A little history is in order first. We have been visiting family in Scotland every odd numbered year for two decades or so. Many of those stops have included a day or two with my family on the west coast -usually we annoy the wonderful Bargh family and have an amazing time. Most visits start with a barbeque and much liquid refreshment the first evening and by the time we are headed to bed, we have made plans to go to Arran the next day and climb Goat Fell, the highest peak on the island at 2866 feet. To date, it has always been “too cloudy” (either outside or in our heads) to make such a trek. This year, it actually happened. And this is the story.
We actually set alarms and got up to them. Seven of us (Andrew had to work and Amy was at T in the Park) got showered, fed, and rushed out the door to head to Ardrossan for the 9:45 am ferry to Arran. We all had fairly quick breakfasts (bowl of cereal or a danish) except for Stephen who poached some eggs and ate properly. Then the mad scramble to make some rolls to have lunch at the top of the mountain. Needless to say, we left late and scrambled and hurried to make it to the ferry on time. Meanwhile, our hire car was registering zero fuel. Not just that the light was on but that the tank was empty. We had no idea if we would make it to the ferry at all let alone on time. But away we sped.
We got there just in time to be the last people they allowed in the queue to buy tickets for the ferry. This in itself is significant because apparently, there is NEVER a queue to buy tickets for the ferry so the fact that there were two dozen people in line for tickets was an indicator that we were not the only ones who came up with this marvelous plan. Of course, when I got to the counter to buy 4 day return tickets, the machine ran out of ticket forms after two tickets got printed. Then in trying to print the final two, the machine started freaking out and spitting out blank ticket after blank ticket. It took what seemed an eternity to get it sorted and we finally were the (absolute last) people to board.
The ferry crossing takes about an hour and although we had beautiful sunshine, the breeze off the water was very cool. Luckily we were all prepared with our shorts and fleeces! We disembarked at the dock in Broddick and began the walk along the shore to the foot of the mountain. Quick stop at the coop for chocolates and crisps and bottles of water to go with our rolls and we were off.
Goat Fell is the highest point on Arran and we knew it would take about 2 hours to get to the top – which would be the craggy high point shrouded in clouds in the photo. For about half an hour, it was a steady climb through forest where biting flies nearly drove us mad! After that, we broke into more open, craggy terrain and while there was the occasional nasty fly, they weren’t nearly as annoying.
And so we climbed, and climbed, and climbed. And so did dozens of other folks who had come up with the same plan for spending the day in the sun! There were veritable traffic jams on the trail (Cue joke: It was busier than Sauciehall Street on a Saturday!) The last half hour was a mad scramble over rock and we were sweating profusely working our way to the top but we eventually succeeded.
And then we were at the top – 
and it was fabulous! The view was spectacular and cheese rolls never tasted so good! Of course the temperature at the top was cooler than at the bottom and we were all clammy from the exertion so our fleeces and jackets came in handy for our sojourn a the summit. After resting, lunching and photographing with two dozen or so other conquerors, it was time to head back down. This part is always more painful for me – I’m more tired and more likely to go over on my ankle and thus screw up any other running plans I might have. So we picked our way carefully down the rocks and then practically ran through the forest part to avoid the flies and we were done! Two hours up, an hour and 40 minutes down. Not nearly enough water to drink, lots of fly bites and sunburns but we had done it.
Yes, the sunburns. Even though we had used sunscreen, quite liberally for some of us, the sweating, swatting at flies and sheer amount of time spent in the sun was too much for the SPF 30 spray and we are now various shades of pink and red in the most interesting places. I apparently neglected the back of my legs or wiped all the sunscreen off swatting at flies and it will now be an interesting flight home tomorrow since the skin on the backs of both knees is pretty sore and tender. But I’ll proudly wear my Scottish sunburn – as will most of the country after this week’s weather I’m afraid!
We caught the 6 pm ferry back across to Ardrossan and since we were exhausted and cold, it of course ran into technical problems and took an extra 20 minutes or so to dock. We made it to the petrol station to put enough diesel in the car to get us home today and to the airport tomorrow and for some reason, the automated pumps wouldn’t accept our credit card (Exceeded daily limit?) so it was a good thing Stephen was there to bail us out or we’d still be at the Asda at Ardrossan harbor.
And so home we go. Gillian had requested a chippy before we left and although earlier in the day when we were sweaty and exhausted, I loathed the though of fried food, now that we were done and cold, it sounded fantastic. So off we go to the Marina Cafe where you can get the best fish suppers on the west coast of Scotland. It’s run by Lorena (and family) whom I’ve known since we were 15 and it was great to see her again. Armed with pizzas, fish, haggis and chicken for me, we had a fabulous meal! Who knew that Italian rose wine went so well with a chicken supper!
A change of clothes meant we felt much more human so the adults retired to the front room for wine, cheese and oatcakes – the obvious dessert after a fish supper – and lots of great conversation. Several hours and bottles of wine later, I headed off to bed leaving Frank and Stephen to discuss the finer points of Genesis’ music and drink some whiskey.
Steps: 31,356 – a new record – which Fitbit translated to 13.5 miles. I don’t know if the equation works in this case because so much travel was up and not across but I’ll assume that if we flattened out Goat Fell and covered the terrain that way, it would be pretty close.
Number of days left before we go home: 1 😦
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