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!
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.
We stopped for lunch and a brew at about 600m at nearly 2 o'clock.
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!
And then we plodded down again, reaching the parking area bang on 6pm.
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.
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!
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.
We stopped for lunch and a brew at about 600m at nearly 2 o'clock.
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!
And then we plodded down again, reaching the parking area bang on 6pm.
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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-
mrssanta
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