Ben Nevis
“Marriage is like a deck of cards,
In the beginning, all you need is two hearts and a diamond.
By the end, you wish you had a club and a spade.”
Don’t worry, we are still getting along; we just saw it on a plaque in a shop recently and thought it was funny. 🤭
Iona Abbey & Nunnery
After a stellar day Monday, Tuesday (Jun 27) delivered on its promise of rain and wind. Undeterred, we took the short ferry ride across the Sound of Iona to the Isle of Iona.
The plan was to at least visit Iona Abbey. That was until the warm and dry Martyr's Bay Café offered my lovely bride an irresistible respite from the wind-driven rain. Hot soup and tea in hand, Amanda bid me adieu, and I high-tailed it to the abbey. I sopped by way around the abbey for a bit until I saw the ferry returning, and then hurried back to the pier. We caught the next ferry back to the big island. Here are the photos I captured of the abbey during my short visit.
Iona Abbey is one of Scotland's most historic and sacred sites. Located on the Isle of Iona, just off the Isle of Mull, it was founded by St Columba and his Irish followers in AD 563.
As a celebrated focus for Christian pilgrimage, Iona retains its spiritual atmosphere and remains an enduring symbol of worship.
I had briefly prayerful moment, until I spotted the ferry through the window.
Farewell to Mull, Iona, & Staffa
As soon as I woke up on Wednesday, I called CalMac Ferries to see if we could get on an earlier ferry.
We had booked a late-afternoon ferry with the intention of visiting the picturesque fishing village of Tobermory at the north of the island.
Mull is a deceptively large island. Google Maps estimated a 1:40 drive from our B&B in Fionnphort to Tobermory, and then another 40 minutes back to the ferry terminal. And then, after the ferry arrived back in Oban, we still had another hour plus drive to get to our next place in Fort William. To top it all off, I planned to hike Ben Nevis on Thursday.
We were able to change to the 11:05 ferry.
Our second and final breakfast at Seaview Bed & Breakfast in Fionnophort, Isle of Mull; Iona is in the distance. The breakfast was very good both mornings, plus we had a chance to meet some people.
A quick shout out to our breakfast companion Jennifer Barrett who is the author of two books. We had fun chatting about her home country of Ireland.
After breakfast, it was back onto the single track road all the way to the Craignure Ferry Terminal.
Straight out of the movies, traffic was halted by some free-thing free-range Highland Coos. You can enjoy the scene too in this short clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6c_aCXtR-0
Driving onto our ferry, the aptly-named Isle of Mull.
Departing Craignure, with my finger partially over the lens, just like my grandma used to do. If only there were some people’s heads in the shot, I could have cut those off too! Love you grandma!
The map showing us almost back to Oban.
After landing we walked around Oban for a short while. I found this funny book at the Oban Waterstones:
We drove up to McCaig's Tower & Battery Hill for the view over Oban.
And the flowers.
Our Premier Inn hotel from Sunday night is the large white building on the left, with the ferry docked at the nearby Oban Ferry Terminal.
Looking slightly more to the right than the last photo, this is the view out the harbor entrance toward the Isle of Mull in the distance (center).
The Guest House
Our next stay was at Parade House, a building dating from the end of the Jacobite Rebellions.
The small metal stairway leads to our room in the center building. Take a quick tour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7rGMs5wWUA
Fort William is a major tourist center. We chose the city for two of those tourist destinations: the UK’s highest peak Ben Nevis and the Jacobite Steam Train—famous for its passage over the Glenfinnan Viaduct as seen in several Harry Potter films (more on that in our next post).
Ben Nevis
I was fortunate to get a relatively good weather day on Thursday (Jun 29). It was far from perfect, but Friday’s forecast was considerably worse.
After the hour-long drives to and from the trailheads for Helvellyn and Scafell Pike in the Lake District, I was rewarded with a brief 7-minute drive from our place in Fort William to the Ben Nevis trailhead.
Crossing the River Nevis all doe-eyed and oblivious of what lay ahead.
The rugged and wild Scottish landscape, punctuated by the ever-present ominous clouds.
Just follow the signs.
Ben Nevis is the highest of The Three Peaks (Snowdon in Wales and Scafell Pike in England being the other two). Despite being the lowest in elevation of the three, Scafell Pike has a reputation of being the most strenuous.
Sure Ben Nevis towers 1,204 feet above Scafell Pike, but the relatively smooth and gradual pathway, one that continued as such for more than a mile, had me envisioning how easy it was going to be to bag this final peak.
Yesterday's rain in the rearview mirror, the sun staking its claim on the day, a gentle path before me—a gorgeously backdrop on a perfect day!
At The Junction.
Crossing The Footbridge near Windy Corner, before turning up-canyon.
In the canyon, looking down on Windy Corner.
I thought this sheep looked hilarious, like Simba on top of Pride Rock.
Hmm, the clouds are blowing back in. Well, I am higher up the mountain now, so maybe that’s all it is. 🤔
At first I dismissed the rain as the near-precipitation you experience in a heavy fog, but it soon became clear that it was simply raining.
As the intensity increased, I stopped to put on my full rain gear and pop the rain cover over my backpack.
After a fairly intense 20 or so minutes of solid rain and very cold conditions, it blew over and we saw some clearing again. Thank goodness for quality gear when weather conditions deteriorate (except my hands were freezing Lloyd!).
The waterways visible in the distance are Loch Eil and Loch Linnhe near Fort William.
When the clouds parted, the views were spectacular.
The trail becomes less distinct over the final mile, so cairns have been built to guide hikers, especially when visibility is low, which was the case off and on again today.
The push to the summit saw sporadic clearing, so I was hopeful conditions might improve and allow me the famous peak views.
Following the Cains in the Mist over the volcanic rubble.
Nearing the summit, this deep crevasse drops a thousand feet or so into the glacial valley below.
At the Ben Nevis Bench Marker S1595 at 4,412 feet after:
3 hours, 26 minutes
5.48 miles
4,381 feet elevation gain
A unique feature of the summit is the Old Observatory, which was opened in 1883. It provided hourly meteorological data for almost 20 years, recording some of the UK's most useful information about mountain weather to date. It closed in 1904 and now lies in ruin, but can be used for shelter in emergencies.
As for the views, no such luck; the brief glimpses through the clouds turned into full envelopment.
I got my picture at the summit marker and then found a nice flat rock to sit down and eat…and then it began to rain again. 😩 Between the wind and rain it was quite cold and miserable, so I finished a little food and then headed down for better weather.
The Old Observatory turned emergency shelter.
About a third of the way down and conditions improved considerably.
Below is Lochan Meall an t-Suidhe, better known as the halfway loch.
As you can see, the clouds were really on the move all day. The trail down is visible on the left.
Nice panorama.
A random tributary cascading down the mountain.
Where I’m headed.
Looking back
A lovely Scottish Thistle.
Nearly down, taking a look back over my shoulder toward the trail. Wow! What a trek, full of excitement and struggle and epic views. Ben Nevis proved to be very accessible, but still quite the challenge.
Stats for the hike down:
3 hours, 6 minutes (my poor knees slowed me down)
5.24 miles (don’t know where 0.24 mile went)
Totals:
6 hours, 32 minutes
10.72 miles
The Three Peaks Challenge—ignoring the “in-24-hours” thing:
