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Munro Compleation 12 - 10 July 2004

An easy trudge

"Which ferry will we take ?" Ben More on Mull must be the most expensive munro. If I'm on my own I'll take the bike on the Oban-Craignure ferry, then cycle the hour or so to the foot of Ben More. That's only about £15 return. If there's a few of you, then plans have to change. We found the cheapest option was to drive to Corran, take the ferry to Ardgour then drive to the ferry at Lochaline which lands on Mull at Fishinish.

We arrived at the foot of Ben More on Loch na Keal. Weather was fine, but light cloud clung to our summit - hopefully it would shift by the time we reached it.

The track that leaves the roadside turns towards a house, but from thereon a well trodden path climbs gently over grassy ground to reach scree further up. We reached this scree and into mist. A bit of coaxing was required to ensure all of us got to kick the summit cairn.

Still in cloud, the summit was reached in damp conditions, but not damp spirits. The photo you see here conveys the excitement, but is different to the photo in the SMC's List of Munroists - their webmaster is a bit of a wiz with Photoshop ! According to the SMC, there were more wet Munro Compleations this year compared to any previous - down to global warming perhaps ?

To round the day off, we enjoyed a little tourist trip to Balamory, oops sorry Tobermory, picking up some souveniers for Michelle's son. The ferry from the town returned us to the mainland at Ardnamuchan. After enjoying a gentle stroll to the Point of Ardnamuchan, we realised that the Corran ferry might leave without us. A manic journey in a campervan along single track roads began. Our small campervan, "Freda" has a 2.5l turbo engine, so can shift if provoked. We made it with plenty of time to enjoy a drink and some crisps from the Corran Inn bar.

Time taken : 4hr
Ascent : 3,170ft
Distance : 6m
compleation 12 - ben more on mull