Undiscovered Scotland

 

Quinag is a "Y" shaped mountain mass that fills the area north of Loch Assynt and south of Loch a Chairn Bhain, perhaps better known as the sea loch now crossed by the beautifully curving bridge at Kylesku.

Quinag is unusual in offering the energetic walker no fewer than three separate mountains over 2,500ft (Corbetts) in a single day's outing. This also means that this is no easy day out. While Munros can often be strung together along a ridge with no great drop between them, a mountain only becomes a Corbett if it drops by at least 500 feet on all sides. So even though the usual starting point for this walk is at a height of 250m, a tour of all the summits is a fairly major undertaking.

Most climbs start from the car park on the east side of the A894 close to its highest point on Quinag's flank; at map reference NC233273. From here you follow the path up to the low ridge that crosses the entrance to the huge bowl that lies between two of Quinag's peaks, Spidean Coinich to your left and Sail Gharbh ahead and to your right. (Continues below image...)

 

The easiest day out is to head left from this point and follow the rocky slopes round the side of the bowl up to Spidean Coinich's summit. From there you can press on to tackle the remaining peaks, or not.

An alternative on reaching the entrance to the bowl is to head straight on across it towards the bealach at the low point between Spidean Coinich and Sail Gharbh. From there you can either come back in a circular route taking in Spidean Coinich, or move on to tackle Sail Gharbh and Sail Gorm beyond. The permutations are endless; but each step does involve a fair bit of descent and reascent.

Quinag can also be climbed from the A837 Lochinver road, again via the bealach between Spidean Coinich and Sail Gharbh (though this time from the other side); but with the disadvantage of a much lower starting point. This is fascinating and complex mountain with a lot of character, and one whose tops get steadily more lonely as you move west, away from the main road.