Ben Stack

[BlackPanther]

Saturday's forecast predicted cloud anywhere but in the far north, so Assynt was the logical place to go if we wanted to avoid walking in the mist. Originally we had our attention on Ben Hee, but as there were earthworks/roadworks of some sort on the track leading to it (and no chance to park anywhere), we continued along A838 until Ben Stack caught our eyes... It was another wee jaunt up the hill - a good warm up before the really big walks coming soon

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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

[Klaasloopt]

Good choice!
No snow at all?? Has it been that warm?

[soulminer]

Nice wee report.
Heading back to up to Assynt in April, on holiday(again Such a hardship for me ). Will have another look at Ben Stack , Oh the choices
Cheers.

[ChrisW]

lovely colours in those pics