Perfect day for going up the Paps of Jura, except it is forecast to be hot. We took the bikes and lots of drink. The bikes were great and got us to the start of the path with a short gentle ride. There we met 2 other groups: 2 men who were going to head up Evans’s path and an assorted group of 6 going up the main path to the loch, same as us. Meeting all these people suggested that the mountains might be popular, like Goat Fell. However it was not so, these were the only people we met on the the walk.
We made good time to the loch, passing the other party, then went up Ben an Oir. This turned out to be easier than expected, with a reasonable path and good surface underfoot. There was just enough breeze to stop us getting really hot. At the top we had our picnic, carefully looking for a spot with some breeze, which seemed strange as we are normally looking for shelter on a mountain-top. The mountains are unusual in that they are entirely made of the same stuff: quartzite, except for a number of dykes of basalt. We are more accustomed to mountains where we meet different rock types and shapes during the day.
Down much the same way to the col, where we met the 2 men we had seen at the bottom (so I think we chose a better route) and then headed up Ben Shiantaidh. On this slope we were again in full sunshine and it was very hot work. I had hoped to go down via the East side of the mountain, but this seemed very steep and led in an unhelpful direction, so we went down the scree towards the Loch. We now realised why several of the people we have spoken to had given up before the top – it must be a horrible way up, but was pretty good for going down. Careful study of the books of walks suggested that doing the route this way round would be easier. Most mountains we walk on have either been worn out or tidied up, and there’s no scree to play with. This was different – rattling down the slope ankle deep in chunks of quartzite, making a big racket and raising clouds of dust. At the end of the mobile scree we moved onto bigger chunks of quartzite, and moved with care as they were not fixed to the ground and I did not want to be wading in moving knee-deep rock! Eventually we reached the road and returned to the bikes. Great to be able to cycle back to the hotel for a refreshing drink – it really seemed a rest after all the walking.
We heard a cuckoo for ages on the mountain. This seemed unexpected as there were no trees or bushes – we did eventually see the cuckoo but took a while to recognise it.
Total trip 25.4 km, some by bike. See
track of walk and ride
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| Ben an Oir |
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| Ben an Oir, at the top |
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| Top of Ben an Oir. Sound of Islay behind |
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| Ben Shiantidh |
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| Near the top of Ben Shiantidh. All shattered quartzite |
