I was staying with hill-walking friends in self-catering accommodation just west of Fishnish on the Isle of Mull. They were climbing the Island’s Classic Hills while my interest was on the Sub 2K Marilyns.
On the first whole day on the Island, I made the short drive west on the A849 to Pennygowan then a hundred metres or so south down Glen Forsa to the Hatchery where parking was permitted. Beyond this point was for authorised vehicles only.
I walked SSE along the estate track, crossed a cattle grid, and through some rough pasture with cows grazing, mostly well away from the track. A second cattle grid was crossed and here the Highland cattle and a very young calf were close to or beside the track. They stood their ground so I continued along the track, passing the house at Killbeg and to beyond the trees on the east of the track.
At NM60584089 I left the vehicle track and climbed south-west, on an easy gradient, across mostly dry ground, including dead bracken, with just the odd boggy section. This being the result of an extended period of sunny weather with a breeze. There were also various animal trails to follow and those took me below Beinn nan Luss.
The ground levelled out a bit with traces of ATV tracks before the gradient increased again as I climbed to the summit of the Sub 2K Marilyn, Beinn Bhuidhe, which was marked by a cairn.
I sat at the top for a while, it was very peaceful with just the singing from the Skylarks and the alarm calls of the Plover.
The descent north-west was across some stony and rocky ground, with a few boggy areas then steepened as I headed to south of the un-named lochan below Beinn na h-Uamha.
It was then a short steady climb to the summit of this Tump, marked by a cairn.
In sunny conditions with no clouds, just a pleasant cooling breeze, I descended fairly steeply north with some outcrops to avoid, to reach a gate in a deer fence at NM58084094. An ATV track beside some old fence posts and trees was followed before leaving it and climbing to the grassy summit of the Tump, Beinn Bhuidhe.
The return to the hatchery involved a descent north-east along the side of a deer fence and a gap in the trees, later crossing a stock fence and some rough vegetation. This led to the northern edge of the forest and a junction of fences, deer and stock. The crossing of the stock fence was a bit awkward as it appeared to have been repaired a few times. Farm tracks through rough grazing with cattle not far away took me back to Glen Forsa and the parking area beside the hatchery.
- Time taken – 3 hours 45 minutes.
- Distance – 9 kilometres.
- Ascent – 480 metres.