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Short vid -
Ben More Mull
The forecast wasn’t looking great, in fact the second named storm of the season was forecast to be in the vicinity so my expectations for fine views and glorious weather were low. In fact my main worry wasn’t the hill – it was the worry that we may not get back if the ferry was cancelled!
As it turned out we were fine and in fact the weather turned out to be a lot better than forecast. No 50-60 mph winds and the rain kept off for a while at least!!
Joining a couple of friends we met up early doors (my alarm woke me at 4am – aurrghh) and we arrived in Oban in plenty of time. A leisurely coffee in Wotherspoons and soon the light had returned and the car was parked on the car deck of the Ferry. The ferry crossing turned out to be glorious, the sun broke through the clouds above Castle Duart, casting sun rays across the sea and rainbows over Mull , whilst dolphins, seals and a plethora of sea birds came to investigate the crossing across relatively flat seas.
Duart Castle Mull by
Scotland's Mountains, on Flickr
Mull Rainbow Scotland by
Scotland's Mountains, on Flickr
Our first navigational error occurred about 15 seconds after making land fall. Turning left as opposed to right we were headed in the wrong direction almost immediately. However quick thinking and a u turn saw us headed in the correct direction towards Dhiseig. The car park was busy and it turned out here was a compleation group from Glasgow headed for the top – well done to John from the Glasgow hillwalking group!
Although not as bad as forecast the going was still a bit damp. Light rain fell and there had obviously been a lot of rain over the previous few day as the going underfoot was soggy to say the least! Keeping a constant pace we only had a few short breaks and soon we were ascending the slightly steeper (and less soggy) final slopes in the clag. The summit ridge reached and it was a gentle amble to the top. Only 1.5hrs after starting and we had surprised ourselves at our quick progress.
Ben More Mull summit ridge by
Scotland's Mountains, on Flickr
Minds were now set on maybe catching an earlier ferry and as luck would have it, we descended (into heavier rain) and by the time we reached the Ferry it was absolutely bucketing down – think we had made the most of the day!!
Back to Mull then a long drive home, I eventually got back around 19.30. A long day but a relatively short day on the hill