Heading off with my bike for another
tour of part of Scotland. For the first time this year the first
part of my trip is by car as I need to get to the ferry at Oban. The
drive turned out to be fairly straightforward and I went the Callander route to avoid any risk of hold ups on the Loch Lomond
road. The weather was dismal with a mix of rain and drizzle on the
way. The final 15 miles to Oban had a few delays with three lots of
long roadworks and traffic lights controlling the traffic.
The
ferry from Oban
I managed
to reach Oban just after 1pm and realised there was a good chance I
could catch the 2pm ferry to Craignure on the Isle of Mull. The only
long term free car park is Longsdale Road and luckily there were a
few free spaces. It seemed to take ages to fit the front wheel in my
bike and then fit the panniers but I managed to get to the Calmac
Ferry terminal shortly after 1:30pm. £5.55 bought me a single ticket
to Craignure and as before my bike went free. The weather continued
misty for the 45min crossing though the weather seemed a bit
brighter at the Mull end. My first objective was to get to Iona but
I knew I'd never make the last ferry at 6:30pm so decided to pedal
on and see how things went.
On the
Calmac ferry
I set off SE on the A849 and was
surprised how easy it was for a while. I knew there was a brisk
westerly and would soon have to do battle with it. As I rode around
the south eastern end of Mull I was riding straight into the fierce
wind. The threatening rain didn't happen, though it continued misty
with very low cloud. The motorists were a problem as many continued
to pass at speed and very close. Most of the road is single track
causing more concern. The climb of the pass wasn't too bad.
Much
photographed boat at
Pennyghael Stores
I
crossed over it 3 years ago but then from the other direction. After
the descent I reached the shore of the sea Loch Scridain and was now
riding mostly on the flat with occasional climbs. I stopped briefly
at the Pennyghael Stores by the adjacent Kinloch Hotel but didn't
intend buying anything. It was just gone 5pm and the lady there was
just locking up then left in a car that was parked outside. As I
rode on I saw a few good spots to camp but signs usually said they
were picnic areas and no overnight camping.
Approaching Iona
About 10 miles short of Fionnphort I could see an old stone wall down to my right and a
grassy area behind it wide enough to fit a tent on. I wheeled my
bike down and was able to pitch out of sight of the road. I then had
a view out across the Loch. The only problem was many black slugs
around. The tent was up by 18:15 then I made a leisurely tea. There
was heavy rain during the night but none in the morning.
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Whittle Wanderer
