Conival & Ben More Assynt from Inchnadamph...

So, no Munro trips in ten weeks then two come along in three days. Hopefully this is not going to prove the norm this year, I certainly don't intend to go ten weeks again without being on a Munro if I can help it. Unlike the trip on Sunday, when I had some old and new company, this one was just myself and Jelly McBaby alone again. As usual I checked the weather forecasts in a number of areas the day prior to departure and the winner was the far north, my first trip to Assynt, and a long drive to Inchnadamph to be precise. As with Sunday this meant an early rise at four o'clock and leaving home at five to drive the four hours to get to Inchnadamph, via Inverness and Ullapool. Leaving so early in the morning you don't really get a feel for what the day will bring weather wise, early morning mist can often burn off and reveal bright sunny hours and the promise of stunning views of real clarity. The sun came up as I approached Inverness but the clouds filled the sky and I thought I was doomed to a day of gloom...that was until I approached Braemore junction and the sun appeared above me bringing the longed for promise of cloud free Munro's and stunning views over Assynt which holds such beautiful mountains as Suilven-Canisp-Cul Mor-Stac Pollaidh-Quinag and of course the two Munro's that I would be tackling today.

I arrived at Inchnadamph car park by the hotel and looked out across Loch Assynt in bright sunshine and a warmish glow from the morning sun, though there was a chill in the air that hinted at what lay ahead of me.

Quinag bathed in sunshine with just a wisp of cloud around her summit looked mighty enticing, but I had other plans for my day. I intended increasing my Munro tally by two and bagging Conival and Ben More Assynt, doubling my years total in the process. I headed north from the car park along the road side to the entrance to the Inchnadamph lodge & hostel.

The initial track proved to be rather hard on my feet, coming so soon after my last trip, but I had read that the approach track could prove rather boggy in places and also the initial slopes would likely be wet, combining this with the likelihood of snow at the summit I had elected to continue with my winter boots again. As it turns out the approach paths were dry as a bone and the slopes were nothing like as wet as I have previously encountered. There would indeed be snow on the approach to the summits but it was blasted hard by the winds and I could have gotten away with my lighter summer boots after all. I continued on and soon crossed the Allt Poll an Droighinn, the views behind me of Quinag improving with each step, the views ahead of Conival promising a steep challenge.

I passed the holiday cottage of Glenbain and a chambered cairn on my left and continued on towards my targets, following the clear path alongside the river. Unfortunately I followed the river path just a little too long and realised that I should have been gaining some height so that I didn't have too arduous a climb all at once when I reached the foot of Conival. I remedied this by scaling a rivulet of water cascading through the steep slope to gain the required height that would bring me up to the grassy basin north of Gleann Dubh. As I was ascending I realised that there were four interested onlookers above me, probably wondering what this fool was doing coming up the hard way!!

More likely they were annoyed that I was between them and their water supply below. Once I was back on track and beyond Glean Dubh the glen ahead sloped towards Conival and above me Beinn an Fhurain. The weather appeared to be changing above me and clouds were now sweeping in over Conival and staying there, whereas before they were wisps fleetingly passing by her summit, this was starting to look more ominous. I stopped at a huge chunk of moraine to change my layers to something more suitable for the altering weather.

Once satisfied that I had on the appropriate clothing to keep out the increasing wind chill, and no doubt dampening air caused by the lowering cloud base, I continued on up and around the slopes of the Allt a'Choinne Mhill until finally I reached a small hanging valley beneath the bealach of Beinn an Fhurain and Conival. I crossed the stream and scrambled up through a rocky band to reach the ridge that would eventually lead me to the summit of Conival. Visibility had vanished as I crossed the stream and now there would just be views of thickening mist, interspersed with some moments of thinning mist! I would see absolutely no sign of the impressive Coire a'Mhadaidh or the quartzite buttresses of Na Tuadhan.

Even without visibility there was a feeling of desolation about this place, the surface akin to a lunar landscape, anywhere I could see there lay snow and rock. The temperature dipped even lower now that the sun had disappeared and I was glad of my recent purchases (ME eclipse zip tee & Arc'teryx Nuclei hoody) for keeping my core warm and dry. I followed the ridge around until I was skimming the rim of the corrie (this is not a euphemism) and was met by an icy blast of wind that literally almost knocked me off my feet!! I had to lean into the wind blast that was howling in from the snow filled corrie in order to keep my balance as I traversed around it. I can only imagine how pretty this view would be on a clear day. An upward traverse through rocks and snow and I located the summit cairn of Conival (wind shelter) at 988m and immediately took shelter for a bite to eat and intake of fluids. I removed my rucksack and noticed that the moisture on it had frozen and the clips needed thawing to release. A ham sandwich and lucozade were more than enough to refuel me for the next section of struggle against the elements.

On a clear day I would have seen the fine ridge that heads off to Ben More Assynt to the east, but not today. I set about scrambling down some large boulders, crossing bands of snow that saddled the fine ridge, scrambling up more boulders and rocks and eventually locating the summit cairn of Ben More Assynt 998m.

I stopped here only long enough to take a picture of Jelly McBaby on the frozen summit cairn, then headed back to retrace my steps to Conival, cursing soft expletives of the lack of views and vowing to return to the area in better conditions. The wind thankfully had not decided to change direction so was now helping me back along the ridge rather than halting my progress. There were a couple of hairy moments of crossing snow piled up on either side of the narrow ridge with the prospect of a slide down into either corrie not on my things to do list for today.

Then, just as a way to tease me into thinking I may actually get some views, the mist briefly cleared and I fired off a quick snap to prove that there were still blue skies above me, then it disappeared as quickly as it had cleared!

The rest of the trek involved a return on the outbound route back to the car. Once below the mist the weather improved, the wind died away and the temperature returned to a level that I could start to remove layers again, and I simply retraced my steps down the slopes and along the path back to the car park. I was pleasantly surprised to note that I managed to complete this trek in six hours (recommended 7-9 hours) and that I would probably arrive home in the dying moments of daylight.

On the drive back I noticed that Suilven was finally visible so stopped the car to take a quick shot.

Further down the road to Ullapool I stopped for another quick snap of a hill I believe to be Stac Pollaidh, although I am not 100% certain of this.

I now have 56 Munro's remaining to be bagged and will attempt to make headway on this in the coming weeks/months, but I would hope to find time to stay in Ullapool for a few days and traverse some of the other fine peaks that adorn the area.

 

https://www.facebook.com/john.stalker.31/media_set?set=a.10201892387818271.1073741842.1440975916&type=3&uploaded=55 

 

Hope the link to the pictures works...and also the hyperlinks to Inchnadamph and Assynt.