An 80 mile drive (including 60 miles of single track with passing places) brought us via Lairg to the Dun Dornaigil Broch, a stone roundhouse dating from 400 to 200BC. Possibly owned by a family that controlled the verdant valley. Note the impressive lintel over the doorway behind Sue.
The picture below shows the real reason for our visit to these parts. The mountain to the right of the broch is Ben Hope, the most northerly of Scotland’s 3000 ft summits. Sue hadn’t been up it before, and I don’t think my ascent in 1995 was on anything like such a cracking day as today.
We continued on to the Ben Hope car park, where there were already a dozen vehicles in situ. The route up the hill is relentlessly uphill, the 930 metre ascent being achieved in just 3.5km. (Compared to 7.5km to reach Ben Klibreck’s summit the other day.) Anyway, the sun shone on the hot day, and views were admired throughout - this one looking back along the glaciated valley.
Given today’s visibility, the guiding cairns were somewhat superfluous.
The gradient eased towards the end of the climb.
Yellow lichen adorned virtually all of the exposed rocks.
We reached the summit in rather less than three hours, and spent an hour or so there together with the occupants of some of the other vehicles in the car park. The views from the summit were stunning.
The usual flowers were seen, such as the Common Dog Violet pictured below. Orchids appeared for the first time this trip - white flowers and spotted leaves - I’ll try to name the species later.
Sue sped off ahead on the descent, enabling her to grab two wild swimming opportunities. It was 28C in the car park. Fabulous weather, and not a midge in sight.
Here’s our route - 7.5km with 930 metres ascent, taking five and a quarter hours.
We took a 100 mile scenic route back to Ullapool, much of which was on single track roads with passing places, passing North Sea beaches such as the one pictured below, and enjoying ice creams in Durness.
Done by me and Gimmer again on the same trip as Ben Klibreck. Many paths in Scotland are cleverly engineered by the stalking fraternity using zog-zags and the like. Not Ben Hope. I remember a long straight relentless steep ascent, but on a fine day, providing another good memory. The clarity of the air comes through on your photos. Is Sue serious about completing the Ms? With your organisational talents and support she would have them polished off in no time with a bit of planning. Go for it!
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