I can’t even recall the last time I reached the summits of the two iconic northern Munros of Conival and Ben More Assynt. I believe it was more than a decade ago and I don’t think the weather was that great. In any case, I often find that it takes a second outing to a place to truly enjoy and remember the views, atmosphere, challenges and rewards. This is exactly what happened this summer when I walked these two Munros and an outlier southern Ben More Assynt top.
Brilliantly, an electric campervan adventure coincided with a weekend of sunny and bright weather in late April. This meant that the 20km walk, from Inchandamph, was a filled with fantastic vistas across the superb Assynt landscape and further afield to the coast and west coast islands.
I walked with friends Cath, Claire, Geraldine and Rachel and we followed a well-trodden path for most of the route.
Bagging Munros: Conival and Ben More Assynt
The walk starts from Inchnadamph, next to the Explorer’s Lodge, and we from there walked a wide track that headed towards a beautiful gorge. As the path narrowed, we started to climb beside a stream of lovely clear water with waterfalls and pools every so often.
Slowly but surely we kept on climbing and eventually spotted a bealach at around 600m from where we could spot Conival. Then began the steeper ascent on a rock-strewn path to gain the top of Conival at 987m.
From Conival, we looked along a long ridge heading east. At first, we descended on the ridge, then climbed again to reach the top of Ben More Assynt at 998m. It didn’t seem to take too long and as we walked and talked, we also enjoyed more fabulous views.
From Ben More Assynt, a southern outlier summit could be seen. This peak is classified as a Munro Top, which I was also keen to bag. I am now bagging Munro Top summits when I spot them on the map.
My friends agreed to accompany me to the 960m top and while it added another 2km to the route, plus a short scramble on the way there and back, we were all happy to make the most of the great conditions and to enjoy even more spectacular views. The scramble is a bit intimidating for a short while but nothing too tricky.
To return to the start, the route took us back over the Munro summits of Ben More Assynt and Conival. This meant that in total we walked to five summits and climbed a total elevation of 1455m.
While it had been a fairly long outing it was also hugely rewarding. In my opinion, there is little to beat a big day in the mountains, walking and chatting with friends and taking in lovely views, especially of Assynt, beneath a blue and sunny sky.