Assynt Adventures
Glas Bheinn (Assynt) Corbett 770m
The Bone Caves & A Perfect West Coast Hideaway
Explore, Adventure Will Find You!
We’d been looking forward to revisiting this area and were particularly excited to hopefully take in a number of Assynt’s finest peaks. The weather had other plans, as did a certain aquatic contraption that we’d become extremely attached to!
We checked the normal weather forecasts in the week leading up to our Assynt adventure. There wasn’t really a clear weather pattern as such to take note of. So we just had to work with the forecasts on the day. It was to be cold and windy but nothing we couldn’t cope with.
We left Edinburgh and headed North, a very familiar route. Eventually we arrived at Inchnadamph where we’d park up for the night. It was around 23:30pm and the long drive had tired us out, I think my conversation on the way up helped Lisa get a little extra sleep!! I turned around and noticed her eyes were welded shut, I also spotted a little sleep slaver making it’s way to the floor. Okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, sorry chic! I did consider that old trick of screaming out loud and tapping the breaks but that’s just downright nasty, funny though!
The plan was to visit the Bone Caves in the morning before heading to our Basecamp for the next three days, West Coast Hideaways, more about this little gem later. Stick with us for now!
Day One: Bones Caves - Inchnadamph
We woke up nice and early so we could have breakfast and move away from where we’d parked before the world woke up around us. It’s good practice to arrive late and leave early, and of course leave no trace. Doing this keeps everyone happy and has less impact on the areas we decide to overnight at. Fed and watered, we headed to find the Bones. There’s a small, signed parking area on the east side of the A837 about 2 1/2 miles south of Inchnadamph. The nearest post code is IV27 4HN, that just takes you to the Inchnadamph Hotel though (where we parked for the night).
The weather wasn’t bad, a little trickle of rain so we put our waterproofs on and packed one rucksack with the basics. Basics would normal have included a brew kit, why didn’t I have it packed this time, doh! It would’ve been nice to have brewed up in the cave, never mind, next time!
We’d seen the caves in many YouTube videos and really wanted to take a look for ourselves. The Bone Caves are a series of natural caves set into a high limestone cliff called Creag nan Uamh (Crag of the Caves). The caves are named for the large number of animal bones found during excavations. There are four main cave openings in the cliffs, formed before the last ice age by water dissolving limestone in cracks in the surrounding rock. Subsequent glacial action and erosion of the glen by water left the caves hundreds of feet above the valley floor. There is no indication that the caves were ever used as a human habitat, but two separate human burials have been discovered within the caves. In total, over 1000 pieces of reindeer antler have been found in the Bone Caves, with dates ranging from 47,000 to 8,300 years ago. The large number of reindeer bone suggests that the area at the head of the glen was used as a calving ground. One rare find was the skull of a Northern lynx, dated to 1,770 years ago. This is the only Northern lynx ever found in Scotland. Other intriguing remains include a possible polar bear, arctic fox, wolf, and brown bear. I bet you didn’t realise we were quite so smart eh!! Cough, cough! Thank you World Wide Web.
The Allt nan Uamh runs through the glen. Stop to look at the river in front of you. Most of the water doesn’t flow from higher up the valley as you might expect — instead, it is appearing from beneath your feet. This is a major spring, the Fuaran Allt nan Uamh. The limestone in this area is so permeable that the water flows through it in a series of caves and fissures, only appearing at the surface in a few places. The water emerging here entered the underground system about a kilometre higher up this valley. You’ll see what we mean in the video.
There’s an information board at the parking area, from the here trail leads through a gate, along the north side of the small burn of Allt nan Uamh. You pass a small waterfall near the start of the trail. The trail is super easy to follow and it's a magical place; the location is superb, in a secluded glen feels like you’re miles from anywhere. It does not take long to explore the caves themselves, and I really wish I’d brought that brew kit! A lovely walk back to Hamish and a nice little leg stretcher. This would be a perfect escape from driving if you’re on the North Coast 500.
Day Two: Glas Bheinn (Assynt)
The northernmost summit of the great range which borders the eastern side of Assynt and runs over Conival to Breabag, Glas Bheinn receives comparatively little attention. It's ascent still provides a good walk in stunning surroundings.
We parked Hamish on the hairpin bend carpark on the A894, just a short walk from the famous Wailing Widow Falls. These falls are the out-flow from Loch na Gainmhich and can be accessed by a rough path beside the Unapool Burn from the A894. You can also walk to the bottom of the falls from another carpark slightly further on. The falls are where we’d end today’s walk.
We kitted up, as always with more layers on than was needed, ten minutes later, you guessed it, all stop, de-layer and back on the trail. There’s a clear path known as the Lairig Unapool, this guided us to the base of the hill. The cloud was covering Quinag to our right but our target remained free from the fluffy stuff. We carried on along the path, which was really a river, to a point where we could easily cross onto the steep-sided NW shoulder, the ridge that would pull us to the top. We didn’t see an obvious path up the very steep side but that was okay. The slope was mostly grassy and bouldery, a little tough going. We headed for a gully we planned to move up the side of, we’d later see a path up on the other side of that gully. We deliberately chose the hard way up (cough, cough). With steepness comes rapid height gain and we were soon on the crest of the shoulder. The views were superb with patches of blue sky appearing. The wind was getting up though.
After cresting the shoulder it was a nice walk to the top, apart from the ever increasing wind. The views to our left were superb, looking down into Coire Dearg and the huge puddle which was being held hostage by the surrounding mountain. We headed to a small cairn on the rim, took in the views out to sea and then pressed on towards the summit.
After a quick bite to eat at the summit we soon moved on, it was bitterly cold and we were keen to get on with the next section. The route brought us down a ridge into what felt like the definition of wilderness. Okay, we know there’s no such thing as true wilderness in Scotland but this is as close to the real thing as we’re going to get. We were away from that westerly wind and sheltered by the mountain we’d just become best mates with. The sun was coming and going, the warmth of it hitting my ever ageing coupon was as welcome as the thought of what was to come at adventure HQ!
We were starting to run out of time and were conscious of the shorter days the winter months dish out. We’d picked up the pace and had hoped to see the Eas a'Chual Aluinn, the highest waterfall in Britain. It was here that we come across river crossing no1. MrsO went for it, I’ve never seen someone cross so graciously. The whole time I was waiting for the splash! You can see how she got on in the film!! After the crossing we decided to press on and leave the waterfalls for another day. We were lucky enough to see lots of wildlife, there were some deer that really didn’t care about us and never really moved when they seen us. We made our way around them as if to say, sorry for trespassing! We passed a beautiful lochan just as the sun was dipping behind the western hills. Once again we stopped and had a moments rest whilst enjoying the changing light.
We made it across the worlds worst bog and arrived at our second river crossing of the day, only this was to be even more sporting. The reasonably strong water flow was covering the stepping stones, which themselves felt pretty slippery. The safer option was to get in the deep stuff. This would mean that we were not putting ourselves in the fast flowing water which ultimately headed over the waterfall known as the Wailing Widow Falls. My parachuting days are long gone! I knew MrsO wasn’t going to be overly impressed with this little solution to our problem. I turned around looking for any alternatives, none to be found! As I turned back to say, it’s plan A, MrsO was knee deep and halfway across..she was on a mission lol, “hang on, I need to film it” I shouted! I’m not really sure what was shouted back at me, it sounded something like, “you can FILM yoursel, I’m not stopping” I’m sure she said “film”, I could be wrong!!
We made it safely over and it was also nice to know that Hamish was only a few hundred metres away. We got back to Hamish and it was time to change into dry clothes, but not before sending a cheeky text message to Jason at Adventure HQ. “Would you mind getting the hot tub fired up for us, PLEASE” ….
Adventure HQ - West Coast Hideaways
Perfect little Hideaway! PERFECT!
The first thing to say is, We’ll Be Back!! As outdoorsy folk the thought of coming back to such a perfect little hideaway made the whole experience simply amazing. The hot tub was brilliant, we spent hours in it getting the chill out of our bones from our day in the stunning Assynt mountains. The shepherd huts are superbly equipped with everything you need. It’s little wood burning stove adds to the charm, and the overall cosiness, not once were we cold! The views from the huts are stunning both day and night. You can’t beat staring up at the stars from the hot tub with a glass of wine in your hand and your favourite person sat next to you!
A very friendly welcome from Jason and Jaqueline on arrival. They couldn’t have been more helpful throughout our stay. Plenty banter with Jason, that made us feel right at home. If you follow our little adventures you’ll know that we love to try and help out any business where we can. This is a very new business and they have gotten it 100% right from the start. If you are in any doubt, just book, you won’t be disappointed!
Wait, we did have one problem.... getting ourselves out of that cosy, comfortable bed.
West Coast Hideaways
Perfect little Hideaway! PERFECT!
Adventure HQ - NEARBY MOUNTAINS
Quinag: A magnificent mountain which dominates the view over the croft to the east. Quinag has three peaks Spidean Coinich, Sail Gorm and Sail Gharbh which can be tackled separately or for the more energetic in one day. A popular walk with clear paths, you can find the car park on the A894 about 25mins drive from the huts
Suilven: One of Scotland’s finest & easily identifiable mountains, Suilven has an iconic status, set amongst the cnoc & loch landscape of Assynt. Park in Lochinver, the start of the walk is just past Glencansip Lodge.
Other great mountain walks close by are Canisp, Cul Mor & Cul Beag and for the munro baggers amongst you Cornival and Ben More Assynt which can be reached from Inchnadamph. A little further afield towards the Summer Isles is Stac Polly (Stac Pollaidh) which is great walk with stunning views.
From the history and geology of the Bones caves and it’s surrounding area to the wonderful wilderness walking around the Glas Bheinn circuit, and to finish off in such special place, our little shepherds hut. Well that’s just been AWESOME! We really do have some incredibly special places in Scotland.
Now that you’ve read it all, you can watch our wee films here.. if you fancy..
We hope you enjoy the film and…
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Explore and Adventure will find you!