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Another TWO Compleaters

Another TWO Compleaters


Postby Fife Flyer » Mon Oct 24, 2016 3:59 pm

Munros included on this walk: Ben More (Mull)

Date walked: 23/10/2016

Time taken: 5.5 hours

Distance: 9.3 km

Ascent: 950m

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Yes I know it is getting boring, all these adventurous folk compleating, having said that when you sit down in the cold light of day and think about what all these folk have achieved it really is impressive :clap: :clap:
'None' hill walkers just do not understand why we get up at "stupid" o'clock, drive literally thousands of miles just to climb a hill, I have to admit there have been times when I have questioned my sanity and think what am I doing here, especially when you are in the middle of nowhere, can't see a thing and getting wetter by the minute :lol: :lol:
Anyway back on track, this would be my second visit to Mull and you would think that the weather in August would be far better than that in October - how wrong could you be. Those of you who read my last little ditty for Ben More will have noticed that the weather was anything but nice, so the chance to return with a half decent forecast on offer was just too good to pass up.
For those of you who don't know Chris (jepsonscotland) and Andy (flump), they have spent the last couple of years almost joined at the hip and really tackled the mountains in all weathers and mainly at the weekend :roll:
A few of you will remember when Chris attended his first WH meet in 2014 at Inchnadamph ( the well behaved visit), at that time he hadn't even reached double figures, Munro wise so that shows how busy they have been :clap: :clap:
I won't bother drawing the route as it is a straight up and down :lol:
The plan for me was to catch the first ferry from Oban which leaves at 1005am, so my plan was to leave Fife at 6.30am to make sure I didn't MISS the ferry :lol: When I left it was raining and had obviously been raining overnight as there were large puddles that kept creeping across the road. Interestingly, on reaching the Tyndrum area the damp roads were history and the facts that the weathermen had been spouting forth were true :shock: One fact that stuck in my memory was that in October only 6mm of rain was recorded in the far NW and as the day progressed that was very evident 8)
I arrived at Oban rather early so I topped up the fuel in the car and had time for a leisurely coffee before boarding the ferry. As you can see from the photo's it was a gorgeous morning, hardly a breath of wind, ideal conditions for taking photo's 8)

Image Early morning on the ferry in Oban

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Image Looking across to Mull, looks a bit cloudy

Image Oban

Image McCaig's Tower zoomed

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Image The marina on Kerrara

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Image Ladys Rock Lighthouse

Image Duart Castle

Image Zoomed

Image Black's memorial lighthouse?

Now we are actually on the beautiful island of Mull. As usual the ferry docked on time and as I was near the front to disembark I was soon trundling along the road towards Salen on the only decent / normal road on the island :lol:
I arrived at the parking area and there were plenty of cars already parked on the undulating grassy area, I opted for a smooth bit and was met by Andy and his family 8)
As usual Chris was last to the party and then proceeded to do his usual faffing around getting ready :lol: :lol: The rest of the party included Chris's wife Anna and her daughter Sophia and the final member of the group was Hazel (Strachan) who is literally a mountain goat, having alreay been up Ben More earlier in the morning 8)

Image Car park view looking west

Image Here they are

Image And again

We eventually set off shortly after 11.30am, which I would class as a very late start :lol: I was booked onto the 7.30pm ferry so time wasn't an issue, the temperature outside was about 8deg so my car reliably informed me, so we knew it was going to rather chilly high up :roll:

Image Chris struggling and lagging behind early on

Image Same shot zoomed

Image First of many shots of Eorsa

Image Water feature, not much water though

Image Same shot - this time in August :shock:

Image First of many shots of Ulva

Image Ulva & Eorsa

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Image The way up, busy hill

Image Looking south to "Ross of Mull"

Image Ferry zoomed coming down the Sound of Mull

Image Same shot of the Sound of Mull

Image Iona in the distance

Image Nice path easy to follow, ideal for the path lover - you know who you are :lol: :lol:

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Image One of my infamous 'action shots'

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Image First glimpse of what looks like a cracking ridge

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Image Couple of stragglers

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Image Yes Chris that is the summit :lol: :lol:

Image Bubbly living up to it's name

I have no idea how long it took to reach the summit, but as walks go it is one of the easier Munro's and you really do get value for money if you get a view. I was so pleased to be able to see what I missed in August and I ended up taking over 200 photo's 8) I have to confess I don't think I have ever spent so long on a summit, must have been the best part of an hour, not only celebrating, but chatting and taking photo's in all directions.

Image Andy's brother John went for a wee stroll

Image Pretty impressive and rather undulating

Image Interesting shadows being cast

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Image Interesting angle to catch Eorsa

Image Staffa and co

Image Chris's stepdaughter Sophia

Image Same shot zoomed

Image Eorsa again

After an hour or so on high it was starting to get rather chilly, so off we trudged downhill. As you can see from the photo's care does need to be taken descending on the loose stony path, but it is so easy to get distracted by the view in front of you of the islands of Eorsa and Ulva.

Image Time to head down

Image The way down

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Image Looking back up to the stragglers way behind

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Image Nice contrast of sun and shade

Image The short crossing to Kerrara

Image One last shot of Eorsa

Image Not the best water feature

Image Here is an interesting comparison, the above same waterfall taken on 13th August this year

Image Final shot of Ben More summit

Many congratulations to Chris and Andy, you will find it rather strange and a huge anti-climax trying to adjust to life after compleation :roll: Best of luck in whatever path you take :wink:
It was a day I thoroughly enjoyed, the drive to and from Oban, the ferry crossings and of course getting views of Mull and the surrounding area 8)
I have nothing planned in the near future but will no doubt be heading south again to visit a few more Donalds 8)
One other thing I was discussing with Chris on the ferry home, does anyone fancy tackling the 3 Peaks challenege next year, I would be looking at organising it and aiming for the weekend of 24/25 June 2017? I will post in the meets, so if anyone is interested PM me.
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Fife Flyer
Munro compleatist
 
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Re: Another TWO Compleaters

Postby pollyh33 » Mon Oct 24, 2016 4:27 pm

Congratulations to both of you, very well done :clap: :clap:

Cracking photos Martin. Can't beat lovely views on a compleation :wink: :wink: :lol: :lol:
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pollyh33
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Re: Another TWO Compleaters

Postby gaffr » Mon Oct 24, 2016 4:28 pm

Always a happy day to be on the hills. The 'fine ridge' the Chioch ridge is a fine alternative way to the summit.
Did you have with you a lady who will soon have her ninth happy day. :)
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gaffr
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Re: Another TWO Compleaters

Postby rockhopper » Mon Oct 24, 2016 8:22 pm

Congratulations to both of you :clap: :thumbup: cheers :)
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Re: Another TWO Compleaters

Postby goth_angel » Mon Oct 24, 2016 10:53 pm

So that's what the views look like! Congrats to the compleaters, what a day for it.

Maybe August isn't the best time for Mull.. We visited in August and bombed up it on a dry but claggy afternoon after a wet morning. Started at 2.30pm - latest start on a Munro ever. In fact only ever later start was 6pm on a hill in the Lake District in mid summer :roll:
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Re: Another TWO Compleaters

Postby mrssanta » Mon Oct 24, 2016 11:33 pm

Well done to both and a cracking day for it.
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mrssanta
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Re: Another TWO Compleaters

Postby Andymac75 » Tue Oct 25, 2016 6:15 pm

What a day to compleat your round :clap:

I remember seeing you guys at the bottom .

And I ran past the friendly lady in pink on the way down.and had a quick natter about my sanity :D

Great photos of a beautiful Indian Summers day.
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Re: Another TWO Compleaters

Postby Jaxter » Tue Oct 25, 2016 6:49 pm

Looks like better weather than both you and I managed!! Definitely one to return to eh :wink:

Congrats to both Chris and Andy :clap: :clap:
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Re: Another TWO Compleaters

Postby Andymac75 » Tue Oct 25, 2016 9:40 pm

Jaxter wrote:Looks like better weather than both you and I managed!! Definitely one to return to eh :wink:

Congrats to both Chris and Andy :clap: :clap:


Aye , the day you were up was rather .....refreshing :shock:

I started wearing gloves after that day.a wake up call. :thumbup:
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