Ganavan Bay & Ferry to Colonsay

We woke to heavy rain so having remained in the hostel for as long as we could we headed to Cruachan power station visitor centre for a look around the exhibition and some lunch. By the time we had returned to Oban and bought some food the weather started to improve. Therefore we opted for a short stroll on the beach at Ganavan Bay and the coast to the north. Again there were excellent views across towards Mull and Lismore.

Later that afternoon we took our first CalMac ferry of the trip, to Colonsay. The weather was now sunny and there were excellent views of the many islands that we passed on route to Colonsay.

Seil & Easdale

Distance on Seil: 3km; Distance on Easdale: 2km; with Lynsey & Isabel

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As we had to leave our lodge near Oban this morning, we had a reasonably late start due to having to pack everything back into the car! We headed south to Seil and after a brief stop to admire the Clachan Bridge we drove to the southern tip of the Island at Cuan for our first walk of the day. We set off walking at 11:30am, with Isabel in the rucksack carrier, and managed to take a wrong turning and almost ended up in someone's garden (this of course is the problem with rights of way not being marked on OS maps of Scotland).

After seeking out local knowledge we were soon walking along the correct path north to meet the shoreline. The sun was out as we followed the shore northwards for 1.5km with excellent views of Mull and Easdale; we returned the same way and reached the car at 1:30pm.

We drove round to Ellenabeich and headed off for our second walk of the day; this time with the pushchair as there was a route on Easdale in our All-Terrain Pushchair Walks book. The ferryman kindly helped me lift the pushchair onto the small boat for the short crossing of Easdale Sound.

The walk was an anti-clockwise circuit of Easdale island past some of the interesting remains of its slate industry including many quarry pools. I took a brief detour to the highest point on the island to admire the views. Just as we were nearing the end of the walk it started to rain very heavily. As the ferry waiting room doorway was too narrow for our pushchair we went for tea in the island tearoom whilst the thunderstorm passed overhead. After 45 minutes or so, the storm had passed and the rain died down so we headed down to the jetty for the ferry back to Seil.

Glencruitten Woods

As Lynsey was away climbing the Dalmally horseshoe for the day, I again had Isabel to myself for the day. Once the rain had stopped and the sun had come out I went for a short stroll, with Isabel in the rucksack carrier, in Glencruitten Woods to an excellent viewpoint over Oban Bay and Mull.

Kerrera

Distance: 12km; with Lynsey & Isabel

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Today was the day that the weather broke and became more typical of previous trips to the west coast, i.e. overcast and rainy! We decided to go and explore the island of Kerrera, which had a route in our All-Terrain Pushchair walks book. The small ferry was designed to carry the occasional vehicle, so we had no trouble wheeling Isabel on in her pushchair.

We set off walking soon after 10:30am and it was drizzling intermittently. There were good views across the Sound of Kerrera as we followed the vehicle track around to the Kerrera Tea Garden. Luckily this also had an indoor room, so we were able to get out of the rain. By the time we had finished our good lunch the rain had pretty much stopped so we wandered down the grassy track towards Gylen Castle, which we admired from the pretty bay of Port a'Chaisteil.

After returning to the tea garden we continued on a less good vehicle track to the house at Ardmore. From here we headed north on a rough track, which required the front wheel to be locked and occasionally having to lift or wheelbarrow the pushchair over some of the more tricky obstacles. However the ride must have been comfortable as Isabel remained asleep throughout!

By the time we reached the vehicle track at Barnabuck, it was raining again and it continued to rain for the remainder of the walk. We followed the vehicle track eastwards back to the jetty to wait for the return ferry, which is when Isabel woke up. All in all it was a good walk with some good views despite the weather!

Cruachan Horseshoe

Distance: 14km; Ascent: 1770m; Solo

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It was now my turn to have a day out in the hills, so I opted for a round of the Cruachan Horseshoe given that it included my closest unclimbed munros (along with some munro tops and a corbett).  I set off from the road at around 10am and began the steep ascent up through the woods; it was already quite warm so the ascent was hard work!

Eventually I reached the track below the dam and soon started to ascend up onto the the south ridge of Meall Cuanail (Munro top), whose summit I reached at midday.  It was very windy here, but there were excellent views of Ben Cruachan and out to the west towards Mull, Morvern & Lismore.  I descended over rocky ground down to the bealach before ascending the south ridge of Ben Cruachan; the first 50m or so were up a scree path; this was then followed by areas of boulder fields.  I reached the summit of Ben Cruachan (Munro) at around 1pm and had lunch enjoying the excellent views north along Loch Etive towards the Glencoe hills and Ben Nevis.  There was barely any wind on the summit and in the other directions I could make out Jura, Rum and the Cairngorms.

I descended the east ridge, scrambling down a small gulley and continuing past an awkward slab to eventually reach the summit of Drochaid Ghlas (Munro top) soon after 2pm.  I continued heading east to climb up to the summit of my second munro of the day, Stob Diamh (Munro).  Again the windy was quite strong on the ascent, especially in the bealach, but it was quite calm on the summit itself.  The views from here were excellent, especially looking across toward Ben Lui and neighbouring hills.

I descened the south ridge and reascended to reach the summit of Stob Garbh (Munro top), with the sun still shining.  I continued south and descended to the bealach.  From here, Beinn a'Bhuiridh presented a uniformly steep unpleasant looking slope, which I slowly picked my way up.  Eventually, I reached the summit of Beinn a'Bhuiridh (Corbett) shortly before 4:30pm.  After briefly taking in the view, I hurried back down to the road to meet Lynsey & Isabel, where I arrived at 5:45pm after an excellent day in the hills.

Oban

Distance: 8.5km; Ascent: 200m; with Lynsey & Isabel

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Due to the car having developed a new feature, we were forced to spend the day in Oban whilst the problem was being investigated.  Therefore we decided to do the walk from Oban detailed in "All-Terrain Pushchair Walks: Argyll & Lochaber" for the afternoon.

We walked up past Polvinster Duck Pound, where we were promised that ducks were always present; however there were none to be seen today; nevertheless, it was a pleasant spot.  After passing through some woods, we reached McCaig's tower, which was based on the Coliseum in Rome but seemed slightly bizarre in Oban.  However the views of Oban, Loch Linnhe, Kerrera, Mull and Lismore were excellent.  We returned to the sea front and enjoyed a welcome ice cream :)

Sutherland's Grove

Distance: 4.5km; Ascent: 140m; with Isabel

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As Lynsey was out climbing Beinn Sgulaird today, I took Isabel out for a stroll in the backpack. We headed for Sutherland's Grove and set off walking soon after 10am on the Lochan Walk, which was variably described as 3 miles or 5 miles depending upon which sign you believed!

The path alongside the gorge was pleasant, but as it was so dry there was very little water so the waterfalls weren't particularly impressive. We reached the reservoir shortly before 11am, where there was a good view towards the nearby hills. On the descent through the forest there were good views of Loch Creran and we reached the car shortly before midday.