Breathtakingly beautiful winter trek up Cnoc Coinnich, one of Scotland's hidden gems

Cnoc Coinnich, or "The Knock", is one of Scotland's lesser-known hills but an absolute gem. Its slopes are quite gentle compared to many hills, but it can get very boggy, which is why I wanted to climb it in winter, when the bogs are frozen.

I have climbed it before, but it was in cloud and there were no views. This time I got the views. Wow, did I get the views!

I started my walk at the small village of Lochgoilhead.

Cnoc Coinnich is often climbed together with its next-door neighbour The Brack, but this time I wanted to approach it from the other direction, which takes you partway along the Cowal Way. The path starts at almost sea level and initially follows a lovely forest route. There are good waymarker posts along the way.

After a while the path starts to ascend more steeply, with beautiful views back towards Loch Goil and the mountains of Argyll.

After about three kilometres the path leaves the forest and climbs more steeply up a hillside. At almost 500m altitude, you have to leave the path and start heading south south east up the slopes of Cnoc Coinnich.

This is the point where you leave the path, with Ben Lomond in the distance.

The Knock is a Corbett at 763.5m (a Corbett is a Scottish mountain between 762 and 914.4m in height). It only just made it to Corbett status in July 2016, after being re-surveyed. Although it's one of the easiest Corbetts to climb (in my opinion) it only has very faint paths, which are covered in snow and ice in winter, so good navigation skills are essential.

I used a map and compass as well as an online GPS to stay on track, and along the way I set my compass for distinctive marker rocks like this one.

Though in a white-out, the marker rocks are not quite so easy to see. Being so far west, and relatively close to the Atlantic Ocean, the weather in this part of Scotland is notoriously changeable. You can be walking in clear sunshine one moment and the next, clouds can blow in reducing visibility so much that you can barely see someone a few metres away from you.

There were a couple of misty interludes during my climb, but only for very short periods.

The views on the way up were stupendous. This is The Brack, The Knock's next door neighbour, with The Cobbler on its left, and then Beinn Ime further left.

To the west are the hills of Argyll.

Near the summit I put my crampons on, as there was a lot of ice about. The Knock has a relatively gentle ascent with few steep or rocky edges, but I didn't want to slip and fall, even though there probably would have been a soft landing. There were some beautiful icicles.

As the small summit cairn came into view, the sun was shining brightly. I was going to get my views from the top at last.

To the north east, there were fabulous views of The Brack and The Cobbler with Loch Long and Loch Lomond beyond.

Here's me at the summit, with The Brack and Loch Lomond behind me.

Behind me in the photo below is the mighty peak of Ben Lomond.

To the west I could see Loch Long, the Gare Loch and the Firth of Clyde.

The hills of Argyll were decorated with cotton wool clouds.

Fluffy clouds drifted over the Arrochar Alps.

Beinn Bheula.

On the way back down, I headed for the marker rock.

Took in some more lovely views of The Brack and Ben Lomond.

I got back on the Cowal Way track leading back down to Lochgoilhead. Lochgoilhead is just visible at the centre of this photo.

I walked back down through the forest...

and back to the car park.

What a fantastic day.

This was one of the easier winter walks to do, but I still took my ice axe, crampons and storm shelter, and a spare power charger for my phone. In snowy conditions at altitude even a minor stumble could lead to hypothermia, so it's always good to be prepared.