In the North
of Scotland, in Sutherland,
some four or five miles inland from Lochinver, is to he found
Suilven, ‘the
Sugar Loaf As can be seen clearly from our illustration Suilven,
when viewed from the coast, rises majestically in isolated splendour
from the bogs and moors of the Glen Canisp Forest. Although
attaining a maximum elevation of only 2,339 feet, its very aloofness
and starkness make it appear much loftier and more overwhelming
than its actual height would suggest. Its alternate name of
Pillar Hill is most apt when viewed from Lochinver.
Seen from
Loch Sionascaig to the south however Suilven is revealed, not
as an isolated cone, but as a three-peaked serrated ridge more
than a mile in length running from west to east above Fionn
Loch and Loch Veyatie. The great sheer rock cliffs which appear
to climb almost
perpendicularly to the sky are very aptly named Caisteal Liath,
the Grey Castle.
These ‘walls’
have been conquered of course by mountaineers but the more pedestrian
approach is by way of the track which leads up from Lochinver
and
follows the line of the Abliairin na Clach Airidh to Loch Ganive
and Loch Fada, up to the Great Pass, Bealach Mor. Beyond these
two lochs, to the north, rises Canisp (2,779 feet), only slightly
less impressive by reason of the fact that its flanks rise more
gently from the north
through the outlying Beinn Gharbh (1,769 feet). In similar harmony,
to the south across Loch Veyatie, rises Cul Mor
(2,786 feet). North-east of Suilven, at the head of Loch Assynt,
is Inchnadamph, a small hamlet on the main A837 road, renowned
as an angling centre. Brooding over the loch are the great masses
of Quinag (2,653 feet) and Glas Bheinn (2,541 feet). These are
among the oldest
rock formations in the world, being composed of Archaean gneiss
rock and they reach their lofty summit east of Suilven, across
the river Loan an, in Ben More Assynt (3,273 feet).
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