KYQ4: Carn Ban

Arrival at summit and a welcome from the Assynt skyline

Monday. 13 May 2019

Ascent: 943 metres

Distance: 38 kilometres, 26km by bike

Time: 7 hours 52 minutes

Carn Ban 843m 4hrs 28mins

My remaining Corbetts, apart from the two on Rum, are all in the far north. The most difficult in terms of time and distance is Carn Ban, deep in the Freevater Forest and at least 15 kilometres from the nearest road but with the chance to cycle in part of the way on some hill tracks. It was a hill for long daylight hours and preferably good weather. There was to be a spell of 4 good days in mid-May but I had events on the first and fourth days so there were only two days including a 200 mile drive up and then back. If I went in from Glencalvie Lodge at the head of Strathcarron, it would add 10 kilometres to the bike ride but allow me to climb Carn Chuinneag from Glencalvie as well. I would probably need to camp in the glen as It would take over 4 hours to drive up to Glencalvie.

I left home at 6:30am on a near-perfect morning, the A9 was comparatively quiet and I made it non stop to Bonar Bridge where I had to stop to find the road along Strathcarron, which did not appear on the satnav. Strathcarron is a glorious glen with fine birchwoods and a good number of houses, it was slow progress on the single track road that was littered with pheasants, the occasional quad bike but no traffic. I arrived at the car park at Glancalvie, assembled my bike, changed into some new trail shoes and began the ride towards Attadale Lodge.

It is a smooth track that winds its way along the Caledonian forest that embellishes the beautiful Alladale river. Just before the lodge, there is an information board and you cross a bridge and begin the rougher track, steep at first that follows Gleann Mor for 8 kilometres to Deenich Lodge. This is the estate where there are tentative proposals to re-introduce wolves, I remain open-minded on the possibility, aware of the damage done to the native Caledonian forests by deer.

It was tough going, uphill most of the way and some sections not particularly suited to my rudimentary mountain bike. A woman was cycling in the other direction on a long day from Black Bridge by Loch Glasscarnoch via Glencalvie and Glen Rusdale and back to Dingwall. Her mountain bike had massive wheels and tyres, all-round suspension, she was in her fifties and was training for a week riding the Portuguese mule trails. Two other cyclists came hurtling past on similar machines loaded with their camping gear. I felt low tech and my energy levels were sagging.

I reached Deenich lodge and spoke to a couple of Dutch visitors who had arrived by Range Rover from Alladale Lodge. They were full of praise for their stay there and felt that I was slightly bonkers to be exerting so much energy and sounding a bit jaded. I was, and the next two kilometres did not help as there was another hill to where the track from Black Bridge came in and then a descent to the start of the walk where a stalker's path climbs steeply to Cail Mhor.

I dumped the bike and began the climb, it always seems more difficult after a long time in the saddle. Reaching the top of the path brought me onto a boggy path that headed west but I decided to make a more direct approach and began a long slog northward. It was not possible to see the summit of Carn Ban because of the convex slopes. I reached the burn and continued upwards until I saw two walkers descending from a summit and presumed it was Carn Ban. I changed tack to reach the ridge they were descending only to discover when I passed them that they had been on the adjacent top of Bodach Beag. It had added a couple of kilometres and left me with a 100-metre descent and then a 150-metre ascent that added to the discomfort in my new shoes, they were not getting on well with my feet and each step was painful.

The summit of Carn Ban approached from the east gives no hint of what you discover on reaching the top. The skyline was filled by the Assynt peaks that were lined up for inspection, there is no finer sight. It was almost 3pm, at least an hour later than I had hoped. I had some lunch and then began a more sensible route for the descent, over the top to the south and then south-east down the broad ridge until I reached a cairn that marked a path running to the top of the stalker's path. It was very wet for the last few hundred metres and I pulled an abductor muscle avoiding a fall. I did wonder whether I could continue but after about five minutes the muscle eased and allowed me to limp down to the bike.

As so often on climbs involving bikes, the return journey was so much easier with lots of freewheeling and my wonder at how the cyclists who passed me on my way in were going so fast was simply explained by gravity. Some outdoor instructors had taken a party of young people to camp in Gleann Mor, from their activity and noise they seemed to be in high spirits. I was back at Glencalvie before 7pm, it was too late to climb Carn Chuinneag so I decided to pack my camping stuff and cycle to the foot of Carn Chuinneag in Glen Diebidale.