Carsaig Arches
Posted: Tuesday, 11 September 2007 |
On Monday it was a case of "back to Iona" again. Great! A chance to see some good scenery in good weather. And good rocks. It has to be said, that in the short distance between Iona and , say, Ben Talla , you pass through some of the most varied geology anywhere in Britain. It is CONSTANTLY changing, and of course this is reflected in the landscape and how the countryside actually looks.
Anyway, enough waffle, my work in Iona was on Tuesday, Monday PM was to be spent exploring potential sites for field trips. And in brilliant sunny weather as well. Hah! Well planned that was wasnt it? You;re right there, let me tell you!
OK, a picture is worth a thousand words. Actually, in the case of this day, its worth at least a million. I challenge anyone to find cliff scenery as impressive as this lot.
I set off from Beach on the side of Loch Scridain. NB, it is not pronounced "beach" as in sandy shore, more like "beh -ach" with the ch as in loch.OK. Good. I hit straight across the estate road, through the forest and towards Cadh an Eas', where there is a steep descent to the shore. Binnein Goiridh looked neat:
and
That is a serious cliff there. There's a gruesome tale about it as well. See if you can find it.
There are some "tobhtaichean" (ruins) just behind:
And the sea looks nice and aquamarine:
In the cliff there are a couple of sills which intersect in a St Andrews Cross shape. This is seriously basltic territory here - hundreds of feet of the stuff, intruded by dykes, sills all manner of stuff. A geologists dream. Except that it is plumb vertical to overhanging. Makes the field work kinda interesting.....:
The view to the west was quite nice - into the sun "contre jour" as the photographers say:
The path to the shore drops to a beach called Traigh Cadh' an Easa. Great place on a quiet day. In mid winter though, slightly more forboding...
Heres the waterfall that plunges off the cliff:
Right, that was the boring bit. On to the Arches. It is only about as mile and a bit, but it takes a fair while. The track is rocky, steep, scree-y, loose, full of interesting geology (really slows you down!) but its well worth it. Here are the Carsaig Arches:
Now there was actually a method to this madness. I had wanted a good picture of the arches for some time, for my photo web site, for my geology classes, for my own geology site and for an exhibition I am helping with. Trouble is, the arches are not terribly well placed. The sun is seldom in the right position. The best view is from the west, with the sun behind. So you need good weather, late afternoon, sun behind, clear lighting, oh yes, and the time to actually take the pic. It is 2 hours at least to the arches and the same back. Anyway, I think I got some good shots this time. What would be SERIOUSLY cool would be to take this shot, with the arches covered in snow. Never, ever seen that. Heres the first arch:
And Arch 2:
The rock formations round here are something else. Dykes, sills, columnar basalt, cavities with minerals, bizarrely shaped rocks, caves, its all here. Here is a basaltic ash bed (rucsac for scale):
And here is a block of amygdaloidal basalt, with quartz lined cavities in it, on the way back:
(Ruler is a foot long, BTW)
Heres a closeup:
So that was it. Camped at the side of Loch Scridain that night, headed off to Iona the next day and then spent the next 8 hours fighting with routers, printers, Microsoft Office, XP, Dell and who knows what else.
I love it!
MM
Anyway, enough waffle, my work in Iona was on Tuesday, Monday PM was to be spent exploring potential sites for field trips. And in brilliant sunny weather as well. Hah! Well planned that was wasnt it? You;re right there, let me tell you!
OK, a picture is worth a thousand words. Actually, in the case of this day, its worth at least a million. I challenge anyone to find cliff scenery as impressive as this lot.
I set off from Beach on the side of Loch Scridain. NB, it is not pronounced "beach" as in sandy shore, more like "beh -ach" with the ch as in loch.OK. Good. I hit straight across the estate road, through the forest and towards Cadh an Eas', where there is a steep descent to the shore. Binnein Goiridh looked neat:
and
That is a serious cliff there. There's a gruesome tale about it as well. See if you can find it.
There are some "tobhtaichean" (ruins) just behind:
And the sea looks nice and aquamarine:
In the cliff there are a couple of sills which intersect in a St Andrews Cross shape. This is seriously basltic territory here - hundreds of feet of the stuff, intruded by dykes, sills all manner of stuff. A geologists dream. Except that it is plumb vertical to overhanging. Makes the field work kinda interesting.....:
The view to the west was quite nice - into the sun "contre jour" as the photographers say:
The path to the shore drops to a beach called Traigh Cadh' an Easa. Great place on a quiet day. In mid winter though, slightly more forboding...
Heres the waterfall that plunges off the cliff:
Right, that was the boring bit. On to the Arches. It is only about as mile and a bit, but it takes a fair while. The track is rocky, steep, scree-y, loose, full of interesting geology (really slows you down!) but its well worth it. Here are the Carsaig Arches:
Now there was actually a method to this madness. I had wanted a good picture of the arches for some time, for my photo web site, for my geology classes, for my own geology site and for an exhibition I am helping with. Trouble is, the arches are not terribly well placed. The sun is seldom in the right position. The best view is from the west, with the sun behind. So you need good weather, late afternoon, sun behind, clear lighting, oh yes, and the time to actually take the pic. It is 2 hours at least to the arches and the same back. Anyway, I think I got some good shots this time. What would be SERIOUSLY cool would be to take this shot, with the arches covered in snow. Never, ever seen that. Heres the first arch:
And Arch 2:
The rock formations round here are something else. Dykes, sills, columnar basalt, cavities with minerals, bizarrely shaped rocks, caves, its all here. Here is a basaltic ash bed (rucsac for scale):
And here is a block of amygdaloidal basalt, with quartz lined cavities in it, on the way back:
(Ruler is a foot long, BTW)
Heres a closeup:
So that was it. Camped at the side of Loch Scridain that night, headed off to Iona the next day and then spent the next 8 hours fighting with routers, printers, Microsoft Office, XP, Dell and who knows what else.
I love it!
MM
Comments
Wonderful photos again, MM, thank you. The arches ones are magnificent, especially given that you need a very specific window of time and conditions to take them. p.s. your rucksack is a very poor substitute for your children :-) (but easier to carry, no doubt). Great stuff, thanks again.
Jill from EK
Hi MM - stunning photos - keeping nagging him indoors about a new camera as I have standards to keep up! Went to Ulva on Monday with the Ranger - great hike and a geoligist's dream methinks!!
Wild Freckle from Mull
yet another fantastic blog mm, great pics and good lesson in geology,thanks
carol from wishing i was in scotland
What great photos. I.B. has really made me want to see more of my own country, so I really appreciate all the photos and info on I.B.
Tartanqueen from Scotland
p.s. to my earlier comment (which has not yet appeared): I regret to say that if I had come across that rock with the cavities, I would have been sorely tempted to take it home...
Jill from EK
Brilliant! Hope my sister is lookin at this blog.
Ruthodanort from Unst
The boring bit, says he! Gorgeous pics again. The first time I drove up the road you describe, through the forest, I came out the other side and had to stop the car because the view across Inchkenneth to the islands was breathtaking. The gruesome story? Is it the honeymooners? I'm not clever at all, I heard the story on a recent television prog, and a friend who lives on Mull gave me the location when I asked him about it. I love the Saltire sills, and the quartz lined cavities.
Mrs Trellis from NE Wales
I can't find any boring bits here. Will keep looking...
Flying Cat from between a rock and a hard place
Now there is a place I must sail to. Thanks for the ongoing master class. Offshore
Offshore View from Libya at work
Offshore, yes sailing to Carsaig arches would be neat - I expect that the view from the sea would be good, esp of the first arch. Do you work in the oil industry then? Used to be offshore myself - mainly North Sea - worked on a variety of semis and platforms. Great times!
Mountainman from Mull
Mrs Trellis, the gruesome story? I only have the sketchiest of details and I cant find the article, but it involved someone called Goiridh being punished by castration. In revenge he grabbed the infant son of the Maclaine chief and jumped off the cliffwith the child in his arms, hence the name "Gorrie's Leap" or Binnein Ghoiridh in Gaelic. as I said, I dont have all the details but if anyone can fill in the blanks, that woudl be great! The story of the honeymooners relates to the Tragedy Boulder or "Clach na Lanain" over at Gribun - Huge stone fell down the cliff and flattened the house with them in it. There are still a lot of rock falls and landslips to this day. In my earlier blog about the Ring Dyke I mentioned a landslip in Glen Forsa. Not as dramatic as a huge rockfall, but shows that the landscape can change rapidly.
MM from Mull
Exploring the hills and coasts of Mull and Iona and occasionally elsewhere, with a close eye on the geology
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