BEN MORE (MULL)
Ben More. Eddie's ascent was up the ridge on the right. Photo Colin Matheson
4.8 miles 936 metres
Start Thursday 14.38
Ben More 15.29
Finish 15.51
Squares: blue - start & finish. Circles summits: green - this leg. Map Colin Matheson
Time: Estimated 1.30 Actual 1.13
I had been really looking forward to Ben More, and hoped to knock fifteen minutes off the ninety minute schedule. I ascended by the straightest line which is fairly rocky and involves very steep sections. The sunshine which had accompanied most of the drive over, had not penetrated the cloud on the hill, and cooling rain accompanied most of the climb.
At the top the weather was doing dramatic things. Even though it had been raining a few feet lower down, the sun was shining with blue sky above. The view to the south was just appearing and it was obvious that soon it would clear all round. However it had taken me 51 minutes to get up, so I knew I had to fly for my personal target time of 75 minutes, and to miss the ferry would be dreadful.
My descent route was down the north western ridge which is much more runnable, and I thoroughly enjoyed the descent which only backtracked the ascent for about 30 yards. I made it down with 2 minutes in hand, and Alwyn sped off back for the ferry, which left within four minutes of our arrival.
Ian and I pottered around Lochaline with a collecting tin enjoying the sunshine, before I drove the van leisurely back to the Corran ferry.
Peaks done 112 time taken 5 days 13 hours peaks to go 165
Those in the mothership had a good feed, and were entertained by a bus which took nearly half an hour to get off the ferry. The problem was that the bus tipped sideways at such an angle that the roof jammed on a mast. Eventually, the problem was simply solved by all the passengers moving to the uphill side of the bus.
The incident emphasised the luck we had been having with the non-running sections as had it happened a bit later the baton would have been caught in the delays.
We were all thoroughly elated with our progress. Everything north west of the Great Glen in 5 days 15 hours. Despite only having done 112 Munros, I think most of us felt it was downhill from here. The Cairngorms loomed fairly large as an area where we would be stretched, but there was a feeling of a rest period.
This might have been compounded by the fact that the legs on the current section had not been allocated to runners until that morning when we knew that we would be able to fit Mull in the ideal place. The long drives had also given everyone a longer rest, but far from enough to recover. Whatever the reasons, for the next day and a bit, we were to stop making large gains on our schedule, and I do not think that I was alone in finding our progress depressingly frustrating.
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