Over the weekend, I decided to go on a bit of a last minute trip up to Scotland for some backpacking and wild camping. The jouney up there was a long one, but the views of the silhouetes over Loch Lomand at 11:30pm were amazing! (the picture doesn’t do it any amount of justice at all)
We parked the car at around 1am, and started the walk to find somewhere to camp. The only suitable place was right next to the river, but as soon as the tents were out of the bag, a plague of Midges arrived and began their attack. I’ve never seen anything like it! I’m itching just thinking about them! Millions, no, billions of them! Luckily, the morning view and perfect weather the next day made it well worth the pain.
Over the day, we walked up two munroes, which I think were called Stob a Choire Odhair – 945m and
Sgor nam Fiannaidh – 967m, but don’t quote me on that! I’d never been Summer walking in Scotland before, so the views from the top were a complete suprise. You just don’t realise how vast the ranges are in Scotland until you’re up therewith peaks far as the eye can see in all directions.
(It’s not a dodgy photo, that’s snow along the bottom! =P )
The downhill stretch was a prolonged killer, and by the end of the day, my neck and right arm were completely scorched. We decided against wild camping where we were. The weather was so good, we headed a bit further North to Glencoe, and the following morning, the view wasjust a tad special!
150m up, my ankle started to throb with pain, and would hardly hold my weight. An old injury coming back. I annoyingly turned around and painfully headed back toward the road. I knew that if I reached the top, I’d never get down, as I’d been told the descent was much steeper than the previous days.
The ridge that everyone else crossed is supposedly one of the most exposed in Britain and looks totally immense on the photos and hugely exposed. I only wish I could have been there!
In the meantime, I resorted to sitting outside the pub with an awesome bowl of Leek and Potato soup. The first, and extremely welcome, hot meal of the weekend!
When everyone returned, after a couple of hours rest we set off on the 7 hour drive home only for the car to break down 20 minutes before we reached our destination! Nooo! All was soScotland,
