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Carsaig Arches - a magical place

Carsaig Arches - a magical place


Postby bjoechn » Mon Feb 27, 2017 9:42 pm

Route description: Carsaig Arches

Date walked: 30/05/2015

Time taken: 5 hours

Distance: 13 km

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On our second day on Mull we drove down to Carsaig Pier to do the coastal walk to the Carsaig Arches. It turned out to be a fantastic day. We started from Tobermory with thick clouds above us, but the sky cleared up as we started the walk und we reached the arches in bright sunshine.

On the way down to Carsaig we stopped for a short time to take in the views, with the landscape still covered in clouds and mist. Gosh, I love to see Scotland under these conditions!
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We drove towards Carsaig Pier, passed the telephone box by the waterfall (I wonder who thought of building it there of all places) and parked the car down at the pier.
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When we started the walk, the sky had already started to clear up, and the weather became better and better the further we went. We passed a nice beach with black sand, which looked quite amazing. It was just fantastic, walking along the coast, with the sea and great views towards Islay and Jura on our left, and huge cliffs towering above us to our right.
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We even passed a funny rock formation, which reminded me of a monkey. Can anyone else see it on the left side, or is it just my imagination?! :lol:
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We walked around Malcolm´s Point, passed the ruins and reached the first arch. A great sight, with the mighty tunnel underneath hexagonal basalt columns.
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We climbed up the basalt to the grassy top of the arch, walked along the cliff top, which was a bit scary, but not a real problem under these dry and windless conditions, climbed down again on the other side and reached the second arch. It was just magical, looking at the great stone formations, with the clear blue skye above us, the sea rushing to the shore behind the arches and not a single person but ourselves to be seen.
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We stayed there for quite a while, enjoyed the scenery, had some lunch. I must say I have rarely been at a more peaceful place. But after a while, we started the walk back towards Carsaig. Our timing was quite good, for the wind freshed up while we walked (you can see the waterfall being blown back up the cliffs), and when we reached the beach, the sky had become dull and grey again. Nevertheless we made it back to the car on dry feet, happy with the day that lay behind us.
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bjoechn
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Re: Carsaig Arches - a magical place

Postby Andymac75 » Tue Feb 28, 2017 10:07 pm

Nice photos and nice report. :clap:

Keep telling myself I'm going to go to Carsaig arches.

That phone box ( and noisy waterfall) yfeatures in a famous Powell and Pressberger film from the 1940s ,called 'I Know Where I'm Going'.

Worth a watch :)

Scorsese has given the film "masterpiece status!
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Re: Carsaig Arches - a magical place

Postby litljortindan » Tue Feb 28, 2017 10:45 pm

Would like to go there one day. What I can see is more King Kong than monkey so possibly looking in the wrong place.
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