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Sub 2k Marilyns: Cruachan Charna, Ben Hiant.
Date: 18/07/2020.
Distance: 3 + 4.5 km.
Ascent: 180 + 375m.
Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes + 2 hours, 15 minutes.
Weather: Sunny spells with heavy showers.
We had been invited to stay with David in his place in Strontian - sounded like a good chance to head to one of my favourite parts of the world
. Jackie had overdone it the previous week resulting in us needing to take it easy, but conveniently, David had a trick up his sleeve. He had called up Ardnamuchan Charters a couple of weeks earlier to see if they would be running a boat out to Carna. Surprisingly they were, so our Saturday morning was sorted!
After a rather late night on Friday, we set of for Laga at 9am. The morning looked promising although a few showers were forecast. On the boat shortly after 10, we were over on Carna in 15 minutes or so. Boat owner Andy pointed us towards what there was of a path up Cruachan Charna.
Carna from Laga Our transport Dog days Once past the houses, we crossed some boggy ground and entered the woods. At the far side of these, a faint route could be seen through the bracken and heather. It was pretty boggy in places, but given the roughness of the terrain on either side, it was most welcome. Despite the modest height of 170m, the summit cone of Cruachan Charna was pretty impressive. Once up at a sort of col, the views westwards opened up, and things just got better from there.
Looking up the gully towards the summit Heading up Oronsay and the tip of Ardnamurchan At the summit of Cruachan Charna We were really dragging our feet with at least a couple of hours to spend on the island, but the ascent only took 45 minutes or so - no doubt could have been done in half of the time if necessary. I had been interested in Carna for some time but hadn't appreciated just what a great view it would have from the summit
. After half an hour or so of sitting around, we decided to drop off the northern side to make some kind of circuit.
Ben Hiant and Loch Sunart East up Loch Sunart Beinn Laga Oronsay I almost immediately fell up to my chest into a hole
. Fortunately there were no more of these, but this little summit was pretty rough, and you wouldn't want to drop off it the wrong way! The going became easier lower down as we picked up a bit of a path again. Originally we had planned to drop right to the northern tip of the island and work our way back along the shoreline, but it became clear that this would be extremely rough.
Summit crags Ben Resipol Risga Chatty cow We dropped down to the tiny bay again and stopped for lunch on the rocks. A rather heavy shower passed over as we debated how long it might be before Andy returned. After 40 minutes or so of relaxing and mooching around, he chugged around the corner, and we were off back to the mainland.
Shower moving over Loch Sunart Waiting for the boat Cutting edge technology Leaving Carna A great morning spent in a beautiful corner of Sunart/Ardnamurchan.
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I had suggested Ben Hiant for the afternoon, having never been up it before. Jackie thought she probably still had enough energy, although David had been up it quite a few times already. We were feeling super-lazy, so pulled over at the viewpoint overlooking Camas nan Geall for lunch and a brew-up. Eventually we moved a little further along the road to the usual starting point for Ben Hiant. Although I had some interesting ideas for this hill, we settled for a simple up-and-down this afternoon. Unfortunately, more frequent showers were moving in, so we would be lucky to stay dry.
Eigg and Loch Mudle On the initial ascent, it became clear that in addition to showers, the air quality had decreased considerably and it was to hazy to see a lot of the things I was hoping for (eg Skye and Rum). Still some great views over Ardnamurchan and Mull though.
Loch Sunart Camas nan Geall North coast of Mull Mull The path was a little sqishy lower down, but the going was a lot easier than Carna had been, and unsurprisingly there were a few other folk around. After being hit by an initial shower, we were able to make our way to the summit without any further dousing. Views were limited but still great, the hills right above Kilchoan looking more interesting than I had ever noticed them to be before. We would definitely be back for a summit camp!
Out to sea Kilchoan Summit of Ben Hiant Sun on the sea Moody Kilchoan Descending from the summit The wind was also pretty strong, so we didn't hang around for long, retracing our steps the way we came and getting hit by another shower.
Rainbow It wasn't that late, but we decided to head back to Strontian after that. Although barely 30 miles away, it took the best part of an hour to get there - nothing is fast around here! Once back, we got some dinner on as the rain bucketed down.