An Unintended Summit - 2

We hadn't intended to climb Ben Hiant on Sunday (see earlier post here) but found ourselves working our way towards the top, encouraged by the brilliant weather.  Despite someone already occupying the summit, we walked up to it, to find that another Kilchoan resident, Anne Jackson, had beaten us to the top.  Anne is a keen walker and a member of the local Coastguard cliff rescue team.

She pointed out the summit of Ben Nevis, Scotland and the UK's highest mountain, away to the east of us.  It's the peak peeping up almost in the middle of this picture, with the heavy capping of snow.  The darker peak to the right is Ben Resipole.

To the north we looked down on Loch Mudle, and away across the sea to the snow-covered Cuillin Hills on Skye....

....and, a little further round to the east, Lochan a' Mhadhaid Riabhaich with the hills of Morar and Moidart in the distance.

Finally, turning to the west, we looked down on Kilchoan.  A small pond to the left, on the top of a nearby hill, was still frozen, and had snow on its icy surface, probably from a few minutes' drizzle the previous day, yet the temperature must have been well above zero. The island visible in the distance is Coll.

It had taken us three hours to reach the summit by our circuitous route, but we were able to use a far more direct route to come down the mountain.

This is the first time we have climbed Ben Hiant from the west side.  While it isn't as easy an approach as the eastern one, and longer, it's much more exciting.

An interactive map of the area is here.