Up early
Posted: Friday, 02 May 2008 |
Hi, how's it going? Been getting up and about early these days in an effort to get all fit and healthy - too much work not enough hills - makes mountainman a fat slob.... anyway, one of my favourite walks early in the morning is 'S Airde Beinn, the hill that rises above the Mishnish Lochs. Great views from here although it is pretty muddy underfoot in places.
SAB as you know from previous blog entries is a volcanic plug. The views on a good day are quite extensive so enough of the nonsense, here are a few pics:
Old ruined house where the path starts
SAB from the south.
Looking down on Lochan S Airde Beinn
Like a mirror, so it was...
Anther view, further round
Mist over Calve Island and the Sound of Mull
And another view of the same
This whin bush looked seriously yellow in the early morning sunlight...
So that was the early morning activity. For any of my students who are reading, I am hoping to have a geology trip to Iona on Monday, that's this Monday coming. Also, as part of Wild Isles Week, I am doing two talks at the Isle of Mull Hotel - on the 7th and the 14th. Both of these are introductory talks to the geology of Mull and Iona
Be back soon!
MM
SAB as you know from previous blog entries is a volcanic plug. The views on a good day are quite extensive so enough of the nonsense, here are a few pics:
Old ruined house where the path starts
SAB from the south.
Looking down on Lochan S Airde Beinn
Like a mirror, so it was...
Anther view, further round
Mist over Calve Island and the Sound of Mull
And another view of the same
This whin bush looked seriously yellow in the early morning sunlight...
So that was the early morning activity. For any of my students who are reading, I am hoping to have a geology trip to Iona on Monday, that's this Monday coming. Also, as part of Wild Isles Week, I am doing two talks at the Isle of Mull Hotel - on the 7th and the 14th. Both of these are introductory talks to the geology of Mull and Iona
Be back soon!
MM
2 Days in Iona
Posted: Tuesday, 06 May 2008 |
Monday and Tuesday this week saw me on a "two hat trip" . There was a geology class field trip lined up for the Monday, and Tuesday was to be spent fixing PCs and stuff at the Abbey. So a packed programme as the Two Ronnies used to say.
Weather was very hot, very bright and almost soporific. Sort of day where "chilling" is the theme. Except it was so hot that chilling is totally the wrong word....
The itinerary was simple. From the pier, down the east side, look at the rocks at Traigh na Siolag, over the Machair, down to the Spouting Cave area on the west side, zoom over to Loch Staoneag, down to Columba's Bay, nip in to Port Gortain Iar, head up to the Marble Quarry and then back to the ferry via the "crossroads". Actually, it made for a very enjoyable 6 hours. Here are some pics:
Happy students at Traigh na Siolag
A very fine erratic boulder of Ross of Mull granite sits on the shore. Vertically bedded Torridonian sediments behind
The Machair, looking north west
Looking down to Columba's Bay
Visitors in the Marble Quarry
As we got back to the pier, we saw the Waverley in the Sound of Iona. Nice day for a sail. Or should that be a paddle?!
In the evening I took a trip up Dun I, the highest point in Iona. Its not very high, but the view from the top is great on a clear day. You get an awful lot of view for very little effort! Here are some more pics:
Looking north from Dun I summit
View towards Jura
Ross of Mull and over to Ardmeanach
Bac Mor, the Dutchmans Cap
And this is how a sunset should look! Tiree just visible.
Be back soon!
MM
Weather was very hot, very bright and almost soporific. Sort of day where "chilling" is the theme. Except it was so hot that chilling is totally the wrong word....
The itinerary was simple. From the pier, down the east side, look at the rocks at Traigh na Siolag, over the Machair, down to the Spouting Cave area on the west side, zoom over to Loch Staoneag, down to Columba's Bay, nip in to Port Gortain Iar, head up to the Marble Quarry and then back to the ferry via the "crossroads". Actually, it made for a very enjoyable 6 hours. Here are some pics:
Happy students at Traigh na Siolag
A very fine erratic boulder of Ross of Mull granite sits on the shore. Vertically bedded Torridonian sediments behind
The Machair, looking north west
Looking down to Columba's Bay
Visitors in the Marble Quarry
As we got back to the pier, we saw the Waverley in the Sound of Iona. Nice day for a sail. Or should that be a paddle?!
In the evening I took a trip up Dun I, the highest point in Iona. Its not very high, but the view from the top is great on a clear day. You get an awful lot of view for very little effort! Here are some more pics:
Looking north from Dun I summit
View towards Jura
Ross of Mull and over to Ardmeanach
Bac Mor, the Dutchmans Cap
And this is how a sunset should look! Tiree just visible.
Be back soon!
MM
A walk up Glen Cannel
Posted: Thursday, 22 May 2008 |
After being away for a few days in Knoydart, it was time to finish off the break with a couple of Mull walks. Some of you may remember that I had a mad idea to walk the entire length of the famous Loch Ba Ring Dyke last year.
I didnt really feel like doing the whole thing but I decided to take a look at the section furthest from the road -up in Glen Cannel and round the slopes of Beinn Chaisgidle
The weather was dry and windy but not too hot. This dry spell seems to have run for quite some time now - as a consequence some of the streams are very low as you will see in the pics
The geology was not desperately exciting - the walk was great but the ring dyke is not nearly as impressive as it is above Loch Ba! In fact it appears as little more than a slight change in the rock type in a few streams where it is visible. However it was good to be able to pick it up -sometimes even when you KNOW where a geological feature is, it can be hard to find.
Anyway, here are some pics of the day:
A seriously low River Clachaig
The ruin of Gorteinbuidhe in Glen Cannel
Cruachan Dearg seen from Gorteinbuidhe - there is a sense fo being far from the sea here, all around are high hills
Another view of Cruachan Dearg
The view over to Beinn Talaidh - even from this angle, you can see the graceful sweep of its slopes. Note, the lighting was a bit "flat" on this trip. Not as clear as it has been but still nice and dry!
Beinn na Dutharach, seen from a rather dry stream. B na D has a lot of gabbro - thats what gives it the knobbly rocky appearance near the summit. Its also the hill that I mentioned in a previous blog that has a lochan called Lochan nam Ban Uaine - lochan of the green women.
A rather minimalist bridge not far from Gorteinbuidhe....
From this point it was simply a case of retracing my steps back to the car at Knock. A really nice walk, made a lot easier by the dry conditions.
Be back soon!
JW(MM)
I didnt really feel like doing the whole thing but I decided to take a look at the section furthest from the road -up in Glen Cannel and round the slopes of Beinn Chaisgidle
The weather was dry and windy but not too hot. This dry spell seems to have run for quite some time now - as a consequence some of the streams are very low as you will see in the pics
The geology was not desperately exciting - the walk was great but the ring dyke is not nearly as impressive as it is above Loch Ba! In fact it appears as little more than a slight change in the rock type in a few streams where it is visible. However it was good to be able to pick it up -sometimes even when you KNOW where a geological feature is, it can be hard to find.
Anyway, here are some pics of the day:
A seriously low River Clachaig
The ruin of Gorteinbuidhe in Glen Cannel
Cruachan Dearg seen from Gorteinbuidhe - there is a sense fo being far from the sea here, all around are high hills
Another view of Cruachan Dearg
The view over to Beinn Talaidh - even from this angle, you can see the graceful sweep of its slopes. Note, the lighting was a bit "flat" on this trip. Not as clear as it has been but still nice and dry!
Beinn na Dutharach, seen from a rather dry stream. B na D has a lot of gabbro - thats what gives it the knobbly rocky appearance near the summit. Its also the hill that I mentioned in a previous blog that has a lochan called Lochan nam Ban Uaine - lochan of the green women.
A rather minimalist bridge not far from Gorteinbuidhe....
From this point it was simply a case of retracing my steps back to the car at Knock. A really nice walk, made a lot easier by the dry conditions.
Be back soon!
JW(MM)
Knoydart Mica Mines
Posted: Monday, 26 May 2008 |
This is a bit out of sequence, simply because I had so many photos to go through and edit. I am also doing a contribution to another part of the 大象传媒 Scotland Outdoors web site, which I am still working on. The trip in this blog was last weekend (17th - 18th May)
The mineral mica was mined in Knoydart during WW2, as the normal supplies from India were disrupted. The mine is in one of the remotest places in the UK. In fact some contributers to a mines forum reckon it is possibly THE most remote mine in the UK
I had been determined to see it for a while and I also fancied a trip to Knoydart - a great remote area. Anyway, you can read more about the trip, its preparation and so on at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/outdoors/features/adventure_knoydart/
The article isnt actually finished yet, but here are some of the pics to go with it:
View to the hills from near the campsite at the shore. I was actually staying in the bunkhouse nearby
Monument in Glen Meadail
Folding in the rocks in Glen Meadail. On the Saturday that I arrives, I took a trip up this glen just to see the scenery. Impressive place!
More folding in the rocks.
Hills to the north of Gleann Meadail. Knoydart is great hill walking country -ruggged, steep, high, midgy.....
Two sets of antlers just lying casually beside the road.
On Sunday, I got up early and set off for the mines. The distance isnt that far in terms of "crows flying" but the ground is steep and rugged and progress tends to be slow.
This is Loch Braomasaig, on the way to the mines
Yet more excellent folding in the rocks near the mine
The mines are on the spur to the right above the lochan. Maybe hard to see in the pic, but there is a lot of debris from the workings on the hillside and it is easy to see
Me beside one of the workings. Note: hideous self conscious expression, always happens when you use a self timer. Note also: mines are totally unimpressive - little more than wee quarries in the hillside. No great dark, dank, spider infested tunnels deep into the bowels of the earth. All quite low key.
Now this is the stuff I was after - a really coarse granite called pegmatite, full of huge crystals of quartz and feldspar and of course, great chunks of mica. Some of them are up to 6 inches across. Very impressive
Some of the mica samples I took back with me - the hammer is about one foot in length, so you can get an impression of the sizes of these mica "books" as they get known. Best mica samples I have ever found in the Scottish hills. And still loads of the stuff lying around. No surprise really as it is is a seriously remote location
A little further down the hill, there is this ruin containing what I believe is a compressor, slowly rusting away
How they got it up there....
I love the name on the front of it "Lead Wool Co Ltd, Snodland, England"
This rather sorry looking wheelbarrow lay nearby
The view to Eigg and Rum from near the mine. And then it was the weary trek back to base again!
The view over to Rum was nice:
Next day I got the boat back to Mallaig:
And its farewell to Knoydart:
However, I wasnt quite finished. Later that day, I went from Morar over to the shore of Loch Nevis for a look at where I had been , from the south.
This is the view looking up Loch Nevis, probably the Scottish loch that is most "fjord like"
Now as y'all know, I hate hyperbole, but that hill in the distance, the pointy one is called Sgurr na Ciche. And it is simply the wost wonderful, amazing, fantastic hill on the west coast.
And this pic shows the mine location, across Loch Nevis. The white cross is the approximate site.
A great walk and definitely one I would like to do again
Bye for now!
MM
The mineral mica was mined in Knoydart during WW2, as the normal supplies from India were disrupted. The mine is in one of the remotest places in the UK. In fact some contributers to a mines forum reckon it is possibly THE most remote mine in the UK
I had been determined to see it for a while and I also fancied a trip to Knoydart - a great remote area. Anyway, you can read more about the trip, its preparation and so on at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/outdoors/features/adventure_knoydart/
The article isnt actually finished yet, but here are some of the pics to go with it:
View to the hills from near the campsite at the shore. I was actually staying in the bunkhouse nearby
Monument in Glen Meadail
Folding in the rocks in Glen Meadail. On the Saturday that I arrives, I took a trip up this glen just to see the scenery. Impressive place!
More folding in the rocks.
Hills to the north of Gleann Meadail. Knoydart is great hill walking country -ruggged, steep, high, midgy.....
Two sets of antlers just lying casually beside the road.
On Sunday, I got up early and set off for the mines. The distance isnt that far in terms of "crows flying" but the ground is steep and rugged and progress tends to be slow.
This is Loch Braomasaig, on the way to the mines
Yet more excellent folding in the rocks near the mine
The mines are on the spur to the right above the lochan. Maybe hard to see in the pic, but there is a lot of debris from the workings on the hillside and it is easy to see
Me beside one of the workings. Note: hideous self conscious expression, always happens when you use a self timer. Note also: mines are totally unimpressive - little more than wee quarries in the hillside. No great dark, dank, spider infested tunnels deep into the bowels of the earth. All quite low key.
Now this is the stuff I was after - a really coarse granite called pegmatite, full of huge crystals of quartz and feldspar and of course, great chunks of mica. Some of them are up to 6 inches across. Very impressive
Some of the mica samples I took back with me - the hammer is about one foot in length, so you can get an impression of the sizes of these mica "books" as they get known. Best mica samples I have ever found in the Scottish hills. And still loads of the stuff lying around. No surprise really as it is is a seriously remote location
A little further down the hill, there is this ruin containing what I believe is a compressor, slowly rusting away
How they got it up there....
I love the name on the front of it "Lead Wool Co Ltd, Snodland, England"
This rather sorry looking wheelbarrow lay nearby
The view to Eigg and Rum from near the mine. And then it was the weary trek back to base again!
The view over to Rum was nice:
Next day I got the boat back to Mallaig:
And its farewell to Knoydart:
However, I wasnt quite finished. Later that day, I went from Morar over to the shore of Loch Nevis for a look at where I had been , from the south.
This is the view looking up Loch Nevis, probably the Scottish loch that is most "fjord like"
Now as y'all know, I hate hyperbole, but that hill in the distance, the pointy one is called Sgurr na Ciche. And it is simply the wost wonderful, amazing, fantastic hill on the west coast.
And this pic shows the mine location, across Loch Nevis. The white cross is the approximate site.
A great walk and definitely one I would like to do again
Bye for now!
MM
Expensive Diesel
Posted: Tuesday, 27 May 2008 |
Just found this gem of a comparison chart on the 大象传媒s own news web pages, regarding the cost of fuel:
Fascinating eh? Scandalous as well. And how much tax of that goes straight to Westminster?
And Mull has got possibly the worst roads in the whole West Coast
Ripped off ragged so we are.
Remember that next time an election comes round...
Thig ar la!
MM
PS: No geology here, I hear you say, well, actually there is a link. I used to work on the rigs in the N Sea, working as a geologist and well surveyor. The stuff as it comes up is actually, as one driller once described it to me "like dirty petrol". Noit thick and black, but actually quite fine. Probably doesnt take much refining to turn it into fuel suitable for vehicles.
Fascinating eh? Scandalous as well. And how much tax of that goes straight to Westminster?
And Mull has got possibly the worst roads in the whole West Coast
Ripped off ragged so we are.
Remember that next time an election comes round...
Thig ar la!
MM
PS: No geology here, I hear you say, well, actually there is a link. I used to work on the rigs in the N Sea, working as a geologist and well surveyor. The stuff as it comes up is actually, as one driller once described it to me "like dirty petrol". Noit thick and black, but actually quite fine. Probably doesnt take much refining to turn it into fuel suitable for vehicles.
Exploring the hills and coasts of Mull and Iona and occasionally elsewhere, with a close eye on the geology
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