Ben More Coigach and Sgurr an Fhidhleir

The mountains nearby are stunning because, although not as high as the Scottish ‘Munros’, they rise dramatically from sea level, carved out of sandstone by glaciers. Today we climbed a wonderful ridge to Ben More Coigach (meaning big hill of Coigach) then headed up Sgurr an Fhidhleir (meaning peak of the fiddler).

Having parked Molly at the end of a long single track road, 10k from the campsite in the most remote area of the peninsula, we took a rough path in the direction of Garbh Choireachan at the beginning of the ridge.

The path soon disappeared completely and we navigated through heather, rocks and tussocks of grass, steeply up hill. It was tough going and I didn’t enjoy it, dreading this sort of terrain continuing throughout the hike.

Having followed a small gorge with a babbling river running down it, we finally emerged on to the hillside, where there was less heather and it was easier to walk. Phew! The views over the Summer Isles were now really starting to open up and Molly Moho was just a white dot, far below us.

We soon began to climb again, but now we were on well-eroded rock and it was possible to pick out paths. Although it was steep and there were some big rock steps to negotiate, I loved this section. I barely realised how quickly we were gaining height because the route kept me focussed, choosing where to step, and the views just got better and better.

Rather than the path to the west of the ridge, we chose to scramble along the rocky top. It wasn’t difficult, but there were some huge drops. Thankfully, I have a decent head for heights when I feel safe and it’s not windy and wet! I think I had a grin on my face all the way to the top.

Too soon, the ridge ended and we turned to ascend the summit of Ben More (743 metres) on a more gentle, grassy slope. Looking back at the ridge, it was amazing to think we’d just walked along the top of it!

By now the wind was beginning to build and it was getting colder so we were glad of the summit shelter to eat our lunch. As we did, we picked out other mountains in the Assynt range we’d like to climb… Stac Pollaidh, Cul Mor, Suilven, Quinag… I hope the weather stays good!

Suitably replenished, we wound our way downhill through rough terrain (to about 545 metres) before climbing again to Sgurr an Fhidhleir (705 metres). The walking was a bit tedious, avoiding clumps of heather, hidden rocks and wet moss but, thankfully, it’s been so dry recently that the many bogs were dry!

At the top of The Fiddler the 360 degree views were even better than they had been on Ben More. The Assynt mountains were spread out in all their glory in one direction, above a 500 metre drop to a small loch far below, and the Summer Isles poked out of the glistening blue sea in another direction. Wonderful!

Now it was time for the return leg of our hike. I hoped it wasn’t going to end up like the start. Thankfully, we followed a rough path along a grassy ridge all the way back to Molly Moho. It wasn’t bad at all, although my poor old knees did protest on the steeper sections! What a great day!