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The weather isnt so great now - more like October than July at times, but a couple of weeks ago, when I was working down at Lochbuie, I couldnt help but notice how impressive it all was - the rhododendrons beside Loch Uisg looked great - so did Ben Buie itself.

Simply had to go back at the weekend with the wee ones for an explore.

Some pics:


Loch Uisg and the rhododendrons


More rhodies


And more

Down at Laggan sands, the views over to Ben Buie were nice:


"Climb me, please"


Huge expanse of sand - kids loved it!

Now if only the weather would revert back to this....

Be back soon!
JW

In my "Tale of Two Lairigs" blog, I had a pic and a close-up of a snow bridge / tunnel, seen from below looking up at the hill.

Several years ago, on a visit to Ben Macdui, I came across an absolute cracker. It was the remains of melting snow, forming a bridge or tunnel over the "March Burn", a stream that runs from Macdui down to the Lairig Ghru. In fact in my other blog, the picture of the highest point of the pass is where this stream comes down.

Here am I, standing at the top of the tunnel looking into it (July 1994)



In the pic you can actually see literally "light at the end of the tunnel"

I reckon that the tunnel probably forms every year - it just so happened that when i was there, it was looking at its best. Never been back to that one, but I do recall seeing another in the Cairngorms, over the Feith Buidhe, above Loch Aan. I cant remember if I took a pic or not.

Bye for now

JW (MM)

PS: By the way, the original picture WAS black and white - Ilford FP4 film. That was in the days before digital when people still had darkrooms. Used to love doing that sort of stuff. Of course we now have the "digital darkroom", but it doesnt compare to the thrill of seeing the image appearing in the developer, under a red light. Happy days!

I was working in Iona the other day and after returning to Fionnphort, I was aware that the tide was actually very low. It was an ideal opportunity to go back to the leaf bed location at Ardtun and to check out the shore there - I had been meaning to do this for a while - the coast there is fascinating with the columnar basalt. And it is relatively easy to get to. With all the dry weather, the ground was quite firm and not too boggy.

I had been there with the students a few months ago - the location is actually quite a dangerous place - very steep, lots of slippy rocks and an awful lot of loose rock lying around. So take care if you go there!

The gully where the fossil leaves are found is called Slochd an Uruisg - the "pit of the goblin" Uruisgean (the plural) are part of Celtic folklore - there is a location in the Trossachs near Loch Katrine called "Coire nan Uruisgean" the corrie of the goblins". It gets mentioned in Scott's poem "The Lady of the Lake" eg

"For Douglas, to his promise true,
That morning from the isle withdrew,
And in a deep sequestered dell
Had sought a low and lonely cell.
By many a bard in Celtic tongue
Has Coir-nan-Uriskin been sung
A softer name the Saxons gave,
And called the grot the Goblin Cave."

See, not just hard rock, hard rocks and stuff like that - you also get a bit of culture thrown in...

Anyway, I have blogged this trip before - you can find it in last years entries. It is here: www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/islandblogging/blogs/000017/archive/2007/04.shtml


So here are some pics:


This is the sea stack at the foot of the gully. Looks like a big fist, rising out the sea (So does the cover art of the wonderful Rainbow album "Rising" but we all know what happens when rock music gets mentioned around these parts...)


Seen from the east, on the rocky shore, it looks very different. This part of the shore is only really accesible at low tide, hence this particular trip


This is from a bit further on - the basalt columns here forma sort of ledge or pavement - very straightforward to walk on, but you wouldnt want to fall in....


A close up of the columnar basalt terrace - I just love this stuff...


There is rather a neat cave here


Note the pink colour. Wild Freckle (a few weeks ago) had a pic on her blog of a similar thing in Staffa. I thought it might be a red bole or something like that, but having seen this close up, it appears to be organic - something pink that likes to grow in caves - can any botanist help with this one? The rocks in the cave are covered in it, but not outside. Sorry WF, need help with this one!


Looking over to Ardmeanach - always a satisfying view.

After exploring east of the stack, I decided to have a look at the west side. So whats the west side story here then?


Looking back towards the foot of the gully - the stack is on the left, there is a cleft in the cliff and its all quite dramatic


The stack looks different again from this angle. There is also a split right through it - maybe a small fault - you can see how it is eroded out to form a long thin window.


Final pic of the stack, seen from further up the cliff.

So that was that - just a short wee trip but one of the most fascinating corners of Mull. Be back soon!

JW (MM)