A photo I took of the 5 km hike up Goat Fell. Lisa and I made it amazingly close to the top considering our amateur kit and the gail-like wind and rain right near the top. We trudged on wet and cold and tired until the winds were literally blowing us down onto the rock strewn trail. In the photo we made it just to the mid-point of the ridge you see on the right; though we couldn’t really see anything but blowing mist clouds.
Goat Fell (marked as Goatfell by the Ordnance Survey; Scottish Gaelic: Gaoda Bheinn) is the highest point on the Isle of Arran. At 874 metres (2,866 ft), it is one of four Corbetts on the island. The mountain, along with nearby Brodick Castle, is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland. The name is believed to mean either ‘Mountain of Wind’ (from the Gaelic gaoth) or ‘Goat Mountain’ (from the Norse geita). Due to the popularity of “Scotland in miniature” (Arran), Goat Fell is a very popular peak and there are many possible routes of ascent, some of which may be combined with visits to the summits of other nearby peaks. The most commonly used route, a constructed path of just under 5 km in length, starts from near Brodick Castle in Cladach. Initially the path leads up through the forested grounds of the castle, passing many rhododendron bushes. Above 300 m above sea level the path leaves the forestry, and the route continues through bare moorland, reaching the summit by way of the east ridge of the mountain. There is a viewpoint table at the summit: on a clear day Ireland may be seen. wikipedia
3 Notes. Permalink. Sun, Oct 4th 2009, 4:54 PM (∞). Available in higher resolution.
