LSCC Weekend, Ardnamurchan, June 7th - 10th

 

 

Friday 7th June

 

We arrived at Sonachan, where we were camping, much later than intended, due to a road closure, but we enjoyed views of a wonderful sunset on the last part of the drive.

 

 Saturday 8th June

The morning dawned fine and sunny. From the tents we could look out down a broad strath to a glimpse of the sea at Sanna Bay.



 We paid a short visit to the community garden across the road from the hotel (we had long hours of daylight before us after all)

 

 Then we stuffed some gear into our rucksacks and set off  for Beinn na Seilig, conveniently situated a couple of kilometres south of our camp site, which was equally conveniently situated next door to the hotel. Our route across the moor led past the hotel water supply, a picturesque lochan.

 

 

Only 344 metres high, Beinn na Seilig nevertheless offers some excellent scrambling and climbing on gabbro as rough as any in Skye. 

 

Scrambling on Beinn na Seilig

 

From one of the many little summits we could look down to where
we were camped, with the sands of Sanna bay beyond, and out to
 Muck, Eigg, and the mountains of Rum

 



 

 

From the south end of the hill, we could see Kilchoan,
with Beinn Hiant beyond, beckoning us.



 

Having carried a rope, we had to find somewhere to use it



 

We returned to camp via a pretty woodland walk



 

 



The neighbours were friendly



 

 

We then decided we must visit Ardnamurchan Point lighthouse, which we could see in the distance from just above the tents.

 

 

 

Rum, Muck and Eigg from the lighthouse



 

Oigh-sgeir just visible on the far horizon to the north-west



 

On the way back to camp we visited Portuairk briefly

 

 

 

and also had a good view of our climb on Beinn na Seilig.

 

 

 

We paused to watch a heron whose fishing was rudely interrupted.

 

 

 

 

We treated ourselves to dinner in the hotel, and sitting outside on the terrace we couldn't help but notice the most worried-looking lion we'd ever seen.

 

 

 

 

Returning to our tents, I found a lodger in the porch - a baby toad.

 

 

 

 

Sunday 9th June

 

Another glorious morning, and we decided to investigate the Ring Crags, despite the fact that most of the listed routes had E-numbers - "bound to be easy stuff as well, just that nobody's bothered recording it"

Ardnamurchan's distinctive Ring Crags are the remains of an extinct volcano. They form a circle about five kilometres across, some of it rough rounded hills, much of it steep crags.



 

In the middle is the former settlement of Glendrian. It must have been a sizeable community at one time. We noticed the rounded corners of the buildings, the old-style mortar that had been used to repair the least dilapidated building, the way some walls were constructed with a pronounced inward slope.

 

 

 

 Where animals had been housed in winter, in one building, the remains of drainage could be seen

 

 

 

 

 

The ground around was bright green, with faint ridges showing where lazy-beds had once been cultivated.

 

 

 

 

 We continued over rough ground towards our chosen crag. In the distance it didn't look all that big. As we approached we realised it was actually quite impressive.

 

 



 

Positively intimidating, in fact.

 

 

 

 

 We did manage a lovely line up the right-hand buttress, revelling in the way fingers and feet seemed to stick magically to the gabbro at angles that would be impossible on any other rock.

Though paths show that this crag at least has been climbed quite frequently, there's still undoubtedly scope for exploration in an exceptionally beautiful setting, for those willing to tackle the long drive to get there.

There are information boards about the geology of the area, at populsr tourist spots, such as this one at Sanna Bay.

We had promised our feet, crammed into rock boots, a cool dip in the sea at Sanna. It was cool, but not freezing - some people were actually swimming. The bay is a lovely spot - machair sloping down to stretches of pale sand broken by black rock, blue sea dotted with skerries, and  the big islands beyond, faint in the heat-haze that was now developing.



 

 

 

 

 

Monday 10th June

We congratulated ourselves at having achieved the perfect combination of location and weather on this weekend, even though the views today weren't so good due to the haze that had developed.

On the way home we went up Ben Hiant by a fine path.



 

 

 

Julia reaching the summit

 

Kilchoan



Sound of Mull



Loch Sunart

  A last pause at Camas nan Geall, and we headed reluctantly for home.