Following a fantastic week on the south coast of Harris, we spent the second week of this summer's walking holiday in Scotland in one of the most spectacular areas we've ever seen - Coigach and Assynt in the far north-west, about 20 miles north of Ullapool.
I won't bore you with lengthy walk reports (I'll save those for my Kent walks!), but I would like to give a flavour of this incredible place.
My wife and I agree to compromise on our walking holidays. I like going up hills and mountains, whereas my wife hates steep descents and narrow ridges, so we tend to alternate our walks - hills one day and low-level the next!
This photo taken on a low-level walk in the northern part of Coigach gives some idea of what the region is like. The mountains in the distance (between 5 and 10 miles away) are what make the area unique. The mountains are huge monoliths rising out of a rugged, boggy, lochan-dotted moorland. They're not exceptionally high, varying from about 600-850m, but some are very steep and reaching them often requires a long boggy slog before the ascent even begins.
To the best of my knowledge, the main peaks from left to right are: Suilven (with Canisp behind), Cul Mor (above my wife), Stac Pollaidh and Cul Beag, then to the right of the road, Ben More Coigach and Sgurr an Fhidhleir (the Fiddler). Please correct me if I'm wrong!
During the week we did three hilly walks...
Cul Mor:The view from near the summit of Cul Mor before we reached the clouds. Suilven can be seen to the right:
With the summit being disappointingly in the clouds, I left my pack with my wife and made my way up over the slabs and back again...
Sgurr an Fhidhleir (the Fiddler):The Fiddler was a far easier climb and the view from the top was unbelievably amazing. Just as we reached the summit it poured with rain as a thick cloud passed through, but we sat it out and the sun reappeared. There's a 500m drop just in front of my wife so some caution was needed!
I was there too - that's Stac Pollaidh in the distance and Suilven in the far distance:
Cul Beag:Brilliant as the previous two peaks were, I think Cul Beag was my favourite for two reasons: First, the route was pathless except for a short section along a stalker's path (which was more like a stream anyway!), which meant that some thinking was needed especially since the approach was extremely waterlogged. And secondly, because the panoramic views from the summit were even more spectacular than the others had been.
To the left is Ben More Coigach and The Fiddler is the pointy peak just to its right:
This is the view in the opposite direction with Stac Pollaidh and the Summer Isles beyond:
Despite this being mid-August, we saw very few people. We met a pair of young men below the summit of Cul Mor; there were no other people at all on The Fiddler (although we could just make out a small group traversing the tricky ridge on nearby Ben More Coigach); and we saw a hill-runner briefly on Cul Beag. It really doesn't get any better than this - but if it does, please let me know!
