Suilven

Suilven is 731 metres, which is modest, but it stands entirely alone on a low plateau of Lewisian gneiss scattered with lochans, so it rises about seven hundred metres from its own base with nothing around it, and the effect is out of all proportion to the height. It is a ridge about two kilometres long, and the shape changes completely with the angle: from Lochinver in the west it is a rounded dome, Caisteal Liath, the grey castle, and from the north or south it is a thin blade. The rock is Torridonian sandstone sitting on gneiss around three billion years old, with the unconformity between them visible as a line across the plateau. The walk in from Glencanisp is around eleven kilometres before the climb starts, which makes it a long day rather than a hard one.

What you actually see

• The isolated ridge - a mountain standing alone on a low gneiss plateau.
• Caisteal Liath - the rounded western end that reads as a dome from Lochinver.
• The two profiles - a dome from the west and a blade from the north.
• The unconformity - sandstone lying on rock two billion years older.

When to go

May to September; the approach is long and daylight matters. Midges are severe in still weather from June to August. Clear conditions are worth waiting for, since the mountain is often capped in cloud.

Honest expectations

The round trip is around twenty-five kilometres with the climb in the middle and takes eight to ten hours. The final section to the bealach is steep and eroded. There is no shelter on the route and the plateau paths are wet. Assynt has few facilities and no phone signal on the hill.

Nearby

Lochinver is at the road end; Stac Pollaidh and the Assynt peaks lie south.