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Being confined to barracks in May is making me twitchy! So in a desperate act of sublimation I'm going to write up a walk I did last September on iconic Stac Pollaidh.
We started late in the day meaning the parking spot was well filled and we had to move along one of the rubbish skips to make a space.
Then a quick hop over the road and up the steep path towards our target.
Loch Lurgainn from start of ascent
Cul Beag
Stac Pollaidh
We followed the excellent path in anticlockwise direction heading east
We got every weather - started in cloud and rain then suddenly it was blue sky and sunshine
Cul Mor
View north
Suilven
Vivid changes in light and colour
When we reached the lowest point of ridge the wind was blowing so strongly we decided not to do the short scramble to the highest eastern point.
View SW from lowest point of ridge
Hood up and sitting firmly on rock to give stability against the force of the wind
View down to car
View west to Enard Bay
East end of ridge
Watery landscape of Assynt
On this day of gusty wind this pile of stones was nearest we got to any kind of summit cairn
Storm blowing in from west
Glimpse of a rainbow
But storm still coming
From the ridge we took a traversing path heading west on north side to rejoin the circuit path and continued in westerly direction. But the hailstorm we had seen approaching hit us full in the face as we rounded the west end.
It was so unpleasant walking in that direction we turned round and returned the way we had come. By the time we reached the east end again the storm had passed and the day ended in autumnal sunshine giving an almost unnatural light to the landscape.
Ben Mor Coigach
Rowans predicting a hard winter
Stac Pollaidh from the road home
For a wee hill Stac Pollaidh has everything!
