Isle of Mull, Scotland

My explorations of Argyll actually got going with a day trip to Mull in June 1999. August of that year saw my brother and I take in a day excursion to Iona so that bagged me a second visit there. Late in August 2001, I dropped in on Tobermory on a clouding day before continuing on to Edinburgh to finish a week of gallivanting around Scotland. It was to be June 2005 before I visited the place again to venture around the mid-west of the island to take in Loch Bà and Glen Clachaig as well as taking in Salen and the Macquarie Mausoleum near Gruline. It was a wilder walk than I had undertaken on the island before though I could have used an off-road path to cross the island instead of the B8035. That was discovered during my August 2014 visit to Lorn and Mull, but I passed the island's shores in August 2008 while sailing from Lochboisdale on South Uist to Oban on a Caledonian Macbrayne ferry after a week that took in many of the Western Isles. My 2014 trip was a reprise of that 1999 one with Torosay Castle and Duart Castle being revisited to improve on photos from the earlier encounter and I fancied an easier day after an out and back along the shores of Loch Etive between Taynuilt and Glen Kinglass. Mull may not be large, but acquisition of two small walking guidebooks alerted me to other walking possibilities and there is a hotel near Craignure that takes my fancy as a base for a first overnight stay too.