Treading on ancient ground
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VENTURE above Ullapool into Assynt and you enter a world of distinctive peaks with striking outlines, built of rocks dating back millions of years.
This really is a place where the saying "as old as the hills" rings true. My eyes stood out on stalks the first time I entered this magnificent landscape, and the sense of wonder has diminished little with the passing years.
At the end of a glorious week’s weather when temperatures in Scotland were breaking records, I decided a visit to Inverpolly was on the cards after ascents of Slioch in Torridon and Fionn Bheinn above Achnasheen.
The neighbouring peaks of Cul Mor (big back) at 849 metres and Cul Beag (small back) at 769 metres offer good leg-stretching sport and are easily accessible from the A835 to the east. Corbett-baggers need to climb both on their way to completing the set.
Parked in the pull-off just past the visitor centre at Knockan Crag, where the story of this landscape is told using poetry, sculpture and interactive demonstrations, we began our day.
Passing through a gate at the roadside, a well-made path winds past Lochan Fhionnlaidh to peter out at a large boulder at the foot of Meallan Diomhain, the eastern approach ridge to Cul Mor.
Views of Suilven, unmistakable in all its glory, are glimpsed on the way, and it’s a constant companion for the rest of the day.
As we pressed on up on the now less defined path, two birds flew in circles around us, landing occasionally. Their distinctive "referee’s whistle" call gave them away as dunlin.
Inhabitants of estuaries and beaches in winter, they breed on moorland in solitary pairs in the summer. Skylarks, too, rose off the moorland, their liquid song filling the air as they climbed ever higher.
At the top of Meallan Diomhain, Cul Mor’s profile is laid out, though the summit, marked by a trig pillar, is still hidden behind a steep sandstone crag.
A subsidiary summit – Creag nan Calman – lies to its left, with a corrie between them and a burn running from it down to a boggy area beneath the hill.
From Meallan Diomhain, Cul Mor is usually traversed anticlockwise, with its north ridge ascended first via an
attractive little lochan.
I decided instead on a clockwise round, taking in Creag nan Calman first. This involved a short descent to reach the burn issuing from the corrie, then a climb up the grassy ground alongside it to a point where it could be easily crossed.
While I set off up Creag nan Calman, Rosemary saved some energy by missing it out and instead walked along a path to the bealach between the two summits.
The summit of Creag nan Calman provides a wonderful view over the Inverpolly landscape to Cul Beag and the sharp outline of Stac Pollaidh to the west. This is rugged territory, largely pathless and dotted with lochs and lochans.
The climb to Cul Mor’s summit from the bealach is easy and we were soon at the trig pillar to enjoy more views, meeting up with other walkers who had approached anticlockwise.
The north-east ridge is probably easier to come up than go down. Block scree has to be negotiated, employing hands as well as feet for safe passage, before easier ground is reached.
We relaxed at the lochan under the ridge in the afternoon sun, propped against a boulder and relishing the peace and quiet before returning to the outward path over Meallan Diomhain.
