Evening Walk up 'S Airde Beinn
'S Airde Beinn is one of my favourite walks in North Mull. It is not far from Tobermory where I live and it gives great view for not a huge amount of effort. Hadnt been up for a while and tonight seemed like a good opportunity now that the clocks have shifted to BST
Contrary to what you might read in a lot of places, SAB is NOT a volcano and the hollow in the middle is NOT a crater. It is a volcanic plug - the hollow is probably due to glacial erosion. SAB is an example of a feeder conduit for higher level lava flows which have since been eroded away. There is another similar plug called Creag a' Chrochair on the road to Glengorm, as well as two less obvious ones on the shores of Loch Frisa. All four lie on the same approximate line
There is an excellent description of it in the GCR report for the site:
GCR S Airde Beinn (click on the link)
Here are some pictures:
Approaching from the south
The lochan "Lochan 'S Airde Beinn"
Beinn Hiant in the distance
Looking north towards Rum, Eigg and Skye
The rock is covered in pock marks and grooves as it
weathers
Close up of the weathering
The lochan, looking towards Ben More covered in snow
Cairn at the north end - looking over to Ardnamurchan
Near the outflow - Ben More again
Ben More rises above the north Mull hills - Mishnish Lochs below
At the outflow - sun beginning to set
The view from the top of the hill is tremendous - so much to see - much of the British Palaeogene Igneous Province can be seen to the north as well as Tiree and Coll and some of the Western Isles.
Here is a video taken from the summit: (turn the volume down - it's a bit noisy!)
One of the things I have been doing is trying to compile a list of references for my "Top 20" Geological Sites in Mull and Iona. The 'S Airde Beinn references are as follows:
Contrary to what you might read in a lot of places, SAB is NOT a volcano and the hollow in the middle is NOT a crater. It is a volcanic plug - the hollow is probably due to glacial erosion. SAB is an example of a feeder conduit for higher level lava flows which have since been eroded away. There is another similar plug called Creag a' Chrochair on the road to Glengorm, as well as two less obvious ones on the shores of Loch Frisa. All four lie on the same approximate line
There is an excellent description of it in the GCR report for the site:
GCR S Airde Beinn (click on the link)
Here are some pictures:
The lochan "Lochan 'S Airde Beinn"
weathers
Close up of the weathering
View to the south looking over the outflow from the lochan- a fault runs through there
The lochan, looking towards Ben More covered in snow
Cairn at the north end - looking over to Ardnamurchan
Ben More rises above the north Mull hills - Mishnish Lochs below
At the outflow - sun beginning to set
The view from the top of the hill is tremendous - so much to see - much of the British Palaeogene Igneous Province can be seen to the north as well as Tiree and Coll and some of the Western Isles.
Here is a video taken from the summit: (turn the volume down - it's a bit noisy!)
One of the things I have been doing is trying to compile a list of references for my "Top 20" Geological Sites in Mull and Iona. The 'S Airde Beinn references are as follows:
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