Cir Mhor, at last

[tomyboy73]

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I had a couple of days of my holiday left and had to get a mountain day in. I`d hankered after Cir Mhor for a couple of years now and today was to be the day. I`ve nearly climbed it 3 times so it was my priority to get it done . I packed my bag and jumped on my bike and headed for the train station....an hour late. Wanted to get the first boat over but mixed up my times so had to settle for the second one. Another fine Calmac breakfast to fill me up and take up some time on the journey over. The Ferry was packed and as a cyclist I had to wait till all the cars were off before I could get onto my favourite island. We should be first, not have to put up with all that carbon monoxide
It was a decent day on Arran, compared to the grey skies over Glasgow when I left.

obligatory boat pic

I rode into Glen Rosa and hid my bike in the ferns at the bottom of the Garbh Allt (waterfall) , just before the bridge. I then headed up the path alongside it, which is the start of the Three Beinns route.

glen rosa

The view up Glen Rosa from here towards Cir mhor , The saddle and The Witches Step, between Goat Fell and Beinn a'Chliabhain is stunning.
I only had shorts on and decided to stop to put my gaiters on as it was quite thick vegetation along the path. A quick check before I did found a tiny little tick on my knee, luckily it was still trying to negotiate the hairs on my leg and hadn`t burrowed into my skin yet.
I was going to take the Three Beinns route over Beinn Nuis And Beinn Tarsuinn but decided to go straight over the smaller Beinn a'Chliabhain instead. I was hoping to see some real wildlife like a golden eagle or an adder and even left the path to cross the many boulders strewn around in the hope of finding a snake. But the only thing I saw was a beautiful little damsel fly.

damsel fly

As i stood and watched it , it flew upon to my hand, as if to say, "Here, have a better look" or maybe it wanted to share it`s meal with me, it was munching on a little fly !
I carried on up to the cairn at Croc Breac taking in the wonderful scenery around me.

Beinn Nuis

looking back to Holy Isle

I`m totally fascinated with the rock formations up here. everywhere you look you are making out shapes in the rocks.

Old man of Tarsuinn

This one reminds me of a guy in work

I was soon at the summit of Beinn a'Chliabhain which is amazing. all exposed granite(?) rocks all piled on top of each other and is an amazing viewpoint. But the sky was getting a little greyer and I carried along towards the junction of the paths from here to the one coming off Beinn Tarsuinn and then behind The Pagoda Ridge, I stopped for a bit to look at the Pagoda Ridge. It looked daunting at first then , magically, doable after a couple of minutes staring at it. Another time I thought and got back up on my way. As i climbed down beind the ridge i looked up and realised i was in no way equipped to do it. Very steep sides to it and a bit of a knife edge. So I was happy to be on the bypass and half way along I took a little break and had something to eat and listened to some tunes. From here I had a great view over to Beinn Bharrain and to the Paps of Jura.

Paps of jura

The gray skies had cleared again and i was off on my way again up towards Cir Mhor.
I could now get a good view of Caisteal Abhail.

Caisteal Abhail

And Cir Mhor looks totally different from here .Looks like an old bearded man face.
The walk up to the summit from here is straightforward , which I don`t think can be said from the other side. And the view down to Glen Rosa and across to Goat Fell is brilliant.

Goat Fell

Glen Rosa

I scrambled my way up the last few metres to the narrow, rocky summit and felt great. I did at at last. And the views were to die for .

Glen Rosa

Me

Witches Step

Goat fell

I hung around for ten minutes, before heading off. It was 3.20pm, the next ferry was at 4.40pm and the one after was 6.00pm . I can make that first Ferry i thought. It was 5km between here and my bike and another 5 or so to the boat. Could I make it ? Feck it, let`s go, I started to make my way down the Coire quickly and then a full on run towards my bike. I struggled but kept going, making it to my bike at 20 past 4. the only chance to cath it was if it was delayed, well they`re always delayed aren`t they ? I pushed myself along the glen, but much of it is rocky and then uphill and it was hard going. I approached Brodick and could see the Ferry at the harbour and my spirits were raised,I`m going to make it...................then the big boat started to drift away.
A good effort, i thought , so decided to treat myself to a chippy and then a pint in the Douglas Hotel.

[Chris Mac]

Great report Tomy and nice to see another person on Arran doing a route i've not done yet. The views from Beinn a'Chliabhain up to Beinn Nuis and Beinn Tarsuinn look superb and it was nice to see the old man from the other side.

The rock formations on that range are amazing. I'm glad you got to bag Cir Mhor at last, it's a cracking wee mountain with many faces and lots to play on and those views, wow! Some of your pics are stunning, the Caisteal Abhail and Witches Step ones in particular.

[Alteknacker]

Great report, and some really excellent pics. Such a wonderful place; and so close to the smoke! Fantastic.

I walked the ridge last Sunday, and it was truly wonderful. But I think if I was to do it again, I'd do an overnighter so I wasn't so rushed. Like you, we also tried to get the penultimate ferry with an hour and 25 minutes available from the top of Goat Fell - but failed miserably. Even jogging hard, it took us an hour to get to Glen Rosa campsite, and then there just wasn't time to pack up the tent and get to the pier.

But it did mean we could spend a leisurely hour in a building of cultural, architectural and historical interest (aka the Ormisdale) and from thence stroll in relaxed fashion to the pier; and, to top it all, experience a most awesome sunset over magical Arran.

[ancancha]

The witches step looks tricky
Nice photos including the damsel fly, great colour

[tomyboy73]

Thanks for the nice comments, it's a cracking place

[Beaner001]

Best of the bunch on Arran, ask a kid to draw a mountain and it'll look like that, nice report

[gaffr]

Hello,
It is always pleasing to see yours and Altenacker's recent report and images of the Arran tops. We became fairly familiar with the rocky Arran hills in the late '60's when it seemed to the camping choice of venue for the Spring holiday week-end....greatly influenced by the folks from the Ferranti club. A train, straight after work, from Edinburgh to Glasgow followed by a quick dash to reach the station for the service to the Ayrshire coast. An overnight sleep on the pier before the Ferry in the morning....at first it went from Fairlie and in later years from Ardrossan?
As I remember the 'sharper sections' of the Pagoda Ridge were in the initial pitches. But what about the South Ridge of Cir Mhor? a beautiful piece of rock architecture which when taken directly is a fine classical route in wonderful surroundings. Arran, as a venue, has something to please everyone who wanders around in the hills.

[tomyboy73]

Best of the bunch on Arran, ask a kid to draw a mountain and it'll look like that, nice report

Yip. It is how a mountain should look

[tomyboy73]

Hello,
It is always pleasing to see yours and Altenacker's recent report and images of the Arran tops. We became fairly familiar with the rocky Arran hills in the late '60's when it seemed to the camping choice of venue for the Spring holiday week-end....greatly influenced by the folks from the Ferranti club. A train, straight after work, from Edinburgh to Glasgow followed by a quick dash to reach the station for the service to the Ayrshire coast. An overnight sleep on the pier before the Ferry in the morning....at first it went from Fairlie and in later years from Ardrossan?
As I remember the 'sharper sections' of the Pagoda Ridge were in the initial pitches. But what about the South Ridge of Cir Mhor? a beautiful piece of rock architecture which when taken directly is a fine classical route in wonderful surroundings. Arran, as a venue, has something to please everyone who wanders around in the hills.

Hi. Glad you liked it and happy that it stirred some memories for you.

[kevsbald]

Cir Royale!