The Far North; Ben More Assynt and Conival

[andrewdoggett]

A fairly brisk drive from the Bridge of Allan to Loch Assynt sees me cover the 225 miles in a time I'm not going to tell you... I've been looking forward to these hills; I love the remoteness of the far north of Scotland; it's just desolate; a landscape from another world... At the start of the walk deer graze by the river not more than 20 metres from me. They eye me up quickly before getting back to breakfast...

Deer relaxing by the river...

The route starts along a bulldozed track before it becomes a narrow path that follows the river up the valley. It remains remote and the feeling of space is soon with you... I'd suggest keeping by the river and not following the route on Walk Highlands; but up to you...

The Path in along the river...

In about 3.5 km the main bulk of Conival comes into view...

The slopes of Conival...

As usual I go straight up; I like the ascent; doesn't hurt the joints like the descent does; and it's good to let the stress of the week go with a bit of a workout... I stop only once for a quick few photos as the scenery becomes rockier and more appealing higher up...

The Landscape becomes rockier with height...

The clag is at about 700 metres so I don't bother stopping at the top of Conival and instead carry straight on toward Ben More Assynt. THe clag lifts a little and in the beallach I get a glimmer of a view. The terrain is largely rocky with some sketchy paths for brief periods... But there's nothing narrow and I'm a little disappointed; I was hoping for something narrower...

Beneath the clag in the beallach between Conival and Ben More Assynt

The view south of the beallach

It doesn't take long to complete the traverse...

Me on the summit of Ben More Assynt

The views seem a little clearer on the return route so I take another picture looking north where the scenery is best...

The view north of the beallach

The clag lifts the most just before I reach Conival for the second time; so I take a shot looking back along the ridge... I stop at the summit of Conival for 10 minutes or so and have a quick bite to eat... Pork Pies and cheese are on the menu...

The rocky beallach looking toward Ben More Assynt from just below the summit of Conival

Then it's just a gentle descent and walk back to the car; where yet more deer graze freely... I don't think I'll ever get bored of seeing deer in the wild...

More deer... Almost completely unfazed; just a look up...

The route... Straight up; along the ridge and retraced my steps...

2012 - 06 - 16 - Ben More Assynt.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts

And the stats; just under 4 and a half hours...

The Stats...

[craigee]

Sorry I missed joining you on these 2 - looks great partner, although I think I may have made the right the choice in escaping the charge in the black mamba!
Well Done on breaching the 230's - next stop 240's. Pork Pies AND cheese - little pickers and all that.... You might struggle next week on the Fanny's!
Scraggles

[fipriestley]

Nice one! Did this in the sunshine (and high winds!) the day before you! Much the same route, though at a more leisurely pace so I'll keep my report short and just post a few pics

[monty]

Nice one Andrew. Nice ascent but I did not like the underfoot conditions between the hills when I done these. Also took my bike for the couple of km cycle in just don't ask me why (I was pretty much a novice at that stage) You will be overtaking me shortly.