The Isle of Mull ultimately turned out to be the location of this year's 'Mystery Meet'. Although after numerous leaks, the word 'mystery' is used in the loosest of terms...
Walking
Leaving Dundee on the Friday evening, the vehicles were almost overflowing with gear. We arrived in Oban in good time for the last ferry across to Craignure. From there, it was around an hour's drive to Fidden Farm campsite where we set up our tent village. It wasn't until morning that we could really appreciate the views from the site.
Most people took the opportunity to bag the only Munro and highest peak within the Inner Hebrides (excluding Skye): Ben More. It was mostly approached from Dhiseig on the B8035 opposite Loch na Keal.
The walk up Ben More from this route was relatively straightforward and largely uninspiring, taking around 3.5 hours. But upon reaching the summit, we were treated to some really outstanding views - the photos of which do not do it justice.
Sunday was a lazy day with some of the group visiting Iona and Tobermory. One thing is always guaranteed when visiting these tourist-y places - you are always relieved of the burden of carrying around a heavy wallet...
It was still during daylight that we got the ferry back to Oban, so we could see some of the prominent west coast hills.
There was a rush to deck when the Captain announced that a sperm whale was visible in Oban bay. We all got a brief glimpse but nobody managed a photo. Over the next few days, it was featured on BBC news. It eventually swam to deeper waters.
Climbing at Erraid
After a rather chilly night's sleep, we awoke to be greeted by glorious sunshine, a good sign for a day of climbing on Erraid!
We arrived at the crags and were astonished to see another Uni club were already there! The good banter from everyone more than made up for less solitude than was expected. Eager to start climbing we broke up into a few teams and were let loose upon the crags.
A good day was had by all, taking in a variety of routes from S – HVS. Highlights being Fagan (HVS 5a) by Anna, Tim getting the ‘Gary Latter cover shot’ on One Dead Puffin (HVS 5a), Calum getting spanked by Stealth (HVS 5b) and numerous people being spanked by Oliver (VS 4c) besides one clean ascent!
After collecting some firewood and enjoying the last few hours of Costa del Erraid, we made a quick dash back over to Mull before the tide left us on Erraid overnight!
No comments:
Post a Comment