An(other) Arran Adventure

Arran is a great island. Really, that's all this blog needs to say. If you haven't been to Arran then you should go, if you've already been then you'll know how great it is.

Dave and I have been lucky enough to travel to Arran on four occasions. On each trip we've discovered new places, and made brilliant new memories.

We made our first visit in November 2011 - for some reason I didn't blog about it. It ignited our passion for this 'Scotland in miniature' island. 

We made our second visit in March 2013, a week before the crazy snow and power cuts on the island. We climbed Goat Fell in a four hour decent weather window. We loved it!

 

We made our third visit in July 2014, with Dave's family from Australia (including nephew Arran!). We swam in the sea and got sunburnt. Magic!

We made our fourth trip in November 2015, with my mum and dad, basing ourselves in a great house in Whiting Bay. Unfortunately the weather was far from ideal, with some very heavy rain over the week. However we made the best of it, and enjoyed some great wee walks. The waterfalls were particularly impressive, and we enjoyed the walk out to Glenashdale Falls.

 

Blue skies looking back to Whiting Bay and Holy Isle:

Dave and I arrived on Sunday but I think it was Tuesday before we saw Goat Fell! The fog and mist had been so heavy on the ferry over that we couldn't even see land, let alone the mountain!

We also made the walk out to Machrie standing stones, a rather soggy walk but the stones were impressive!

 

We even took Robbie the dog to the beach - he doesn't walk too far these days!

Dave and I explored the grounds of Brodick Castle and Estate, and discovered some stunning wee waterfalls along the Merkland burn.

I got to play with my new (ish) camera and figured out to take photos like this:

 

Brother Ross joined us on Arran on Wednesday, and on Friday we thought we had a weather window to give Goat Fell a go. The forecast for the morning was pretty rubbish but it was to get better around 2pm, then worsening again in the evening.

Well, that's not quite how it happened on Goat Fell. But we left the car at 11.20am and the weather was fairly decent as we began our trek. There was a pretty raw wind, but the views were good. I could see dark clouds coming our way for most of the ascent, but was just hoping we could stay ahead of them.

After two hours on the up, we made the summit. However the weather took a pretty dramatic turn for the worse - the wind picked up and it started to snow! The summit was just wild; we were up there for all of two minutes - if that!

Beginning the descent - about to fall off the face of the world?!

Although the snow was not heavy, it was fresh on the ground and pretty slippy. We had to take real care with where we were putting our feet. My neck was sore from constantly looking at the ground!

With the snow falling and us concentrating on our feet, we lost the path we'd come up on. It wasn't a huge deal - we just took a longer way down than intended. We knew where we were going - we just didn't go the most direct route!

However it was a humbling experience, and made me realise how easily you can lose your bearings.

Easy once we'd found the path again!

It took us just over four hours in the end. By the time we got back down to the woods at the beginning/end of the walk, the rain was quite heavy and we were fair drookit. But time for a timer shot before getting in the car!

Sadly on Saturday we had to leave. Of course we woke up to blue skies! When we got to Brodick for the ferry, Goat Fell was looking rather fabulous with its snowy white coat on. Dave, Ross and I could proudly say we'd been there when that snow fell!

Had to get a group (timer) shot before heading onto the ferry. What's Robbie looking at?

Another great trip to Arran had sadly come to an end. Although the weather hadn't been too wonderful, we enjoyed lots of fresh air, and lots of good food!

Thanks mum and dad for a fantastic trip! I'm sure your second trip to Arran will be soon, and so will our fifth trip!