walkhighlands

Ben More, 281 down, 1 to go!

Route: Ben More (Mull) from Dhiseig

Munros: Ben More (Mull)

Date walked: 14/08/2023

Time taken: 6 hours

Ascent: 966m

We planned a 3 night two day trip to Mull so that we could have a choice of two possible days for the climb of Ben More. We camped at the brand new campsite at Port nan Gael, which was excellent. Normally we prefer a wild camp, but really there is nowhere suitable up Ben More, and we did not want to camp on the beach at Dhiseig - although it is a popular place, there are no facilities, and we did not want to contribute to any sewage problem. We were joined by my sister whose username on WH is Shish. The weather forecast kept changing but on Monday morning Monday looked better than Tuesday so we decided to go for it. We had a relaxed start to the day as the weather was wet first thing but set to improve as the day went on.
First adventure was the drive around to Dhiseig along the B8035, in Shish's campervan. A beautiful road, but not for the faint hearted or those without reversing skills, fortunately Shish is neither of these! As we arrived at Dhiseig we drove past a ram caught by its horns in the fence, but by the time we went back to rescue it, it had managed to free itself without assistance.
We followed the WH route for Ben More from Dhiseig, straight up and down. It was 11.40 by the time we set off walking. Gone are the days when we could do a WH route in the shortest suggested time - these days we are just happy to finish within the longest!
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setting off up the track, Rudolph being charming as always

Anyway, we plodded up the route, there were no navigational difficulties, there was plenty of water, much of it on the path, which in places had turned into a burn, but it didn't rain much. There was just the right amount of wind to keep the midges at bay (mostly), and we could see that the top was in cloud for most of our way up. We met several people coming down, all of whom had not seen anything from the top and although the cloud was generally lifting and breaking up, it seemed pretty stubbornly stuck on Ben More.
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Low cloud and dull weather

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Lots of water in the burn, in this lovely gorge

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Rudolph waiting to see if Shish is going to fall in, he did offer assistance!

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There's quite a lot of water in the burn here too!

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a hardy rowan tree hanging on to the edge of the burn

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was lucky enough to snap this Scotch Argus butterfly

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With the eye of faith, you can imagine where Ulva might be ...

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Could this be a yeti footprint?


We stopped for lunch and a brew at about 600m at nearly 2 o'clock.
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Happy Mugs at lunch time

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Cloud is breaking up :)

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still stubborn cloud up above

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here we almost have a view of Loch Sgridain


A bit more plodding and we reached the summit at 4pm. There were MIDGES! so no brew here. But lo and behold, there were breaks in the cloud which came and went on all sides, so we have counted it as a cloud-free Munro!
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Shish and Rudolph on the summit

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Me and Shish

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We think this counts as cloud free

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aaand the cloud is back, and the midge nets are out.

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and if the cloud is down, you may be fooled into thinking this is the top, but it isn't.

And then we plodded down again, reaching the parking area bang on 6pm.
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plod plod

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Shish looking thoughtfully into the distance, like in an SMC guidebook, we can now see the Sound of Ulva quite clearly

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This time Shish and I are watching to see if Rudolph will fall in

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Nearly back at the road, it's turning into a lovely evening

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In the evening, from the campsite, Ben More still has her hat on.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was Rudolph and my penultimate Munro! Not sure when the last one will be, as there are complications with arranging a suitable date when family and friends can join us.

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Comments: 9



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Ascent: 1170m
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Ascent: 1000m
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Views: 3275

mrssanta


User avatar
Location: north yorkshire moors
Activity: Mountain Walker
Pub: just gimme a cup of tea
Place: Everywhere
Gear: the Map
Ideal day out: waking up in a tent in the middle of nowhere and then doing 2 or 3 munros followed by a hot bath
Ambition: Lots more hills

Munros: 281
Corbetts: 12
Fionas: 3
Wainwrights: 41
Hewitts: 43
Sub 2000: 10
Islands: 13



Filter reports


Statistics

2023

Trips: 5
Distance: 54.5 km
Ascent: 5536m
Munros: 7

2022

Trips: 3
Distance: 42.4 km
Ascent: 3830m
Munros: 9

2021

Trips: 3
Distance: 63.5 km
Ascent: 4330m
Munros: 13

2020

Trips: 5
Distance: 63.3 km
Ascent: 4185m
Munros: 7
Corbetts: 1

2019

Trips: 12
Distance: 107.5 km
Ascent: 5310m
Munros: 22

2018

Trips: 16
Distance: 216.2 km
Ascent: 12010m
Munros: 19
Sub2000s: 2
Hewitts: 8
Wainwrights 11

2017

Trips: 14
Distance: 228.8 km
Ascent: 14095m
Munros: 27

2016

Trips: 14
Distance: 317 km
Ascent: 9600m
Munros: 27
Hewitts: 3
Wainwrights 5

2015

Trips: 12
Distance: 100.9 km
Ascent: 6245m
Munros: 15
Corbetts: 1
Hewitts: 6
Wainwrights 6

2014

Trips: 12
Distance: 186 km
Ascent: 6275m
Munros: 24

2013

Trips: 7
Distance: 170.3 km
Ascent: 4529m
Munros: 28

2012

Trips: 12
Distance: 144.1 km
Ascent: 11136m
Munros: 24
Hewitts: 1

2011

Trips: 7
Distance: 86.8 km
Ascent: 6402m
Munros: 23

2010

Trips: 7
Distance: 71.4 km
Ascent: 6531m
Munros: 10
Sub2000s: 1

2007

Trips: 1
Distance: 20 km

1983

Trips: 1
Munros: 2
Corbetts: 1


Joined: Jul 18, 2011
Last visited: Mar 03, 2024
Total posts: 3132 | Search posts