Mountains

Tongue’s magnificent mountain rewards more than a photograph, but its boggy approaches and rocky heights demand considerably more than an afternoon’s enthusiasm.

Suilven, Canisp, Cùl Mòr, Cùl Beag, Stac Pollaidh and Quinag dominate Assynt, yet the road conceals them behind the very landscape that created them. To see these ancient sentinels properly, you may need to leave the NC500 behind. Better still, leave the land.

At my favourite Lochinver picnic spot, Suilven feels like an extra guest beside the Land Rover. Getting to know this mysterious neighbour takes more than one view.

Guests call it Mordor. Earlier travellers found beauty mixed with horror, describing the very skeleton of the earth exposed. Torridon’s mountains still have that power, especially when you step outside the car.

Their owners have gone to bag a Munro. That usually earns me a puzzled look from guests, before a Victorian gentleman, a mountain list and an unexpected connection with Marilyn Monroe enter the conversation.