We knew that the weather was with us for the next 2 days, so planned to climb Ben More, the highest peak on the Island on the first day, and then head further south to visit Iona, the mystical isle off Mull’s southernmost tip.
The next morning we set off on what was to be an epic mountain day of 6.5 hours of walking, 1400m of elevation and about 16km in total. We decided to complete a horseshoe walk, picking up the summits of Beinn Fhada (702m), A’Chioch (867m) before Ben More (966m). It wasn’t however so epic in the first or last 200m of vertical, that consisted of trudging through the most disgusting Scottish bogs. When walking in Scotland there is no avoiding them, seemingly whatever the season, but walking in trail shoes and not waders was not the most sensible decision we have made. We were soaked in the first 30 mins, dried off a bit during the day and then soaked on the way back to the van for good measure.
The walk was fantastic, even though the final summit never fully cleared throughout the day. It got really sketchy at one point when we were scrambling up a ridge and the wind whipped up- when I questioned turning back, Jackie just looked at me in disgust and carried on…I thankfully just followed her upwards.
To do a horseshoe was defiantly the best idea, as the tourist route that we descended was just a brutal slog up a soulless path…for miles and miles. As per usual in any walk, the descent was endless and hurt- a lot!
As we got down later than expected, the race was on to get to the tip of the island for sunset. Hurrying down single track island roads with passing points is not for the faint hearted, all the time under the pressure of the light fading. Our destination was Fidden Farm Campsite, in possibly one of the most amazing locations for a campsite full stop. We arrived to pick our spot overlooking the most amazing white sand bay, with crystal clear waters. At £20 per night it was an absolute no brainier. We got the fire on, beers on the go, chewed the fat as the sun set and then set about cooking some food for the night. Absolute life goals.
I woke early and took the opportunity to have the beach to myself for some seascape photography as well as the most peaceful and serene location for daily journaling and meditation. I then realised that I really should wake Jackie up as she was missing all the sunrise fun. Waking Jackie up is never easier than with the promise of a stunning sunrise and Fidden Farm didn’t disappoint. She was up and out in no time. We had such fun capturing the amazing sunrise scenes and exploring the deserted sands- and all this before 0830. We knew that we needed to take advantage of this particular morning as it was an one time only offer- the storm was heading in and the following morning would be a very different affair!
Jackie’s planning was impeccable and we found ourselves on the 1030 ferry to the beautiful island community of Iona. Founded by an order of Monks, the island community still has a very religious following and pilgrimages still happen to this day. It is one of the remotest communities, off the remotest part of remote Mull, and yet it is still really busy. It is definitely on the tourist route…and for good reason. We found it in the very best of conditions for late September, blue skies and 15 degrees.
We soon got away from the crowds and found a deserted beach at the top of the island- a no car island means that if you want to get there, you need to walk…which puts a lot of people off. The sun was so warm, the sand was so white and the sea so clear- what’s more to do than go for a wild swim. It was cold…bloody cold- but amazing. What was really nice was when we got out, it was still warm enough to drip dry, although one or two walkers were surprised to find us in our costumes in September. I guess they were only jealous that they hadn’t packed their budgy's too.
Back to Fidden Farm for another night of campsite luxury, we knew that we needed to hunker down as the storm was due to hit the island at midnight and last for 24 hours. That will be 24 hours van bound, eating, drinking and catching up on all the blog and YouTube stuff as the storm passes by, hopefully clearing things for our ferry back to the mainland the following day.
At the time of writing, the predicted storm hasn’t disappointed. Last night we were camped right on the beach front and nervously kept checking out to sea for the approaching weather front. It was remarkably calm throughout the evening and into the early night. We woke at about 1.30am and all was still spookily calm- perhaps the forecast had been wrong after all? The peace lasted until about 2.30am and then all hell broke loose! The van was rocked throughout the remainder of the night by insane gusts, I couldn’t sleep at all with the constant roar of the winds and the driving rain against the van, Jackie slept through out it all. She claims this is through hard work, practice and dedication that she can manage to do this. I gave up any pretence of sleep at about 4.30am and just got up, made a coffee and started a lovely early morning session of reading and writing.
Events got even better later in the morning when there was an island wide power cut and the water supply at Fidden Farm also failed as it was dependant upon said electric power.
We moved off shortly after, heading north back to Craignuin where our ferry would depart the following morning. There is a great little campsite that overlooks the harbour that had electric hook-ups so we could have a mega charge of anything electrical, before we headed back to the mainland for another spell of wild camping in the back and beyond. Sometimes we all just need time to take stock, do nothing and drink tea- and we relished in this enforced downtime.
Next time- we say goodbye to mountains and beaches of Mull- and head to Glen Coe and Glen Etive for some photography fun and some downtime in one of our most isolated happy places. Check out part 3 of our Scottish adventures here.
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