Despite its modest height (720 m) Ben Stack should be on every hillwalker's list as it is a fine viewpoint and a nice short expedition even for inexperienced fellows
When approached from Loch More, the conical shape of this mountain dominates the western view:- Ben Stack from A838 along Loch More
There is a small car park just before the Private Road sign for the track leading to Lone. Even from the road level there are excellent views towards Arkle. As the ascend begins along the steep slope of Ben Stack, the impressive panorama opens up to the south-east:
- Arkle from the car park
- Looking east
Most of the way up is along very boggy ground so we stayed close to a rocky wall to avoid the worst places. From below the slopes of Ben Stack look pretty steep but as we continued climbing, it wasn't as bad as we were concerned. And of course views were getting better and better!
- Loch More
- The rocky spine and Meall Horn in the background
At about 500m the slope eased a bit and the hill summit came into view:
- So there it is, the summit of Ben Stack...
We walked quickly over some more boggy ground to reach the bottom of the steep slope - the final push towards the great panorama of Assynt
- Steep, steep...:(
Steep it might have been but we finally got to the summit area, which is split into two ridges. The southern one is marked with a trig point. On the northern one there is an ugly mast, and past it, the small cairn marking the true summit of the hill.
- Whatever it is for, surely it doesn't belong on a mountain top...
- The summit cairn and the rocky ridge to the west
To the north the views to Arkle and Foinaven were second to none:
- Arkle and Foinaven
- Loch Stack and surrounding hills
To the south it is just as nice:
- Quinag in the sunlight
We spent quite a while sitting by the trig point, hidden from the cold wind, sinking in the scenery, drinking tea from the flask and simply having a nice day!
- A wee bit of snow
- Arkle and Foinaven again...
On the way down we kept more to the left hand side, hoping that the ground there would be less boggy, but it was all just the same. Fortunately we avoided any nasty slips and after about 4 hours we were back in the car, ready to go home.
- Descending down towards Loch More
Just before we left, two stags walked past our car:
- The farawell committee ;)))
All in all, another fantastic day
Has it been that warm?
Such a hardship for me 
). Will have another look at Ben Stack 
, Oh the choices 
