I had found that there was little correlation between visual appeal and physical appeal. Striking, shapely hills did not always offer the best walking. Suilven looked amazing but I had found its long, lumpy approach from the Falls of Kirkaig to be one of my least enjoyable walks, though weather and injury played their part too. Carn Ban looked like a large lump but I really enjoyed the easy rhythm of walking over its high, lonely plateau.

Beinn Bhan required a revisit to upgrade its physical appeal. I had always found it to be a stunningly impressive and complex-looking hill, ever since my first ride up to Bealach na Ba in 1968.

That twisting pass was the only road to Applecross in the 1960s. When I finally climbed Beinn Bhan from that road, I found it wearying having to clamber over all the blocky boulders and scattered rocks. No rhythm, no relaxation, too much having to look down rather than up.

My other incentive to return was Sron Coire an Fhamhair, the nose above the giant’s corrie. My starting point this time was low down, by the bridge over the River Kishorn. This meant a lot more ascent but it encouraged me to walk into the enticing corries that line the east face of Beinn Bhan. The path was good, so I followed it almost all the way up to the loch.

From there it was a case of picking out a good line through the heather to the foot of one of the soaring sandstone buttresses. I knew nothing about the route, but I could see enough to judge that there would be some way up through the steep bands of crags. I was well aware as I weaved my way up how much I liked this kind of thing, heading for an unclimbed summit via an unknown route amidst a wild landscape, with no-one else around. It was not easy, that was part of the appeal, but it was not that hard either. Each time I reached a rock wall, all I had to do was walk along a ledge at its base and look for a line of weakness, the broken ground that I could scramble up fairly easily. It was a route full of interest with no serious alarms, but I was relieved when the angle eased and I could see easier ground heading up toward the summit.

Frowning grey clouds threatened all day but never closed in until near the end. There was enough to see down and around nearby to make those high slopes feel a wonderful place to be. It took me two hours to walk all the way out to the Far North Top and back but it was enjoyable walking almost all the way. It got even better for the final climb up to the main summit of Beinn Bhan, along the top of the astonishing cliffs that rose almost vertically from the corries far below.

Light mist rolled in along the top to provide a ghostly atmosphere, but I was able to walk along the edge and peer down to A' Phoit and A' Chioch, two camel-back summits that looked almost unreachable. I saw enough to confirm that there was no way down to either of them from Beinn Bhan, but I judged it would be possible to find a way from one to the other if I could reach them from below and pick the right line. But that was for another day.

The graceful south ridge provided my way down from Beinn Bhan, with one last summit on the way. When the angle eased, I cut the corner to take a direct line down to the bridge and finish a superb, satisfying circuit. Beinn Bhan had been reinstated as a fine hill for walking over as well as admiring, thanks to Sron Coire an Fhamhair and those wonderful corries and cliffs.