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I'm Walking On Sunshine...ooooooh!

I'm Walking On Sunshine...ooooooh!


Postby Jaxter » Wed Sep 26, 2018 9:15 pm

Route description: Ben More Assynt and Conival

Munros included on this walk: Ben More Assynt, Conival

Corbetts included on this walk: Quinag - Sàil Gharbh, Quinag - Sàil Ghorm, Quinag - Spidean Coinich

Date walked: 06/07/2018

Time taken: 15 hours

Distance: 35.71 km

Ascent: 2535m

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Part 2 - Flying Without Wings

Friday 6th July – Quinag
15.77km
1264m ascent
7 hours

We woke up on Friday morning and I managed to persuade Malcy that he wanted to come up Quinag with me, seeing as the weather was still good. To be honest he didn’t take much persuading :lol:

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We drove up the road and set off up the good path before turning right to head up Spidean Coinich
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There were bits and pieces of path in between the rocks but it was easy enough walking anyway
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As we gained height we were able to see down towards Loch Assynt with Suilven and Canisp behind
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The rock on Quinag was awesome – almost looked like brick walls :lol:
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It didn’t take long to climb to the top of our first summit – Spidean Coinich, and this gave us a view of the rest of the ridge :D
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Loch Assynt and Conival
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Canisp and Suilven
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Jaxter on Spidean Coinich
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Continuing along the ridge we dropped steeply down to the bealach - looking back it looked really impressive :shock:
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The ridge traverse was really enjoyable and the sun even started to come out as we reached the middle of the ridge and looked back
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We were able to see down to the Kylesku bridge – this seemed to be a nice spot so we sat down and chilled out in the sun for a while.
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Looking back from our lunch spot
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Looking down to Lochs Glendhu and Glencoul
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Carrying on we made it to our second summit of Sail Ghorm which gave us awesome views out to sea…
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And an impressive panorama out to Foinaven and the far North
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We met up with a guy who recognised me from Beinn Stacath several months ago :shock: Clearly he had a much better memory for faces than I did :lol:

We sat around for ages here – the weather was lovely, the views amazing and even the company wasn’t too bad :wink:

It hadn’t really been a very arduous walk so far – these have to be three of the easiest Corbetts, although I reckon three of the best :thumbup:

Eventually we figured we ought to get moving….
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We followed the ridge back towards the mid point – this gave us a great view out to Conival…
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It was an easy climb to our final summit of Sail Gharbh. I made a bit of a mission of climbing onto the trig point :lol:
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After a bit more hanging around, we realised we had run out of food so might as well head back down :lol: We picked up the wee path which led us onto the main route down.
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Looking up to the impressive Spidean Coinich
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It was an easy walk out back to the cars after a very chilled out but awesome day 8) Malcy realised he really did need to go home but I headed for an excellent coastal camp spot where I enjoyed a wonderful sunset and a good book 8)
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Saturday 7th July – Conival & Ben More Assynt
19.94km
1271m ascent
8 hours 5 mins

I got going the next morning, got spot checked by the police (I guess Lochinver gets pretty wild on a Friday night :lol: ) and headed around the road to Inchnadamph where I was on my way up the path. It was very muggy and the lack of breeze meant that the bugs were out :shock:
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Conival ahead
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It was an easy walk and the path was largely good. The path started climbing more steeply alongside the Allt a’ Choinne’ Mhill – fortunately the gain in height brought with it a little bit of a breeze 8)

The views back the way were also pretty awesome 8)
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The climb ahead – I was assuming there was a way through those crags :lol:
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It turned out it was easy to get through the crags and I was on the ridge!
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Now on the ridge I climbed towards Conival – and the ridge towards Ben More Assynt was becoming visible
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Na Tuadhan – this looked awesome and I was thinking about going there until my knee starting niggling :(
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As I climbed higher I could see all the way down Loch Assynt to Quinag
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It was a great walk along the top of Conival to make it to the summit :thumbup:
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Loch Stack and Meallan Liath Coire Mhic Dhughail
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Quinag
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This ridge from Ben More looks just awesome – I’d already worked out my next trip here! I was actually tempted to go that way on the day and back over Breabag…
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My next trip 8)
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The ridge up Conival from Braebag
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Heading across to Ben More Assynt
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It was good fun but not fast going underfoot as I made my way along – probably a good thing because it was ridiculously warm :shock: 8)
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Quinag and Glas Bheinn
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Looking back to Conival
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Approaching the summit of Ben More Assynt the ridge towards Glen Oykel still looked awesome, and oh so attractive 8)
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Reaching the summit I found myself a nice spot and settled down to chill out for a while, and play with the big lens. I was on holiday afterall :wink:

Foinaven
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Quinag
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Ben More Coigach, Cul Beag and Cul Mor
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Cul Mor
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An Teallach
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Ben Klibreck
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Ben Hope
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Ben Loyal
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Ben Stack
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Na Tuadhan and Quinag
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Ben Stack to Ben Hope
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Loch Shin and Ben Klibreck
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Ben More Assynt summit pose
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If anything it was even hotter now, and I sat around for ages. Eventually I reckoned it was time to get going….back along the ridge
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Breabag – a mountain for another time
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Canisp and Ben More Coigach
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Ben More Assynt and ridges
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Loch Assynt and Quinag
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Dropping down from Conival I took another opportunity to look back 8)
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Sutherland 8)
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Enjoying the view
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It was even hotter down in the glen :shock:
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I had to keep moving to escape the clegs :shock: Quick shot back…
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Quinag
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The last bit of walk along the track was hot and tiring and I was very relieved to be back at the car! A great day out – good hills but totally overshadowed by the other amazing Assynt hills :lol:

I found myself a camp spot for the evening and settled down to chill out 8)
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Part 4 - If Carlsberg Did Birthday's...


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Last edited by Jaxter on Sun Jun 16, 2019 2:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Jaxter
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Re: I'm Walking On Sunshine...ooooooh!

Postby Mal Grey » Thu Sep 27, 2018 9:10 am

Packing 'em in as usual! :clap:

This lot all need repeating. Quinag was a grim summer's day many years ago, we just went straight to the highest top and back seeing nothing.

Beinn More Assynt and Conival were similar. But with added rain.



Its an amazing part of the world, difficult to move fast through. Not particularly because of the terrain, more because of the views that make you stand and stare!
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Mal Grey
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Re: I'm Walking On Sunshine...ooooooh!

Postby Coop » Thu Sep 27, 2018 3:52 pm

Did Conival and Ben More last Saturday. Rain hail snow wind and sunshine in one day.
These two totally exceeded my expectations. Great views great walk
Good report.
Coop
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Re: I'm Walking On Sunshine...ooooooh!

Postby malky_c » Fri Sep 28, 2018 12:52 pm

Aah - how to turn a 4 hour walk into a 7 hour one. I think we have that covered :lol: . Ben More Assynt looked great too - certainly much more enjoyable than driving down to Oxfordshire! And you got an even better sunset than we did the previous night :roll: . Glen Oykel circuit is definitely one for the future.
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Posts: 6342
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Re: I'm Walking On Sunshine...ooooooh!

Postby Jaxter » Sat Oct 27, 2018 12:01 am

Mal Grey wrote:Packing 'em in as usual! :clap:

This lot all need repeating. Quinag was a grim summer's day many years ago, we just went straight to the highest top and back seeing nothing.

Beinn More Assynt and Conival were similar. But with added rain.



Its an amazing part of the world, difficult to move fast through. Not particularly because of the terrain, more because of the views that make you stand and stare!

It's an incredible place isn't it - so many places to explore, and so many spots to return to over and over. I'm hoping to get in a winter Assynt trip this year :wink:



Coop wrote:Did Conival and Ben More last Saturday. Rain hail snow wind and sunshine in one day.
These two totally exceeded my expectations. Great views great walk
Good report.

Good hills aren't they, even if they're totally overshadowed by their wee neighbours :wink:



malky_c wrote:Aah - how to turn a 4 hour walk into a 7 hour one. I think we have that covered :lol: . Ben More Assynt looked great too - certainly much more enjoyable than driving down to Oxfordshire! And you got an even better sunset than we did the previous night :roll: . Glen Oykel circuit is definitely one for the future.

Ah I was clearly doing my weather dance, whereas it's kind of hard to dance while you're driving (doesn't stop me trying :lol: )
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Re: I'm Walking On Sunshine...ooooooh!

Postby Alteknacker » Sat Oct 27, 2018 12:43 pm

What a place! I always have this same reaction when I look at pics of Assynt. I see you're catching up on your WHR backlog, and you surely got the weather for it!!

I love the zoomed shots of distant peaks: it's somehow more like what you actually experience when you're looking at them for real, than just a simple 1:1 pic. :clap: :clap: :clap:

I'm determined that I'm going to get up to Assynt this year - got a few routes planned on paper :D .
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Re: I'm Walking On Sunshine...ooooooh!

Postby Sgurr » Sat Oct 27, 2018 5:22 pm

Just what we need before plunging into an early winter.

Alastair Reid

Walking into town, I saw, in a radiant raincoat,
The woman from the fish-shop. ‘What a day it is!’
cried i like a sunstruck madman.
And what did she have to say for it?
Her brow grew bleak,, her ancestors raged in their graves,
as she spoke with their ancient misery:
‘We’ll pay for it, we’ll pay for it, we’ll pay for it!’
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Location: Fife

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