Читать книгу Scotland's Best Small Mountains. 40 of the best small mountains in Scotland under 3000ft онлайн

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Based on 3000-million-year-old rock that was once a part of North America and Greenland, Stac Pollaidh is now very much a Scottish institution. This small mountain has long held a place close to the heart of many walkers and it is easy to see why.

The dramatic rocky pinnacles of Stac Pollaidh’s ridge

Its dramatic rocky towers and pinnacles rise up from the banks of Loch Lurgainn, presumably the pool that gives Stac Pollaidh its name. Right in the centre of what was for many years the Inverpolly National Nature Reserve, Stac Pollaidh rubs shoulders with the likes of Cul Mor, Cul Beag and Coigach, some of the giants of the Sutherland landscape, though they too fall into the ‘small’ category. With sea views and a backdrop to die for, it really is the epitome of picturesque.

But perhaps the reason Stac Pollaidh is so loved is that it is slowly shrinking. Worn down over the years by walkers and weather alike, the Torridonian sandstone that makes up Stac Pollaidh’s ridge appears to be eroding far quicker than its neighbours. Scientists at the British Geological Survey believe that weathering has taken place for so long as to suggest that the ridge was not covered by ice during the last ice age, when other hills were. But don’t worry – it’s unlikely Stac Pollaidh will disappear any time soon, especially with its new path.