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With the anticipation of volunteering for 3 weeks on Islay, unsurprisingly came the planning of it's sub-2ks. Before long I had decided I was to climb all 7 - (surely 4 weekends should be enough?) All of which were to be without the aid of a car; but given Islay as a popular cycling destination, I thought I'd bring the bike along as an aid. I should add that a report entitled 'Islay Ramblings' by MKG elsewhere was utterly invaluable. Off I set on June the 18th - my mother and her partner, thinking they might as well join me for the ferry ride and an excuse to visit, providing the accommodation for the night at the Bowmore Hotel.
(My photos from the whole trip are available at:
http://ianparkphotography.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/islay-and-caravan-17th-june-12th-july.html ).
SGARBH BREAC & GIUR-BHEINN- 9.1 miles / 14.7km
- 688m
- 4.5(ish) hours
The evening of our arrival, we checked in to the hotel and I got dropped off at Bunnahabhain Distillery at around half 4, the clag getting worse and worse as we drove down the coast road. I was quite worried that I was going to end up having to turn back if the visibility was this poor. We got my bike set up and the elders were off to meet some old friends. I chained the bike up and started along the trail at the steep bend in the road. Take the slightly overgrown path on the right down into the woodland (I believe it had a gate but I can't remember - it was a month ago!) This will take you down to the Margadale River and the bridge, possibly the peatiest river I have ever seen; it was completely opaque.
The river and the bridge:
You will begin to follow a decent ATV track along the coast, which slowly began to fade and reappear at places. If you come across any junctions, always take the more defined route - I learnt that the hard way! In general, I aimed to start going uphill just as I was perpendicular to Rubha Bhachlaig. The mist began to thin and I got a decent view of Sgarbh Breac, which calmed my nerves a little.
First view:
It strangely didn't rain but the dew from the tall bracken and heather meant I had wet feet and legs in the first few minutes. As I began to climb the path began to fade, but I kept my eyes on the direction of the summit, reaching the first outcrop a little SE of the top after about an hour's walking. It was not long at all before I reached the top after that.
Sgarbh Breac trig:
The trig was fascinating as the surrounding cairn provided a kind of wind-proof insect haven that was bustling with wildflowers and flies. I went to have a cup of tea from my new Stanley flask but it was still undrinkably warm - I now have to put a little cold water in just so I can drink it later! I pressed on, aiming to instead get a drink from Loch Mhurchaidh. The S slope of SB was a mix of big scree and saturated moss, which made for an interesting descent.
I made it to the loch, took a few swigs from its peaty depths and continued on - who needs whisky? I curved round the side of Margadale Hill, not wanting to unnecessarily waste all my energy, although I was truly soaked by this point. As I made it round the bend, I spotted the distant Giur-bheinn, seemingly miles off. As a matter of fact, the going wasn't too awful, following the contours as best I could, I arrived at the corner of the forestry plantation only 30 minutes after curving around Margadale Hill (effectively half way).
The beautiful contours of G-b were now well in sight and I had to think carefully as to how I was going to actually get up it - the W side being impossibly steep, I opted to curve a little to the left around the stony outcrops.
Approaching G-b:
The going was indeed tough but I had made it to what I thought was the top in around 20 minutes. The actual top was quite a distance off along the ridge - I did briefly think I was on the wrong hill as it just seemed to keep slowly climbing.
G-b summit cairn in the clag:
I made my way steeply down the E side, aiming for the corner of Loch G-b and then down to the inverse corner of the forestry. I had hoped there would be a decently trodden path, but the rain had clearly washed a great deal of it away. I entered past the enormously high gate and followed what I thought was the best way down to the path, ending up putting my boot through a good foot or so of mud. Eventually I joined a forestry track and followed it through - this part took much longer than expected; getting on for an hour and a half at least (start of the forestry back to the bike).
Through the moody forestry:
Eventually I made it out and reached a junction (do not take the path on the right as it is effectively non-existent now). It was a short walk back to Bunnahabhain through the clag, and then a very enjoyable bike ride back to Bowmore. I should say that this was by far the most biodiverse hill walk I have ever been on. I saw: many birds, many frogs, a caterpillar, drinker moth, sundews, bog asphodel, endless heath spotted orchids, brown trout (probably; at Loch Mhurchaidh), a lizard, about 20 deer (a pack of 13 at one point), 5 stoats, a female pheasant and a chaffinch stuck in our grill on the drive over, pointed out by a jolly German man.
BEINN TART A'MHILL- 28.7 miles / 46.2km
- 780m
- 4.5 hours (mostly on bike)
This was to be the longest single day excursion, which it was, although it went far quicker than I thought it would. Now fully settled in to volunteer life, I cycled out of the accommodation and along the road to Sunderland Farm. This was in fact the hardest part of the cycle as the road gradually climbs upwards the whole way and I was cycling directly into the wind. Eventually the craggy slopes of Turnaichaidh and the pylons came into view.
The craggy pylons:
I made my way down to Machir Bay and walked my bike along the coastal path, which disappeared quite a few times. I did at one point walk the whole way up a steep farmer's track (just past the loch) to find out the fainter path downhill was in fact the right way. Eventually it becomes more obvious as the gradient increases and I got a great chance to look out over the beautiful west coast of Islay. The steepness really wasn't as bad as I had thought and I was reaching the little bealach between the relay buildings only an hour and a half after setting off. The rain did briefly come on but was soon over. I walked my bike down through Kilchiaran Farm and onto the main road.
The windy uphill road ahead:
From here it was a pleasant sunny cycle over to Kelsay farm. I have heard from reports that this farmer can be a bit of trouble and this was somewhat confirmed when I realised that the path up the hill has been blocked by 3 enormous sheep gates. These could have been unlocked but would have been so much hassle that I went to the right, jumped their fence and walked over the moorland back to the path.
The tart, whose name appears to be translated as 'Thirst hill of the mill':
A Gaelic translation booklet for Islay we had had a rhyme about the hill: "As long as there is a cap on Beinn Tart a'Mhill, there will be no thirst at Bolsay or Kelsay". The path up was relatively uneventful, with overcast skies and foggy views, although I could just make out the Oa. On approach to the top, I left the path to the right and over to the trig., where I had a few cups of tea and ate my lunch.
Tart trig:
I made my way back down to the path and followed it down to the farm, taking an easier route over this time. I did spot a Forester moth on the path, which I'm told is rather uncommon for that area. I unlocked my bike and set off over to the Octofad path.
Bike chained up:
I enjoyed the cycle along the Octofad path so much that I didn't take any pictures at all. I had thought I'd need to have walked it but my bike could just about take it. I blasted through back onto the road and along to Port Charlotte, the most fun I've had on a bike for ages. I kept going through to Bruichladdich to get some water and then round to a peculiar trig. I had spied on the map. At 29m, the second lowest trig. I visited on the trip, and indeed ever! I walked past the stunning speckled white horses (brother and sister?) and back to the reserve.
BEINN MHOR- 4.3 miles / 7km
- 310m
- about 3 hours
With one of the reserves being at the Oa, I had expected to get this one out the way pretty early, but I climbed it in the last of the 3 weeks. The warden suggested I do it while we were out on a Chough survey, while showing George, the new volunteer, the awesome sights of the Oa.
I didn't bring my camera on this one as I hadn't expected to go. The heathery climb up actually took a good 45 minutes from the offices. We followed the paths around over Dun Athad and then up to the previously visited American monument. You could quite easily mistake this coastline for St. Kilda; it really is no surprise why people travel so far to come here. We met up with the warden and the other volunteer Tom, then walked to the car park and got a ride back to the offices.
BEINN BHEIGIER, GLAS BHEINN & SGORR NAM FAOILEANN- 35.2 miles / 56.7km
- 1476m
- 1.5 days (about half on bike)
My final weekend approached and all I seemed to be thinking about were these last 3 hills. I asked the other two volunteers Tom and George if they would be interested. One, a gold DofE completer and the other having done quite a few munros, they were both up for it. I had my road bike all set, and they borrowed the reserve's bike and the warden's bike respectively. We were off at 9:45am in the spectacular sunshine, the entire ridge a purple silhouette in front of the blue sky, all visible from our front door.
I have been cycling to uni/work for the past year so was quite well-versed in cycling for short distances. The other two, however, hadn't cycled in a few years. This meant we were taking regular breaks every 5 minutes or so, which was alright as there was no real rush. We made it past the traffic into Bridgend and took a 15 minute break. From then it was an enjoyably bumpy ride into Cluanach; George realising he could change the gears 5 miles into our cycle, proclaiming "oh, its so much easier!" The ridge came back into view as we approached where we were leaving the bikes.
The Beinn from the Mulindry cottages:
We were uncertain where to leave the bikes, when as we were trying out a ditch, Tom found a hidden away lamb that had got stuck. We notified the owner of Cluanach, who was cutting the grass. He phoned the farmer and said we could keep his bikes in the shed. There are nice people on Islay! Following the Kynagarry farm path into the glen, we passed hundreds of butterflies, moths, damselflies and dragonflies all out enjoying the sun. I was certain we would see an Adder but unfortunately, we never came across one. At the footbridge, which seemed to be the favourite haunt of amazingly coloured damselflies, we had some lunch and began the ascent.
There was no set path so we wandered along the contours before making an attempt to go upwards a bit. The gully of Allt na Bo Cheann-fhinn slowed us down a bit but it wasn't far after that until we were on the plateau. We stopped to refill at Loch a' Mhuilin-ghaoithe, where there were 2 red-throated divers. Past the peat hags, the summit was looking more and more steep by the second.
Most marilyns aren't like this?!:
After a very steep climb up the heather and scree, we all reached the trig, where we sat down for lunch to look at the peaks ahead.
The highest point on Islay:
Tom looking down into the glen:
We pressed on, the steepest part of the day slowing us down. We really did need to take our time as our packs were pretty huge and one mistake would see us rolling down 200m through a scree field. Eventually the ground evened out and we instantly began the ascent of Glas Bheinn. Both Tom and George were pretty tired by this point - I also didn't have much tea left and the next time to refill was a whole hill away. Slipping around the E side of Am Mam, we then curved our way up and around to finally have the summit cairn in sight.
Glas Bheinn slopes and distant cairn:
We made it to the top, Tom and George relatively silent as they refuelled. I took a peek over to the Sgorr nam Faoileann, which I didn't think they would like the look of. Originally, Beinn na Caillich had looked like SnF but on closer inspection, I understood my mapping mistakes. All of us remarked at how high up we felt - the length of the journey up combined with our closeness to the coast made us all feel like we were on top of a munro. After a decent rest, we eased our way down onto the spectacular wall that dams Glen Choireadail. Surprisingly and fortunately, there was a decent-sized burn we could refill our flasks at. There were also a few deer eyeing us up as well.
SnF slopes:
There were disagreements on what route to take, but we just all went at our own pace. I was using the picture above to find the optimum easiest route. After what seemed like forever, I spotted the cairn and took shelter behind it; the wind being quite strong by now. We spotted a red admiral butterfly right at the top, as well as a very very faded tortoiseshell.
SnF cairn:
I had planned to curve around to Beinn Bhreac, but we opted to visit the waterfall and go straight down. This took a while but we eventually reached the sheep paths splitting their way through the bracken. We reached the Glen Ghaireasdail waterfall and once again refilled our flasks, having only realised how tall it was from right above it!
I couldn't wait to get inside An Cladach bothy and get acquainted. It was utterly marvellous - there are not many bothies out their that are so well equipped - a real thank you to the MBA and others for keeping it in such good nick.
Tom and George outside An Cladach:
We were all totally shattered, so we scrounged up some some dried seaweed off the beach, got the fire going and ate the last of the day's rations. We were all asleep by half 10.
Dusk inside the bothy:
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Dawn was here and we were all up by 8ish. The weather had turned very claggy, as predicted by the man at Cluanach. We could hear the rain on the roof as we slept. After breakfast, I put on my still soaking boots after a bothy No. 2, we said our goodbyes. I took one picture all day and it was from my phone. I think Tom and George's silence was explained by the fact that they weren't used to such a change in weather, both of them being from England. Up Glen Logan we walked, my thighs soaked within a few minutes. Reaching the top, I was unsure of exactly where we were but knew we'd come across the road eventually if we continued west. After using Sleivemore as a reference, we made our way over to Storakaig, any path utterly non-existent. Finally we reached the road after half an hour's trekking.
We made quite a sight to oncoming cars and cyclists - the 3 musketeers, on seemingly their worst-planned mission yet. The raindrops falling from George's cold fingers and Tom's defeated but confident walking stride made me chuckle as the three of us walked side by side, taking up the whole road. As we reached Barr, Tom and George stopped for lunch. I didn't want to stop walking as it was cooling me down. There was tea in my bag but getting it out would be too much hassle. A passing cyclist remarked, "Don't worry, you're not the only daft buggers..." After what seemed like eons, we reached Cluanach, where I left a few quid for the owner.
Back on our bikes, we blasted back into Bridgend, where we refilled our stomachs and the chat could recommence. The cyclists were out in force today. I had had enough of waiting about so was the first to leave. We stopped every 10/15 minutes or so this time back. At last came the final stretch back to the reserve and the warmth of the accommodation. I put all my damp clothes in a bag and went straight to bed, as did the others.
I must say I was doubtful that I would compleat all 7 marilyns on this trip but I was over the moon that I had managed it. Not only those 7, but I also climbed Cnoc Uamh nam Fear and Mala Bholsa - two other spectacular days out. Islay has more in store for you than you'd think!
