This was my first time back on Islay in about 20 years. I wasn't a hill walker back then - I was more interested in bagging distilleries than hills There's twice as many now (distilleries, not hills) and I still like whisky, so we visited a couple.

I'd had high hopes of climbing Beinn Bheigier and it's neighbouring Marylins on the west side of the island, but a recurring hip pain prevented me from tackling anything that strenuous. But I was still determined to visit a couple of the more easily reached subs, starting with Beinn Mhòr on The Oa.

There's a car park about 1 km north-east of the American Monument on The Oa. We'd been to the monument a on a previous visit. I recall peering over the edge of the cliffs there and seeing the goats gambolling on the near vertical cliff face above the crashing waves of the Atlantic. No goats around on this occasion, but the cliffs were still as impressive.

I followed the WH route east along the cliff top, and then south-east on narrow paths through the heather and up to the summit of Beinn Mhòr. At 202m it's not high, but the views are impressive none-the-less, especially over the water. Being able to see mainland Scotland and Northern Island from the same place still impresses me anyway.

The wooden walkway across the Killeyan Burn mentioned in the guide seems to be no longer there, or else submerged in mud. I couldn't find the mentioned style either, but it was easy enough to step across the burn a little bit downstream and then follow the fence to a gate into the field and join the path there.

Returning the same way and then continuing up to Upper Killeyan, the field was very muddy, churned up by cattle. Going around that slightly to the west might have been preferable. At the top of the field is a kissing gate leading to the track, which takes you back to the car park.