Читать книгу The Isle of Mull. Mull, Ulva, Gometra, Iona and Erraid онлайн

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Rainbow over Eileanan Glasa

North Mull is for walkers rather than mountaineers, and provides considerable scope to invent walks and pit yourself against the ruggedness of the land, where navigation skills need to be of the highest order. Many walks described in this book take you far away from outside help, and so the ability to self-help in rugged terrain is of paramount importance. In return, you will be rewarded with days of solitude and tranquillity where eagles dare and otters make the most of the coast and inland lochs.

WALK 1.1

Tobermory and Aros Park

Start Tobermory car park (NM 505 551) Distance 5.5km (3½ miles) Ascent 90m (295ft) Terrain Woodland and lakeside paths Map OS Explorer 374 Isle of Mull North and Tobermory

Aros Park is a green lung for Tobermory, not that it needs it, given the breezy ozone that permanently mantles the town. But this sometime estate park, now owned by the Forestry Commission, is linked to Tobermory for good reason: it is the perfect place to explore a managed estate woodland, to enjoy the ornamental lake carpeted with water lilies, and to harvest a bounty of brambles in season. The woodlands are rich and lush with ash, rowan, hazel, birch, beech, oak and various pine, as well as rhododendron, a telltale sign of a managed estate. Thick layers of moss cloak many of the trees, both living and long-since felled, while the understorey has a fine range of fungi later in the year. This walk is straightforward and uncomplicated.