A walk to the Lighthouse and beyond
Posted: Friday, 04 May 2007 |
Friday night, needed some fresh air after a day in front of the PC. Might as well make the most of this good spell since the forecast is for change this weekend. The path from the Calmac pier to the Rubha nan Gall lighthouse is a popular walk although a bit muddy in places. There is also some interesting geology further north so that was tonights objective.
It's not far to the lighthouse - 20 minutes at a brisk pace. the view over to Ardnamurchan is very nice. Pic below (note this was taken on the way back after the sun had set.)
There is a good path to the lighthouse but beyond that, its a bit rough going.A short distance beyond the lighthouse there is an outcrop of rock of Jurassic age. Most of Mull is Tertiary volcanic (ca 60million years ago) but occasionally the underlying rocks which are much older peep through. That's what we have here. Limestones and sandstone, very hard and very sharp - the sedimentary layers are very obvious:
.
Further on and looking back at the cliff:
The sun was beginning to set so but was just right for showing the cliff. Most of the rock in these cliffs is very crumbly basalt with dykes and sills running through it. If this stuff was solid, secure and reliable, then Mull would be a climbers paradise!
Moving on, I knew that there were basalt columns to be found near here. Not nearly as impressive as the Ulva ones, but you can see the form in the pic below.
The rocks are almost completely covered in lichen. From this point onwards, the going is quite rough and eventually you reach a point where the cliff goes straight into the sea. Time to head back! Besides, the light was going.
Time for a couple more pics. Primroses:
And finally, I managed to catch the sun going down behind Ardmore Point:
That's the Hebridean Princess at anchor there. Beautiful night for a luxury cruise!
There are actually some really nice dykes and sills near Ardmore Point- one in particular doesnt even look natural - it's like a man made wall - really impressive! Next time I take a trip there, I'll post it to this blog. That was actually the first field trip I did with the geology class - easy to get to and well worth a look.
That's all for today!
JW
It's not far to the lighthouse - 20 minutes at a brisk pace. the view over to Ardnamurchan is very nice. Pic below (note this was taken on the way back after the sun had set.)
There is a good path to the lighthouse but beyond that, its a bit rough going.A short distance beyond the lighthouse there is an outcrop of rock of Jurassic age. Most of Mull is Tertiary volcanic (ca 60million years ago) but occasionally the underlying rocks which are much older peep through. That's what we have here. Limestones and sandstone, very hard and very sharp - the sedimentary layers are very obvious:
.
Further on and looking back at the cliff:
The sun was beginning to set so but was just right for showing the cliff. Most of the rock in these cliffs is very crumbly basalt with dykes and sills running through it. If this stuff was solid, secure and reliable, then Mull would be a climbers paradise!
Moving on, I knew that there were basalt columns to be found near here. Not nearly as impressive as the Ulva ones, but you can see the form in the pic below.
The rocks are almost completely covered in lichen. From this point onwards, the going is quite rough and eventually you reach a point where the cliff goes straight into the sea. Time to head back! Besides, the light was going.
Time for a couple more pics. Primroses:
And finally, I managed to catch the sun going down behind Ardmore Point:
That's the Hebridean Princess at anchor there. Beautiful night for a luxury cruise!
There are actually some really nice dykes and sills near Ardmore Point- one in particular doesnt even look natural - it's like a man made wall - really impressive! Next time I take a trip there, I'll post it to this blog. That was actually the first field trip I did with the geology class - easy to get to and well worth a look.
That's all for today!
JW
Comments
as usual intersting blog and lovely pics!
carol from feeling gutted over french election results
Thank you.
mjc from NM,USA
Beautiful, beautiful! I'm telling my oldest daughter about your blog site. She will just love it as she is studying to be geologist at UNLV. Has always loved rocks!
macQ from NMtoo, USA
Great pics again, James. I particularly like the light in the first and last ones. And yet more basalt columns! These Celtic giants certainly got around.
Jill from EK
Exploring the hills and coasts of Mull and Iona and occasionally elsewhere, with a close eye on the geology
RSS Feed