Exploring Mull (trip)
Exploring Mull
- Glasgow Airport, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
- Active & Adventure
| from £785* per person | 6 Days | May |
| Comfort accommodations | Exertion level: 3 | |
| Operator: About Argyll Walking Holidays in Scotland | 12 people max | |
The island is divided into north and south by a narrow waist of land at Salen. The southern half has a core of dramatic hill country culminating in 3169 feet (966 metres) high Ben More. To the west the lower peninsula of the Ross of Mull runs out almost to touch St. Columba's holy island of Iona. Northern Mull holds the island's tiny 'capital' of Tobermory (= Mary's Well). The scenery is a stepped landscape of lava flows from eruptions of around 50 million years ago. The cliffed edges of these flows give numerous waterfalls, some falling straight to the sea out on which, to the west, lie the lava islands of Staffa, Treshnish and Ulva.
History
Mull has a population of about 3,000 in round figures, but in the nineteenth century it once stood at 10,000. Clearly, you might think, the island has seen considerable change and you would be right. From very long ago, a few Stone age and more Bronze age remains survive, including a stone circle. From the turbulent Iron age there are fortified duns and brochs (stone towers) while still later times give us the medieval castles that paid tribute to the Macdonald Lords of the Isles and afterwards to the MacLeans and the Campbells. The nineteenth century saw major changes to both people and landscape, with the story of the clearances still to be seen today in the many ruined townships. While Exploring Mull we'll see much of this history in its context.
Wildlife
We'll also see a wealth of wildlife. Herds of red deer abound in the hills, which they share with mountain hare. Common and grey seals can be seen frequently in the coastal waters, as well as dolphins and basking sharks. Otters are harder to see in Britain, but Mull is one of the best places, whether on its quiet shores or by lonely hill lochs. The south coast has feral goats, sometimes detectable by their smell! Sea birds are a feature, of course: puffins, guillemots and razorbills, cormorants, fulmars and many others. Inland lochans can hold red-throated divers, while, in summer, the hill ridges and moors have golden plover, curlew and skylark. If you are lucky you might see a golden eagle or the even bigger sea eagle - neither is certain, but Mull is one of the likeliest parts of Scotland in which to see both of these magnificent birds. In one unforgettable moment, a group saw a golden eagle and a sea eagle fight in the air right above them.
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Locations visited/nearby
Scotland, Europe
Itinerary
Saturday: Glasgow - Oban - TobermoryMeeting in Glasgow, travel to Oban and ferry to Mull.
Sunday: Treshnish
A northwest Mull headland, opposite the Treshnish Isles. Treshnish offers abandoned townships, high cliffs and waterfalls and a quiet shore below a raised beach where with luck otters may be seen by the water and eagles above the crags. Amongst several caves is one once used as the site of an illicit still. Everywhere there are stunning views to sea, islands and mountains, including Mull’s highest peak, Ben More. Our walk rejoins the road at the recently restored building that once housed the local school. Barefooted, the nineteenth century children would have walked by the same path from the houses, whose ruins you have just seen, perhaps carrying a peat to help heat their classroom.
8 miles/13km and 750 ft/230m ascent.
Monday: Isle of Ulva
An island close to Mull's western shore, for centuries the traditional home of the McQuarries. Mature mixed woodland and parkland around the big house near the ferry give way to the wilder west end of the island. The south shore leads to the McQuarries' burial ground and a tangle of little islands and bays lined with basalt columns.
The grandparents of the explorer and missionary David Livingstone once lived on Ulva and our walk will take us up to Livingstone’s Cave and Croft. Here, archaeologists found flint artefacts and fragments of human bone which can be dated back as far as 5650 BC.
Up to 11 miles/18 km and up to 1000ft/300m ascent.
Tuesday: Loch Buie
We move to the Ross of Mull for the rest of our holiday. On the way south we visit Lochbuie. Lochbuie (the tiny community on Loch Buie) is at the very end of a narrow winding road and is one of the most stunning locations on Mull. Our hike explores the head of the loch, taking in a tiny church, a grand house, a medieval castle, a sandy beach, a mausoleum and a prehistoric stone circle - all backed by beautiful scenery.
5 miles, little ascent.
Wednesday: Carsaig
West of Carsaig we will explore the great cliffs that guard this side of the island. Since they’re fringed with a raised beach platform, we can walk below them in some places and enjoy the wide views from their tops in others. Red deer and feral goats share the screes below the cliffs and the wide grassy spaces above them. Away to the south and east are the hills of Jura and mainland Argyll.
9-11 miles/14-18km and 1000-1500ft/300-460m ascent
Thursday: Isle of Staffa and Iona
We will take a boat to Staffa. This is a beautiful, uninhabited island is best known for its magnificent basalt columns. Their effect is most overwhelming at An Uamh Binn (musical Cave) or, as it is more commonly known Fingal’s Cave, which has enthralled and inspired travellers for hundreds of years.
Between May and the end of July Staffa is home of hundreds of seabirds, including puffins.
From Staffa, we will sail to Iona. Many people make the pilgrimage to Columba's Isle. We will explore the abbey and the nearby buildings with Celtic and Viking remains, and then, we will walk to the quieter south and west of the island where we will explore pebble beaches and beaches with pure white sand.
We will go to the Carn Cuil ri Eirinn bay. This place (the Gaelic means 'Cairn of the back to Ireland') is said to mark the spot where, above his landing place (now known as St. Columba's Bay), the saint decided that he had journeyed far enough from Ireland to put his chequered past behind him and begin a new life. On our way back we'll visit the abandoned marble quarry, with its beautiful white and green stone.
Up to 7 miles/11km with little ascent
Friday: Ben More
The highest hill on any Scottish island other than Skye (the name means simply big mountain), Ben More's central position as much as its height makes it worth climbing if the day is clear. The simplest approach is from Loch na Keal, to the north, with two or three options from that direction.
7 miles/11km, 3169ft/966m ascent.
If the weather is against us, there are plenty of lower level options that we haven't seen. For example the tidal isle of Erraid off the south western tip of the Ross of Mull. It can be reached on foot at low tide. For those who have read 'Kidnapped' by Robert Louis Stevenson, Erraid is the island where the shipwrecked David Balfour spent four wet and miserable days living off shelfish, because he did not realise that the island was tidal. From the highest point there are very good views back to Mull, Iona and on a clear day to Jura, Scarba and the mainland.
Mull is a big, beautiful and varied island. You should be warned that you may want to come back!
Saturday: Isle of Mull - Oban - Glasgow
Depart early in the morning for the ferry to Oban and the journey back to Glasgow.
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