A Suitable Reward for an Arduous Climb

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The footpath up

For some reason, I tend to gravitate towards the highest hill in the towns I visit and want to climb to the top and enjoy the view. Perhaps it’s something to do with my name? Yesterday we climbed to McCaig’s Tower and enjoyed the view from there, but to me it looked like the hill on the other side of the town was higher. A look at the map revealed that at the top was something called a “Viewpoint”; sounded like a good hike to me.

The view was worth the climb

Unfortunately Scotland’s weather always provides surprises, and today it started off with showers but settled down to just cloud, so we set off wearing raincoats (A sure prevention for rain . .). The Information center provided excellent directions for a walk to the viewpoint on Pulpit Hill. Some of the way was on Oban’s narrow streets where you have to press yourself against the walls when cars go by, but most of the way was on steep footpaths comprised of leaf-slippery walkways or worn and uneven steps. Finally we reached the top and came out onto an open area bordered by a stone wall with seats and a marker pointing out every building or geographical feature surrounding us. We had excellent views not only over the town, but also the surrounding area, including the islands out to sea. After admiring the view and snapping a few pictures we walked down following the roadways; much easier on the aging knees, to see the many beautiful houses perched precariously on the steep hillsides.

So that is what that castle is called

Did I mention the old boats?

Once we made it down we headed to another Oban attraction, The Oban Chocolate Company, where we ordered two cups of their delicious hot chocolate and a sample of the amazing chocolates they manufacture; a suitable reward for our hard work exploring Oban heights I think.

A suitable reward . . . .