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We had a long-standing invitation to stay with David in Strontian, and with the lockdown rules relaxing further we decided to take him up on his offer. He had a suggestion – how would we like to visit Carna? Where? Carna – a small island in Loch Sunart. David did the organising and we arrived at Laga to meet Andy who would be our Captain for the day. (He and his wife run
Ardnamurchan Charters and are definitely worth checking out
)
Cruachan Charna
3.45km
232m ascent
2 hours
Walking down the jetty The crossing was enjoyable and the views to Carna were great
David chilling 
Ben Hiant 
On the boat 
Carna up close David’s real reason for being here was that Cruachan Carna, the high point of the island, was his only unclimbed Marilyn in the area (honestly, it’s so embarrassing having friends like that
) I admired the views while Andy pointed out the easiest route up, and promised to come back for us at some point
(Andy was running back and forwards all morning to take the people at the holiday cottages back to the mainland – each family in a separate trip to adhere to social distancing rules!)
On Carna!! Initially we followed a grassy track before heading through a bunch of trees. At this point we lost any sense of the path and ended up walking across horrible knee-wrecking ground for a short while
Fortunately when we reached the gate into the forest we picked up a path again and my knee shut up for a while
Heading for the “square gully” as instructed – although it looked dreadful, the ground actually wasn’t that bad, just overgrown and a bit wet underfoot. It required a bit of hacking through so I was able to potter along at my slow pace without anyone really noticing
Malky baw-deep in bracken
Looking back down Loch Sunart
Steep sided gully – very cool and rocky
Oronsay (tidal island) and the mainland further west
At the bealach we were able to follow a faint path heading up the now slightly less steep side of the mountain. David was waiting patiently….
It was steep but I slowly managed to drag myself up and once on the short final ridge the views down Loch Sunart to Ben Hiant were stunning
Looking back to more cool rock 
Ben Hiant 
Malky making the final approach to the summit And we were there! It was a really cool feeling to be on an island in the middle of the loch, and the views in both directions were fantastic. Couldn’t have asked for better
Looking the other direction – inland towards Beinn Resipol
Cruachan Carna maskie As we sat and enjoyed the views we could see the sky darkening out to sea….this was probably coming our way
Beinn Laga – sitting right above the village of Laga, David promised that this hill also had great views
Lads! We were starting to get chilly so decided to carry on. Andy had suggested continuing along the ridge so we dropped off the other side (very carefully as there was a huge drop!). Malky who doesn’t understand the meaning of careful managed to fall in a huge hole, much to our amusement
We made our way across to the other summit, also with impressive views.
However, the ground was much less easy to walk on – with no path, the heather and tussocks were causing my knee problems
Fighting through tussocks After a short section of dreadful ground we managed to pick up a faint path or animal track which helped! Eventually we picked up our outward route just outside the wooded section. Andy had suggested talking to the cows as they were friendly – but our conversation seemed like a bit one-sided
As there was no sign of Andy, we dropped down onto the beach to enjoy some lunch and enjoy the views (it was amazingly quiet too; over the last few months it was hard to imagine there wouldn’t always be sirens zooming past every few minutes!)
While we were sitting, a short shower passed over
Oh dear.... It didn’t last long though, and soon the sun was back out
We wandered back towards the pier, finding a dead (or playing dead!) crab
Dead crab 
David inspected a tractor – despite being a bit dilapidated, the tyres were still pumped up
Holiday cottage on Carna, with Cruachan Carna behind
Soon Andy arrived to take us back
Here comes Andy! The sun came right out as we enjoyed the boat trip back – Carna was sparkling in the sun
Ben Hiant
Back on dry land Back on the mainland Andy showed us his rowing boat – he said that he and his wife could make it to the island in about 20 minutes!
I can highly recommend a trip to Carna – it’s a magic wee place and the views are just awesome
Ben Hiant
5.04km
455m ascent
2 hours 15 minutes
After saying goodbye to Andy we drove further along the road and stopped overlooking Camas na Geall. David had brought a stove and brewed us all up some tea while we enjoyed the views
Camas na Geall 
I was feeling ok after my mornings exertions, so decided I would try Ben Hiant with the boys. Unfortunately it started raining shortly after we left the car
Heading up Ben Hiant Fortunately sunshine returned and we could see Loch Sunart
Loch Mudle with a view faint Isle of Eigg behind
Looking back to Loch Sunart
Initially it was a steep climb – the views were excellent but I was struggling and had to stop often to allow my breathing to calm down.
Tiny Carna in Loch Sunart
The worst of the steep bit over, we popped out onto the ridge. I was able to walk a bit more consistently here, although still slowly. It was very windy too!
Camas na Geall (and the hidden abandoned village of Bourblaige, well, hidden!)
Doesn’t he look happy
The Sound of Mull (listen carefully and you can hear it
)
The steep final ascent gave some impressive views of the north west coast of Mull
I arrived at the top to find David huddled behind the cairn as it was even windier up top! We grabbed some shelter too so we could enjoy the views
Maskie on Ben Hiant Loch Sunart
Jaxter on Ben Hiant 
Kilchoan and Ardnamurchan 
Mull We were starting to get cold, so David took the car key and ran off, leaving Malky to get even colder waiting for me
Fortunately for everyone I was a lot quicker on the way down, and although we got hit by another shower, we also got some better views of Eigg
Finally back at the car, David had not been idle. He handed us a cup of tea as we arrived (and we all dove into the car to enjoy it as we got splattered by another shower
)
A relatively easy drive got us back to Strontian (by easy I mean I nearly dozed off while Malky did the hard work
), where David cooked up a huge dinner of Haggis with all the trimmings, and I dug out dessert which had made it down the road unscathed
I brought dessertNEXT DAY