A week hiding from the masses in Sutherland saw lots of biking, beaches, midges, goats and avoiding most of the NC500.

A fine forecast saw us head for Ben Stack, visible from our holiday cottage above Lairg a good few miles to the south.

There was good parking - both at roadside and further down with some lovely responsible campers.

As described, there is a very rough quad track to pick up from the mobile phone access track. This however is ideal for a quad, not for walkers. We actually found it quicker and more enjoyable to follow the rock outcrop which ran up the hill in the exact direction we wanted. It was drier and less slippery.
Cracking views early on saw us meander up the hill.
DSC_3077 by Matt Robinson, on Flickr
DSC_3078 by Matt Robinson, on Flickr
The halfway point on a suitable rock outcrop saw lunch no.1 and a reluctance to leave the views and sweat on up.
DSC_3086 by Matt Robinson, on Flickr
The first false summit gave a promise of what we would see from the top - from the Hebrides to Skye, Stac Polliadh to Ben Hope, all on a clear day. It also showed a brutally steep pull up the final 150m of ascent.
DSC_3082 by Matt Robinson, on Flickr
Arrival at the top was stunning, a few folk around also enjoying the view, so we settled for lunch no.2 and some texts to France where eldest son was trying to say that the view on the Alpine mountain he was cycling down was better than our view. We won the argument, 4:1.
DSC_3095 by Matt Robinson, on Flickr
DSC_3092 by Matt Robinson, on Flickr