al78 wrote:I should have added as my favourites Quiniag and Foinaven, the latter done on a guided walking holiday on a rare hot summer day, a complete traverse of the ridge in blazing sunshine with fantastic views. Sutherland is like another world in places, I frequently wonder what shaped the different topgraphic features of the Scottish hills, there is so much variety in what is a small country. The heathery smooth rolling Drummochter hills, for example, are so different to the rugged sharp ridges of Torridon.
About time somebody mentioned Foinaven!! Absolutely loved it - did it in slightly dodgy conditions (the circuit walk described on this site) when it was blowing a gale, but the gods smiled on me and it eased off just long enough for me to get along the ridge to Gul Mor and back in one piece. Truly stunning hill in the most beautiful corner of Scotland.
And I'd agree about Ben Loyal too.
In the Far North you have not only sublime scenery but the likelihood of having the entire place to yourself, as happened to me on both the above...
(Sadly my trips up Bens Klibreck and Hope were afflicted by my curse of 700m - i.e. clag above that level - so I can't fairly judge them... must go back; what a shame!)
Worst? Try Whernside on a Bank Holiday Monday for a truly rancid experience! Rammed with nuclear families and their dogs, a path akin to an A-road all the way up, and the endless roar of motorbikes racing through Ribblehead to provide a soundtrack! Enough to make The Cairnwell and Carn Aosda feel like havens of tranquility......