Tuesday 2 June 2015

Scotland 2015. Day 25, The Move to Loch Lomond

The day had finally come to leave Mull with great sadness.  We have fallen in love with the island and, despite the weather have had a fabulous time; we have certainly been gifted with wonderful light.  We have photographed and/or seen or our target wildlife species, although otters are a work in progress.  The highlights have, without doubt, been the fabulous views of the sea eagles, especially from Mull Charters boat.  I was also delighted with the corncrakes on Iona; a real bonus.  We have seen much of the island and now have a good feel for it.
In view of the dire weather forecast we were on the move early and caught the 10.00 am ferry from Fishnish (what a wonderful name)  to Lochaline.  We managed to get packed in the dry(ish) but torrential rain and 50+ mph winds were forecast for the afternoon; the ferry was due to stop running from 2.00 pm.  The journey along single track roads to Ardgour went well and we were straight on to the Corran Ferry.  The Glencoe hills looked magnificently grim in the lowering weather, although some of the tops were clear.  There was a copious covering of fresh snow right down to the road in places.  We stopped for lunch at the top of the glen where I managed to get some (poor) photos of the classic view of Buachaille Etive Mor.  Our journey then took us over the wild Rannoch Moor where I photographed the hills of the Black Mount under a lowering sky.  As we came down off the moor towards Tyndrum and Crianlairich in temporarily improving weather, we had excellent views of the Glen Lui Hills and Ben More.  Interestingly the corrie that Peter and I had climbed to the summit of Glen Lui last summer was now a fantastic snow field.  The final part of the journey took us from Crianlairich alongside Loch Lomond in strengthening winds.  Fortunately we had booked a hard standing pitch as the site was sodden and some grass pitches unusable.  We managed to get pitched and organised quickly in the dry before the heavens opened to give torrential rain for an hour or so.  We did get out for a walk on the loch side before retiring to a malt and bed.  During the night the winds increased and this morning a tree by the toilet block was down.

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