West Coast walks (3)

From http://bvhill-walkers.blogspot.com/

Sunday morning and there was barely a ripple on the water - it boded well.

We took a short drive down to Armadale to catch the big ferry over to the mainland port of Mallaig and, from there, we drove a couple of miles south to the Sands of Morar, where Gordon let the dogs out for a spot of exercise before we all got on the small, passenger only ferry across to the island of Eigg and it's very distinctive volcanic rock formation.

Ian tried to make a friend on the crossing, whilst John had a munch and Colin looked for land:

Ken and Gordon looked after the dogs:

It was a one hour crossing on a millpond and soon the island beckoned:

It looks an almost impossible climb from here - and even tougher from here:

Looks are deceiving, however - there is a way up and round the back - albeit with a bit of scrambling:

However, I'm getting ahead of myself. First of all, the team photo at the start of the walk. By this time, it was virtually a cloudless sky, with very little wind - at least at sea level:

On such a clear day, the views were spectacular. I took one panoramic shot on the way up:

This shot is so wide it looks like you can see the curvature of the earth - but it's an illusion.

Time was of the essence and it always takes me a lot longer than the rest to get up the hills, so when we all reached  a plateau about half an hour from the summit, I told everyone else just to go on and make sure they made it to the top. I had a plan, which was that I would keep on climbing until 2pm and then I would turn around and go back down, no matter where I was. The ferry back left at 4 pm and there was no way any of us was missing this.

I plodded on and did eventually make it to the top - with just 5 minutes to spare. Just enough time for a quick celebration dram and a photo and then turn around and head back down - I didn't even sit down at the top!:

In the end, the descent was swift and we had plenty of time for tea and scones at the cafe at the terminal before boarding the ferry. The return crossing wasn't exactly on the millpond we had come over on - the small boat rolled to and fro and then a short squall rolled in and we all headed from the open seats at the rear to the cover in the midst of the boat.

When we landed at Arisaig, we still had an hour's drive to our hotel in Fort William. This took us past Glenfinnan, where CK and I stopped to take some photos. The views of the viaduct were a bit distant and disappointing from ground level here, but the monument was clear enough:

We checked in to the Distillery Guest House, showered, changed and jumped in a 6-seater taxi to the town centre for a swift pint - two for some - at the Grog and Gruel, before taking the short walk down to Ken's favourite restaurant, the Crannog (http://www.crannog.net/restaurant.asp), to celebrate his birthday - and, yes, we did eventually sing Happy Birthday when he was presented with a cake:

So that was about it. We had originally planned to do something on Monday morning before returning home - some wanted to do a short walk, others fancied going on the gondola up Ben Nevis, but, in the end, the weather defeated us. It was wet and visibility was poor, so it was a late-ish breakfast then we hit the road.

One final pit stop was at one of Ken's favourite coffee shops, the Mountain in Aviemore. Great scones, cakes and muffins - even if Colin and I had to queue for half an hour on the stairs, waiting for a table - and the others to arrive. Ken really is an expert when it comes to coffee shops.

I really enjoyed it and I hope I didn't put the others off too much as I trailed in their wake - but it was my last chance before I get my new knee, which is planned for autumn/early winter, and I couldn't resist having one last go. Thanks to all for putting up with me - and especially to Ken for organising such an interesting schedule.