Dun da Gaoithe/Sgurr Dearg then Reach for the Dead

On my second day in Mull, I hooked up with IainK and decided on a point-to-point over the Corbett and Graham. The literature and anecdotes suggested that the ground in between could be rough going and the 6m step, 50m North of the Graham summit was a bit tricky. As with most things in Scottish hill folklore, this was very much a pile of bollocks. The land rover track wends halfway up Dun da Gaoithe and allows for a quick romp to 560m mark. Unfortunately, we were above the cloud for quite a bit of the trek but nevertheless, we enjoyed our time on the hill. we left our backpacks at the trigpoint and began the walk out to the summit cairn, 1 km distant. It was a nice airy walk along the edge of the coire, which is a huge expanse. We returned quickly to grab the packs and began the descent off Dun da Gaoithe. By keeping to the West, we missed any potential difficulties but the route was obvious and helpfully, it was dry. I suppose under wet conditions, it could be tricky but so is the disabled ramp at my local Tesco. Our climb up on to Sgurr Dearg was interrupted by lunch and a chance to sit and enjoy the view down into Glen Forsa. Two suicidal sheep were spotted amongst the rockfall North of the summit of our next objective, quite happily munching on whatever grass could be taken.

Things steepened as we approached the mauvais pas but it was little more than an enjoyable scramble virtually up on the summit area and cairn.

As we moved away, the sun eventually came out and warmed our faces. We descended down into Glen Forsa with Beinn Talaidh becoming bigger by the minute. I had enjoyed my day and was happy to head for the car but Iain turned on the after-burners and went for Beinn Talaidh too. He arrived back at the car one hour after me, which afforded time to listen to the Boards of Canada's new album. Bliss. A very fine day where I could 'Reach for the Dead'.