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My only climb of 2009 was during an incredible week in the Outer Hebridies, when I climbed little Heaval on Barra, but I was blessed with fantastic weather that morning, as indeed for most of the week. I made my way up to Inverness on the Megabus on Sunday evening, then headed out to Ullapool for the Monday morning ferry to Stornoway. I then stayed in Lewis for two days, meeting up with a uni friend who was posted there for the summer for a renewable energy research project.
After a cracking ceilidh on the Tuesday night involving the Tiree band Trail West, I travelled down through Harris, Uist and Barra towards a final stop in Tiree itself, during which I kept bumping into the band (they had been staying at the same hostel in Stornoway). Perhaps the highlight of the trip, though, was the climb of Shebhal (Heaval), a full 12 years after a childhood attempt with my family was aborted due to the extreme steepness of the hill.
The fire exit of the local Co-Op (is every single shop in the Highlands a Co-Op?) led the way to Barra's highest peak in the background.
In 1996 we didn't even make it to the Mary statue, returning back to the road and finding - to our frustration - a much more straightforward gully just to the right of our route. This time I made sure to head to the gully at the outset, to make my task a little less stressful on the legs.
The road rises to 100m, but as soon as the climb properly starts the views to the South are remarkable.
In the distance I saw the Mary statue, so made a slight detour to check out the view.
To my surprise the statue was actually less than life-size, despite being clearly visible from Castlebay. It must have been strategically placed, occupying a prominent position on the edge of the hill.
After the statue the hill began to narrow into a rocky ridge, and became even almost comically steep in the process. If it wasn't such a small hill I imagine it would be a real struggle for some, but thankfully I knew the summit was nearing already.
Nearly there!
Et voila! Just 40 minutes after leaving the roadside, and 15 minutes after passing the statue, I was on top of Heaval. I was hoping for great views, but if anything they probably exceeded my expectations.
After a few minutes I decided to tear myself away from Heaval, and head round to Barra's second highest hill, Hartaval.
The going was fairly straightforward over light grass and occasional rocks, and on my return I walked round the side of Heaval.
Funny fellow!
The path led straight back down towards the roadside.
As I boarded the special once-weekly ferry to Tiree, my only disappointment was that I didn't have time to visit Kisimul Castle. I suppose there's always next time...
A few minutes after leaving Castlebay, the Isle of Barra looked almost uninhabited from this angle, adding to the magic of the place.
The ferry passed the narrow straits between Coll and Tiree, docking at Scarinish. A slight faux pas occurred with the bus/taxi situation in Tiree. They appear to be run by the same company, but I was under the impression that I was being met by a bus rather than a taxi to take me to Scarinish. One awakard "taxi" journey later, I arrived at the Millhouse Hostel several pounds lighter in the wallet. I was now £1 short of cash to pay the owner of the hostel, but she was most understanding, writing it off immediately! To this day, I've never paid her back.
I had just enough time to run over to the nearest beach to watch the sunset.
It was a special moment, the timing being just perfect. Barra was just visible several miles away to the North-West, reminding me of my short but tremendously enjoyable climb that morning.
At the end of an incredible week, I once again felt so enormously lucky to be living in Scotland, where all of this natural beauty is right on our doorsteps. If my wife and I don't retire to Bali one day, maybe I could convince her to settle for Barra or Tiree...
