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The weather forecast wasn’t bad, a little overcast with winds of 40kph (25 mph) when the 3 of us (2 slow humans and a much faster border collie - Meg) set off to climb Conival and Ben More Assynt. We had stayed close to the start in our motorhome the previous evening and drove to the “official” car park at the Inchnadamph Hotel in the morning (no overnight parking for motorhomes there); even so, we didn’t start walking until 08:00!
- Looking ahead to Conival
The first couple of miles or so is pleasant, easy going along a clear path, albeit a bit eroded in a few places, following the northern bank of the river Traligill. Meg enjoyed the first ball-playing session of the day – in her mind all that’s needed on these trips is a scruffy old tennis ball, plenty of burns or puddles to drink from and a large pile of treats (carried by the humans of course), you can forget all the fancy equipment the humans insist on carrying!
After that the path starts to climb towards Conival. It was a little boggy at first but not too bad, then much steeper, on a rough stony track. Near the top of this section we stopped for a coffee and Meg decided that it was time for mischief, so in addition to trying to knock over the stove and stealing one of the humans’ gloves, she almost disappeared downhill again in pursuit of another dog!
- Looking back down the trail
Approaching the bealach between Conival and Beinn an Fhurain the line of quartzite crags looks imposing, as if climbing would be required to pass them, but once we reached it, it was a straightforward “staircase”.
- Looking up at the quartzite crags
- Meg leading the way
Visibility was good at this point; the cloud low but above the summits. As we started the climb to the summit of Conival, the wind picked up a bit but not significantly. However, once we reached the summit the wind was stronger and we were starting to get a little concerned about crossing the ridge to Ben More Assynt. We had spoken to a group of walkers, and a single walker on their return legs, both of whom said that it was very windy, especially on the coll, but that taking it steady and watching their footing, it was ok.
- Looking towards Ben More Assynt from the summit of Conival
We decided that we would go for it and set off, first scrambling down the rocks towards the coll – part way we were passed by another couple of walkers, who’d also had some of the same concerns as us. The ridge is rocky and hard-going, and when we reached the coll the wind was making it very difficult and our walking poles became more of a hindrance than a help, as the wind threatened to carry them off. Being so close to the final summit of the day we didn’t want to give up, so we pressed on and it looked like the going would be a little easier further across as the path was sheltered along the north side of the ridge.
Shortly before we reached the summit the weather deteriorated; the cloud descended, it started to rain and the wind was getting stronger – what speed the gusts were, we weren’t certain but enough to make just standing upright a challenge. As if that wasn’t enough, with visibility down to a few feet, my GPS app lost the planned route and upon checking the compass, the needle was just spinning. We knew we were only yards from the top but with visibility so poor it was difficult to find the summit.
- The “view” from the top
We knew the walk back across the ridge would be difficult, and felt that given the time (late afternoon) and the weather, we were probably the last walkers on the mountain that day (we’d already been passed by the couple we met on the decent from Conival).
With little choice we set off to retrace our footsteps across the ridge – the gusts were now in the danger zone and staying upright was difficult - I was actually blown over onto the path at one point and was beginning to think about the possibility of spending the night in survival bags on the mountain. The path was difficult to follow with visibility so bad, made worse by Meg, who although much more shore-footed than the humans, was constantly under our feet as she had no idea which direction to take.
Once past the summit cairn on Conival, the winds dropped significantly and typically, the cloud lifted above the summit of Ben More Assynt once more! In total the traverse (both ways) had taken us around 3 hours and we were fast becoming exhausted.
- View towards Coire a'Mhadaidh from the bealach below Conival with the buttress of Na Tuadhan to the left
The weather can change very quickly on the mountains, as it did that day and faced with a similar choice in the future, we would not take the same risk again.
Once below the quartzite crags, we found a nice flat rock by a burn and sat down for some supper. Meg, also exhausted, curled up in a ball and went to sleep – no mischief this stop 😊.
Just before leaving our supper spot, I noticed a plastic bottle stuffed under a rock – who does that! There is simply never a reason, good or otherwise, to leave litter on the mountains! 🤬
Somewhat refreshed (and carrying the discarded plastic bottle 😡) we started the final decent, which was slow going, due to our now very tired state.
- The return path
The sun was going down by the time we were back on the path alongside the river and Meg had to go on the lead when she wanted to “investigate” a herd of deer! The walk back to the car park seemed never ending – we reached the motorhome at 22:45 (14.75 hours after starting out). 🥱
