Heaval - Barra

[FloozySuzie]

Myself and a friend from uni travelled the Outer Hebrides over 9 days in the middle of September, staying in every island along the way. On our first day, after a 7 hour ferry ride from Oban, we tackled Heaval on Barra.

Heaval from the ferry.

On the walk there, we bumped into a guy who had just climbed it telling us ‘it’s a doddle’. Great! We thought. The top of it was covered in clag, but we hoped for the best.

Looking up at the 'doddle'.

The whole way up was pretty boggy, but especially the foot of the hill. No midges were about luckily.

Castlebay.

Soon after starting, we both realised it definitely was not going to be a doddle. We are not hill fit (or any fit for that matter!), so it proved to be a bit of a challenge.

About ¾ of the way up there is a statue, which i’m guessing is Mary and Jesus.

Last steep climb to the top.

Unfortunately the clag never went anywhere, so the apparent great views of Barra vanished.
My aunt had bought me a Balmoral hat, and sent me it, wanting me to get pictures taken with it everywhere. And so the first one was taken...

Timer.

And another one...

It was an amazing start to the holiday, which turned out to be one i will never, ever forget.

[Craiging619]

Pity the cloud never cleared, the views at the top are something else on a clear day.

On the walk there, we bumped into a guy who had just climbed it telling us ‘it’s a doddle’. Great! We thought.

Yeah, it's only really a doddle in the sense that it's small. The going is relentlessly steep, especially the last 100m, but once you reach the summit I guess you've conquered Barra!

[mountain coward]

My God, there's a path! There was never one when I was there! Here's my pics of it - doubt I'll be putting out a post on it now... In the sense that you walk all the Hebridean hills from sea-level, I don't suppose any of them can be classed as a doddle particularly...

[kevsbald]

Beware the walker who describes hill as a 'doddle' - it's psychologically damaging as you relax and prepare for a 'just over this bit' moment. Sounds like it was an interesting trip.

[FloozySuzie]

Wow MC, your photos are amazing. Lets me see what we missed Never mind, it was a lot of fun. I fell in love with Barra, so it will be done again.

And yes Kev 'interesting' is a good word to describe our holiday!

[mountain coward]

Barra is superb for cycling round for a day - you can hire bikes on the island and just cycle right round in a day and visit lots of beaches and stuff. Makes a great day out. Just don't choose a windy one!