Ben More Assynt

Sunday 6th June 2010 

My luck with the weather ended with this walk as it turned bad, subjecting me to rain and low cloud throughout much of the walk. I was walking up Ben More Assynt, the highest mountain in the Assynt area, which was a welcome change from the sandstone mountains that I had been walking up throughout almost all the previous week. I parked near the Inchnadamph Hotel and walked up Gleann Dubh and before long it started to rain. After contemplating giving up on the walk due to the terrible weather conditions, I decided to carry on since I was walking along an excellent path at the bottom of a pretty valley that has a delightful stream flowing through it. As I was walking along the valley I began to think about how every mountain in Scotland seems to have a long walk-in, usually across moorland or into a high corrie, which makes the distances walked much greater than in England or Wales. In the Lake District every mountain has a road at the bottom of it, which enables you to park at the foot of the mountain and walk straight up to the summit. Fortunately this walk was reasonably interesting as I passed caves that the river briefly disappears into and lots of colourful flowers beside the path. 

I followed the River Traligill upstream up a hillside, into the clouds and up to the top of a ridge where I turned right to climb along the stony ridge eventually reaching the cloud-covered summit of Conival where I had my lunch. With the rain finally stopping I climbed across an interesting, stony saddle, with steep drops on either side, up to the top of Ben More Assynt, the highest mountain in the area. In the mist it was difficult to identify which pile of rocks was the summit, with a group of guys ahead of me claiming that the south top was the summit. Eventually we decided that the summit of the Munro was opposite the saddle, which has a cairn, but it really could have been anywhere. I had entered the map co-ordinates for the summit into my GPS but I didn’t find it very reliable, or useful, for either Conival or Ben More Assynt. It’s strange how different GPS receivers can give differing co-ordinates for the same place. Ralph Storer recommends traversing the south ridge of Ben More Assynt, but this is an exposed, hard scramble that I didn't want to do in this weather (or indeed any weather!), so I turned around and retraced my steps. If Ben More Assynt had been a sandstone mountain then that difficult, narrow south ridge would have had an easier, bypassing route around the side. The Lewissian Gneiss of that ridge is some of the oldest rock in the world, so it isn’t easily eroded into paths and would be tricky to traverse, even in good weather. As I descended from Ben More Assynt the clouds unexpectedly started to part, revealing views of Dubh Loch Mór to my right and the wide waterlogged valley of Garbh Allt to my left. With a clear view of the ridge in front of me I bounced across and joyously climbed back up to the top of Conival, the third Munro that I had climbed up that day (also my first Munro of the day), and I was still in clouds. 

From the top of Conival I descended the stony ridge back to the col at the top of the path down into the valley. Soon after starting to drop back down into Gleann Dubh I was enveloped by thick clouds again and soon after that it started to rain. The brief good spell of weather that I had enjoyed on top of the two Munros proved to be short-lived as it continued to rain as I walked all the way back down the valley to my car. It was bizarre that the worst weather that I experienced during this walk was not at the top of the mountains but while walking along the valley below. I thoroughly enjoyed this walk, despite the rain, as these were honest, straight-forward mountains. They are not Torridonian sandstone monoliths, like the hills that I’d been climbing recently, but simple heaps of shattered quartzite stones. It was a refreshing change to walk up a simple mountain.

Suilven

Saturday 5th June 2010 

Once again I had stunning weather for this holiday, and a stunning mountain to climb in lovely, warm weather, Suilven. This huge monolith of a mountain dominates the scene for miles around and is distinctively seen from the village of Lochinver. It may not be up to Munro status but in this area of few mountains it stands out and is in fact considered to be one of the best mountains in Scotland. Passing through Lochinver I parked at the end of the public road into Glencanisp. From there I walked along a fabulous track, past Glencanisp Lodge and through a gorgeous valley with gorse and bluebells lining the way before heather took over higher up. When I started the walk I couldn’t see Suilven as it was hidden behind the morning mist, but it wasn’t long before a huge scary looking shape started to appear through the clouds. As I drew alongside the enormous whale-back mountain the mist cleared sufficiently to reveal the awe-inspiring spectacle that I was going to be walking up. 

After crossing the river just before Loch na Gainimh I took a path that climbs across the moor past several small lochs to the foot of Suilven where I began to climb the steep slope. Eventually and after a lot of effort, I reached Bealach Mór, which is the lowest point on the ridge of Suilven. From there I climbed along the top of the ridge to the summit, Caisteal Liath, which is a surprisingly wide grassy plain. A little distance from the summit cairn is a flat slab of rock that sticks up into the air and makes a great backrest for the best seat in the world. From this vantage point I enjoyed extensive views across the whole area, looking out to sea and down on the wisps of cloud in the valley. I had my lunch while sitting on this throne-like seat and gazing across the amazing terrain of Sutherland where the mountains are few but the lochs are many. Returning to the saddle I climbed along the eastern ridge as far as I could go, though I only actually reached the first col. I could have gone further but I didn't want to. Like many of the mountains that I had encountered on this holiday, Suilven is a Torridonian Sandstone mountain with ridiculously steep sides and rock pinnacles on top. The eastern end of the mountain requires some rock climbing that I just wasn’t in favour of trying. These Torridon-esque mountains may be stunning to look at, but they terrified me. I never thought I had vertigo until this holiday. Fortunately, unlike Stac Pollaidh the previous day, the summit of this mountain is attainable by mere humans such as me. I can’t help comparing Suilven with Stac Polly, but it is easily the superior. In some ways it is like a bigger brother to Stac Polly; it’s certainly higher, but the rocks are not as shattered and it has only several tops rather than the innumerable tops of its lesser brother. Like all the Torridonian Sandstones there is a steep climb to the ridge but once there it isn’t too difficult to reach the summit so that even cowards like me can get there. After returning to Bealach Mor I reluctantly started to descend the steep hillside back down to the loch-scattered moor at the bottom. All that was now left for me to do was to walk slowly back down the valley in the warm weather past inviting lakes and moorland flowers in a plenty, with the might of Suilven itself behind me basking in the sunlight, like the prow of a battleship. This was a wonderful walk not just because of the fantastic mountain in the middle of the walk, but for the relaxing stroll through a picturesque valley where the view of Suilven dominates the scene. For any other walk the necessity of having a long walk in to the mountain would detract from the experience, but on this occasion and in this weather it adds to it. The path is a well-made stalkers' track that is always dry and passes through a valley that was a delightful place to walk through and always with the view of Suilven enticied me forward with every step. Back at Achmelvich Beach Youth Hostel the weather was great and the views across the bay were idyllic. This is such a wonderful area I was so gutted to be only staying there for two nights rather than my originally intended four nights. I spent that evening on the rocks overlooking the bay while reading a book and taking pictures of the stunning surroundings. My holiday would not get any better than this.