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Suilven, A Very Special Place

North West Highlands – August 2018

The Trip to the NW Highland

Thursday was spent packing Hamish with the usual array of gear to support the adventure. The cat was also helping me pack, or should I say, getting in the bloody way. Lisa always say's, "awww, look, he knows we are going away, can we not just take him!".. cough cough, "Erm, no, next time dear!" Im still using that one, and getting away with it, for now! First the menu and its purchase, really don't like this part but has to be done. Other than the Summit to Eat food we required for the adventure we needed sustenance for the couple of days we were going to spend relaxing at Clachtoll Campsite. Isn't it mad how you can plan all your meals, take everything with you, THEN BRING MOST OF IT BACK! Places like the famous Lochinver Pie Shop are to blame for that, as is Andy Toop from Backcountry Scotland for telling me about it! I had pies on the brain until the moment I was sat in the pie shop! Definitely a place worth stopping at though.

Lisa finished work and arrived home pretty sharp. Hamish was sat in the driveway and I was sat in him, waiting, twiddling my thumbs, bursting to get on the road. A quick change of disguise, out of office kit and into outdoor gear, we were off. This was going to be brilliant!

We dropped in to see Andy and pick up a couple of bits of kit we needed, did we actually need it. More kit, cant ever have enough kit lol. I also wanted to borrow a couple of sails for the packrafts and give them a try as the wind was looking like it may have been a little bit of an issue. The sails would have turned a negative into a positive, allowing us to "flee doon" the Lochs at a rapid rate of knots, or so we had hoped. It was also a chance to take a driving break in Aviemore before the push to our intended overnight destination, the bottom of Stac Pollaidh. We knew the exact place to park from our trip around the North Coast 500 a year previous, or was it two years, I cant remember. (I'm getting old and forgetful). We had arrived in the dark but could still see the outline of the hill, it was then it began to feel like we had finally arrived in the wilderness, leaving the real world behind, until Monday at least.

The Plan

Okay, before I ramble on further I expect you would like to know the plan!

The plan was to hit the North West Highlands, Inverpolly Nature Reserve, for a little packrafting expedition. We would start off at Boat Bay, head into Loch Sionascaig, then eventually arrive at the base of Suilven's south side, the less used approach. From here we would climb this special mountain and summit camp. Get down the next day and packraft back out to Hamish. How does that sound !?

Suilven, its not a Munro, it a smaller mountain known as a Marilyn. Suilven forms a steep-sided ridge some 2 km in length. The highest point is known as Caisteal Liath (the Grey Castle in Scottish Gaelic). There are two other summits: Meall Meadhonach (Middle Round Hill) at the central point of the ridge and Meall Beag (Little Round Hill).

Let The Fun Begin

An adventure to Suilven has been long overdue, its remarkable outline makes it one of Scotland's best known and most easily identified mountains. Packrafting in to this special place through the Inverpolly Nature Reserve was going to be awesome, its got to be one of the places that has that real 'wilderness' feeling of remoteness and seclusion.

We parked Hamish and kissed his bumper goodbye for now, then spat out the bug carnage that the trip up had place on it! A short walk through what was to be our first encounter with sludge (bog) to where we would put the boats in the water. We unpacked the rafts and set them up. It was breezy and the inflation bags filled with air perfectly. It only takes around 10 full bags and the rafts are inflated, a wee top up of air by blowing into the valve and you're done. Strap the kit on to the bow, ease yourself into the boat and get the paddle working. Easy init! While the wind direction worked well for the setting up the boats, it wasn't going to allow us to deploy the turbo power option, the sail!

We paddled into the bay, getting more and more excited about what we were doing. The weather was roasting hot, breeze was warm. perfect!

As we entered Loch Sionascaig we were hit by an awe inspiring view. We stopped paddling for a moment and took it all in, it was SO quiet. We were looking at these guys and they were constantly watching over us, you can feel that they are the ones that command this area - Stac Pollaidh, Cul Mor, Cul Beag, Suilven, you are surrounded by them and feel insignificant and very small in their shadow.

We pushed on until we arrived at our first portage. The portage would link Loch Sionascaig with the river that connects Fionn Loch and Loch Veyatie. This wasn't a long way to carry the boats and kit, but the heat and going underfoot made for a difficult tramp through the sludge. As always, Lisa never fails to impress me, her determination is an inspiration to me if I'm honest. A great adventure buddy that just wants to be an equal, carry what she needs to, offers that helping hand, physically and mentally when needed. There was a funny moment of frustration as she reached yet another puddle of unknown depth. No way was she going to try and step/jump over it, there was a grunt and hmmm, then the boat suddenly swung around, landed over the '50 foot deep puddle, it was!' a hop on the boat and a skip off it, BOOM - a BRIDGE! Why didn't I think of that, I kicked myself in my head. She never said anything, she just kept going...…..well it was funny at the time, maybe you had to be there!

We reached the river and got back in the boats. It was lazy river time, the flow gently took us through this vast landscape. A perfect moment to take the views in again from yet another perspective. How peaceful, I found my head was totally clear from the fuzz and white noise of life for the first time in a while! Get with it Dave, check the map. We navigated up a small tributary that lead from Suilven and were surprised how far we were able to paddle up it, less bog trotting! It soon came to an end though and it was time to pack away the boats a cache them out of sight. Boots on, rucksacks on and it was time locate the track towards Sir Suilven.

Before we began the ascent for real we needed a resupply of water so we filtered from a nice fast flowing river. Unfortunately we had to now carry this up. It was at this point we seen the only two people we had or would see for the rest of the day. It really was like we had the place all to ourselves.

We finally reached the base of the ascent to the prize. It was a loose and rocky path, pretty eroded by a combination of footfall and the many water courses that have navigated their way from the upper slope. As we climbed we were both sucking in air from Africa but were simply stunned by the views as we gained more and more height. I was getting a little concerned though, I could hear distant painful screams. Lisa has supersonic hearing, I asked her, she couldn't hear anything! I was hurting quite a bit and those screams became more audible, 'Mercy, Mecy' ….it was then that I realised that my quads, butt checks and lungs were having a 'who can shout loudest' competition! It was steep!

Suddenly we arrived at the bealach and were presented with an incredible view over towards Canisp, the screams for mercy instantly disappeared, funny how that works eh! With our feet still below the ridge we lent our arms on the grass, as if we were stood at the end of a stage looking at the performance in front of us, the view was incredible. Once again, I felt a little emotional, what the hell is wrong with you man, that's a couple of times you've been forced to confess this in a blog!

We tunred left along the ridge and began to ascend again. Soon the path crosses the remains of a quite amazing drystone dyke. Beyond the wall the path begins ascending towards the summit, winding to and fro with a little very easy scrambling. It was time to set up our little hotel for the night.

Summit Camp Suilven

Suilven may be only 731 metres high, but its remarkable outline make it one of Scotland's best known and most easily identified mountains. Its position in the heart of Assynt's cnoc-and-loch landscape and superb views make it one of the finest peaks in Britain. Walk Highlands

And that my friends, is why we desided that we needed to take full advantage of the time we had and spend the night on the summit of this magnificent mountain. We had planned to set up camp just above Bealach Mor, this would give us a little shelter from the prevailing winds from the west and, weather permitting, a great point from which to see both sunset and sunrise with the western peak, Meall Meadhonach helping to make for a funky sunrise selfie moment. The weather was to have the last say on that one though!

Exploring Sexy Suilven

We were now well and truly watered, fed and set up so it was now time to explore the true summit of Suilven, at 731 metres. We weren't to be disappointed, the views in all directions were staggering. I have to say the mountain is immaculately clean of garbage at the moment. A sign that only serious lovers of our great outdoors make the effort to get here. Long may that last!

Anyway, I wont blether on about the views, see for your yourself...

Sleep time on Suilven

It had been a long and wonderful day, there was no sign of a sunset but that didn't really matter. With the day coming to a close it was time to get cozy in our sleeping bags and reflect on the days achievement's and look forward to what tomorrow was to bring.

Jeezo, was that my feet that honk or yours! Night, night dear! xx

Good Morning, or was it!

Of course it was, even if we were cloaked in low, wet cloud! I slept well, Lisa had a bit of a restless night as she was on slightly less even ground than I. She had slid into me, which was normal, a kinda sleeping bag spooning shall we say. We could hear the rain on the tent, it always sounds worse inside the tent than it actually is outside, I think ! I unzipped the tent door to reveal the thick cloud that only allowed a few meters of visibility. I zipped back up and we had a lie-in for another wee while. The rain had faded a little so I had another look outside, it was clearing a little now. Breakfast and brew and it was time to get packed up and ready for the decent. This was the part that Lisa wasn't sure about, ever since she broke her wrist she has been a little nervous about slipping on it. As she says, its not the pain of breaking it, its the pain in the ass recovery time!

We took our time on the way down and as always the decent went better than expected from Lisa's point of view. I couldn't hear those screams this time either !

Back on the Water

We finally reached the packraft cache. Even though the cloud was still down, navigationally it was very easy to find them as we had deflated and stored them in a bag along the river that lead from the bottom of Sir Suilven all the way to the main river. We had a couple of kms to paddle before we had to get out again, just before the rapids on the River Kirkaig, a little too sporting for us I confess! We needed to make the second partage of the trip at this point anyway. This would link the river to Loch a Ghille, an easy walk compared to our first portage yesterday.

Once again we got back on the water and paddled this short section until we got to our third and final portage. This would link Loch a Ghille to Loch Sionascaig. The rain was still coming and going but manageable. At this point though we were beginning to tire a little so the sight of Boat Bay was one that was welcome. We arrived back at the start point, ready for a shower and food. We quickly deflated the boats and made our way to Hamish, There was no breeze at Hamish which turned the area into a midge magnet, as always, I went into meltdown mode and frantically changed out of my wet clothes whilst being savaged by THEM! Lisa, thinks I'm off my head, she was just going about her business normally! She's hard as nails!

Right, pie shop and campsite...lets go....

THE END

Campsite - Clachtoll Beach Campsite

We emailed Clachtoll Campsite on the Tuesday evening, Louise & Shane had a reply back to us the next morning. We were booked and ready to go. Point to note the site takes cash or cheque upon arrival, no card payments available. The owners are as nice as the surrounding beaches and views.

Address: 134, Clachtoll, Lochinver IV27 4JD

Phone: 01571 855377

Cost: 2 Adults, 1 Motorhome with Electric is £22.00 per night (Without Electric is £18.00)

www.clachtollbeachcampsite.co.uk