. Still, the first ferry was at 9:10 am so there was a little bit of leisure time there at least.
Rather than sleep in the car or camp by the main road, I drove a short way around the Lochbuie road and camped on some lovely smooth sheep-shorn grass on the shores of Loch Spelve. It was a quiet road - not a single vehicle passed me between arriving and departing the next day.
Creach Bheinn from Loch Spelve the next morning:
Cruach Ardura:
Camping by Loch Spelve:
Heron:
