“… one
of the best mountains in one of the wildest parts of Scotland” (1)
“… one
of the most majestic mountains in Scotland” (2)
 |
| Quinag from the walk-in |
Although
all of us had visited Assynt before, none of us had been to the top of Quinag
with the summit being just one of three Corbetts that lie within this massif. In addition to these major summits the
Database of British and Irish Hills (DoBIH) lists another 4 lesser
summits. A long day appeared to be ahead
of us.
We
followed the obvious path for a short while to a cairn which marked the turn
past the lochan and up on to the eastern slopes of Spidean Coinich. Easy-angled quartzite slabs led us up to the
first summit of the day which is a minor top before reaching the summit of the
first Corbett, Spidean Coinich. We took
in the view with the realisation that there was a lot of mountain still to
walk.
 |
| Sail Ghorm behind Sail Gharbh |
The
descent off Spidean Coinich leads below an imposing buttress which has some
impressive terrain for the rockclimber.
The guidebook lists quite a few routes but I’m sure that it doesn’t
regularly see any climbers.
 |
| Spidean Coinich summit crag |
Continuing
along the ridge leads to the third summit, marked as a spot height of 714 metres
on the OS Explorer map, but it is a nondescript heather-clad bump that the
footpath passes over without any obvious cairn to mark the spot. The next summit has a significant climb
leading up to it and forms the crossroads that leads to each of the three
Corbetts. It is at this point, Sail Gharbh
west top, that decisions can be made about the route to follow. The easy option is to drop to the bealach
between it and Sail Gharbh and head down to Lochan Bealach Cornaidh, picking up
the old stalkers’ path back to the car park.
A slightly more strenuous option is to walk over the bealach and up to
Sail Gharbh, which is the highpoint of Quinag.
But the big day out is to continue west towards Sail Ghorm.
 |
| Spidean Coinich |
A
couple of our group chose the Sail Gharbh option with the remainder of us
choosing the long day out so we left summit number four and headed for Sail
Ghorm. We passed some impressive gullies
to our left, making a mental note that they would probably give some good
winter sport, if they were ever to come into condition. The broad ridge led gently to the broad top
of the day’s fifth summit which was also the second Corbett of the walk. We retraced our steps and a couple of us had
a little scrambling diversion to summit number six, a tabletop summit marked as
a 687 metre spot height. This left us
with only the ultimate summit left to tick.
The
path skirts Sail Gharbh’s west summit to a bealach before following some broken
terrain up the ridge. It was here that
we saw a ptarmigan in semi-winter plumage, standing proud before flying down
into the coire with its white feathers standing out against the snow-free
slopes.
 |
| Ptarmigan |
The
true TRAIL 100 summit of Sail Gharbh, and therefore Quinag, is not the trig
point but a block that lies a few yards to the north. A few silly selfies were taken as some drops
of rain fell and then we were off down to Bealach na Chornaidh and the descent
to the main path before striding out towards the car park with jelly babies and
sherbet lemons providing the end-of-day sugar boost.
While
walking out on the stalkers’ path the ascents and descents of the surrounding
summits become more obvious. Some
guidebooks suggest ascending Sail Gharbh as the first summit of the walk, but
if you intend to tick all three Corbetts, I would strongly recommend following
the route that we did – the ascent to Spidean Coinich looks like a brutal way
to finish the day.
All
of the group met up at the Altnacealgach Inn for refreshment where Guinness
isn’t on draught but the device for getting the traditional head on the pint is
surely witchcraft ! And the landlord is
a Scouser, what more could you want ?
(1) quoted from “Scotland’s Best Small Mountains”
author Kirsty Shirra
publisher Cicerone Press
(2) quoted from “Walking the Corbetts Volume 2: North of
the Great Glen”
author Brian Johnson
publisher Cicerone Press
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