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"So, where shall we go today?" This was the second day of our holiday, staying in a cottage a few miles north of Lochinver. The day before, we had walked from Stoer Lighthouse to the Old Man of Stoer and then completed a nice circular walk with commanding views of the mountains of Assynt. But now my wife had made it clear that she expected me to nominate one of these mountains as being our next destination. I wasn't too sure about this, so I hesitated... "How about Canisp?" my wife said. I had read the report posted by the WalkHighlands people sometime ago and I was aware that this trip had some difficulties when it came to climbing the mountain. A lot of boulders, I thought. Still, if my wife was keen I wasn't going to say anything to deter her - or indeed, my son, who was due to walk with us. Was this a folly? Perhaps. But I had the views of Suilven in mind when I said "yes" we would go there.
And so it began. We started from the small car park on the road to and from Inchnadamph, very close to a person fishing in Loch Awe. For the first Kilometre or so it seemed quite straightforward, but after stopping for a quick bite to eat it soon became clear that no path could be seen and that we would have to pick our way around a heck of a lot of boulders if we were going to reach the top of this mountain. As we continued to climb it soon became clear that both my wife and son were not that happy to persist with this. In fact, they hated it! Boulders... boulders... and yet more boulders. I wasn't that happy too, I have to say, but I managed to persuade them to carry on... until eventually we reached close to the top and we had this tremendous view.
- The view of Suilven from Canisp
From the top of Canisp itself - what a view! - over the lochs and lochans of Assynt with the Summer Isles in the distance. Quite magnificent!
- The view of Suilven from the top of Canisp
Unfortunately, my wife had noticed large stormy black clouds approaching, which meant that we had no time to sit around. Instead, we immediately set off and made our way down the mountain. Still, we had a very long way to travel and it probably took us getting on for two hours before we descended and made our way back to where we had parked the car.
- Starting the descent
- Stormy clouds over Breabag
The verdict? Well... even after all this time my wife and son's view - which they would be willing to share with anyone - is that they hated the experience of walking and climbing over so many boulders to get to the top of Canisp. My view? Between you and me, I think that it was a marvellous experience! To look out over Suilven and see that view was something never to be forgotten.
The storm? Well we managed to avoid it... just(!) - as this photograph taken later in the day from Lochinver can testify.
- A brooding Suilven from Lochinver