No Goats, but what a day !

[tall-story]

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This trip has been on my mind for a long time since reading a report from MountainThyme and boy was it worth waiting for . Bearing in mind I had never been on a ferry before this meant a bit of planning, not just the usual of getting up early and driving but all the fuss of being on time for ferries on and off the island
So my day started at 4am when the alarm woke me from a very shallow sleep, because of all my worry of the weather, the drive, the ferry and the hills I was like a wee kid, all excited about my day So the usual fuss first thing of sorting sarnies, breakfast, filling the rucksack and also sorting food for wee Jura`s day (she is the new pup who is a bit young for the hills) and also a note for my dog walker. Thunder birds are Go

at just after 5am and what a morning it was just gorgeous, the forecast looked like it was going to be correct again
The drive went well at around 70 miles it seemed like in no time at all I was there and the worry I had about parking (£3) was not needed so ticket bought (£11.35) and off I went on my wee adventure

. So I got on the bus and the plan was to go on a clockwise direction from Glen Rosa but I missed my stop and ended up at the bottom of Goatfell no worries though a wee look at the map and I was off, but by this time the weather was playing tricks and it was drizzling fairly heavily and I thought, bugger its going to be a pants day and the forecast was wrong

but as I was here I just had to go for it and before long the cloud started to break up a bit and I thought maybe the forecast was correct after all, and just as I was approaching the summit of Goatfell it did not disappoint

nearly there

and things just got better all day from there.

Goatfell summit

I had read many reports talking about how dangerous these hills could be but in my opinion there were no real difficulties as long as you use your (hill nose) and a bit of common sense you should not come to any bother so off the back of north goatfell onto the ridge

The Saddle and Cir Mhor

and past the dolphin

Dolphin ??

that eventually takes you to the saddle it seemed that there was a bit of security waiting for me in the form of a pretty healthy stag and he just wasn`t for moving (15-20ft) from me !

Guard duty

And next was that path that has already been commented on

You can just see the path snake its way up through the rocks

,

Glen Sannox

The Witches Step!

it looks near impossible but if you just follow your nose it really is quite easy although steeeep before long though I was at the wee gap in the rocks and it was round the back

Just follow the path!

and up the rocks and that was that Cir Mhor summited. So on I went on a fairly non eventful walk to Caisteal Abhail

Cir Mhor and Beinn Tarsuinn from Caisteal Abhail

apart from the scramble or not to scramble dilemma Well I chose to do it as it is really straight forward with great grip etc

The Wee scramble up to the summit of Caisteal Abhail

, did my summit pose

What a view ;-)

and soaked up the fantastic views and in one of my photos you may see the 4 guys that I had met earlier in the day on the summit of Cir Mhor .

The guys I met on the Cir Mhor Summit, Zoomed

From here it is an easy retrace of your steps back towards Cir Mhor but not quite summiting again but just skirting around the side about 100mts or so below the summit on the west side again (just follow the path). Before long Beinn Tarsuinn realy started to become a reality and that Ridge I had already made my plan even before the four guys that I met earlier gave me more advice on where not to go which was appreciated so yet again I just followed the path to the path to the West side of A` Chir and soon you can see the faint path snake its way through the rocks to safety

The Stone Arch

at the bottom of Beinn Tarsuinn from then on it was a quick but steep climb up to the summit soon that was that and I was there fourth summit of the day

Me on the summit of Beinn Tarsuinn

. I sat on the summit for a while and just took in the stunning views as it was only around 330pm

I have to walk there before 720!

I had a bit of time to spare and had a wee wander around and met some of the locals

The Old Man and Brodick

Dropping off the back of Beinn Tarsuinn with Cir Mhor and the Witches Step

After 20 min or so I thought I had better get going. So its not long and you are off the back off Beinn Nuis and you can see the path meander across the soft ground below, this part of the day was the only time all day that I had encountered the dreaded CLEG and they were hungry !

A stunning day

This last bit is a long walk but I just dropped a gear and did a bit of a route march just to get back to the tar road where hopefully I would get a bus back to Brodick, but No I had just missed the 445pm bus and there was not another till 545pm so I was just as well to walk the last couple of miles back to the village via the co-op for refreshments and a wee seat on the beach for half an hour

Stats for the day Add half hour because the sats didn't find me till around the bridge on Goatfell?

then it was ferry time again, I managed to get the 6pm

Time to Go Home :-(

ferry instead of the planned 720pm sailing which was great as it got me home at 830ish rather than 930ish The drive home was uneventful thankfully and I got home at 845 which ended a fairly full-on day . Tonight (Wednesday) as I write this I fell as stiff as if I had just done week at the tattie howkin but I guess that's just an age thing, a day or two and all will be well, I hope

[BlackPanther]

Just my kind of hillwalk. Rocks to climb over and strike silly poses, steep cliffs to look down from, dolphins on land...

Wish I had more time to travel around Scotland. For me it looks like a week off on the island (I know there are castle ruins to explore, and I wouldn't miss some lurking on the coast). Maybe next year...

[electricfly]

Enjoyed that Colin.

Cir Mhor was the first "proper" hill I did with my school, back in the early 80's when health and safety wasn't outranking common sense.

Pretty sure it was claggy that time so nice to see the huge drop the teachers were being so paranoid about.

Think a return trip shall have to be planned for Arran. Do you think the Spaniels would manage the scrambley bits?

Cheers, EF.

[jmarkb]

Think a return trip shall have to be planned for Arran. Do you think the Spaniels would manage the scrambley bits?

The above route should be no problem if you take all the easy options (keep E of the crest between Goat Fell and North Goat Fell, skirt the final section to Cir Mhor on the S, and the whole of A'Chir on the W). Probably best to avoid the Witch's Step, and Cioch na h-Oighe.

[SAVAGEALICE]

looks awesome ..definitely need to revist Arran!

[AnnieMacD]

Looks fantastic. Never been to Arran but may need to change that.

[tall-story]

Enjoyed that Colin.

Do you think the Spaniels would manage the scrambley bits?

Cheers, EF.

I am sure that your super spaniels will manage that no bother Eric