Scotland, 15th to 21st April 2015

In mid April I went to the far north west of Scotland for the second year in a row, to do some mountain walking, although I could have gone caving if I had felt so inclined. Getting there, I had a solo one-day 600-mile journey in my deeply competent 2011 Smart car, which despite its diminutive exterior dimensions, is spacious enough, quiet enough, and comfortable enough for proper long-distance driving.

I stayed with some of my caving friends, who travelled independently, in a caving hut a few miles north of Ullapool. This slightly scruffy but welcoming building became my home for nine nights. I slept in a mixed dormitory, managing by virtue of my early arrival to get a top bunk instead of joining the piggy pile on the shared sleeping platform below. Somebody said that I snore, which may well be true.

In Ullapool I had crammed the car with nine days’ groceries, and I was quick to secure fridge and shelf space for my yummy, healthy and highly calorific goodies.

I undertook four one-day hikes, and spent the rest of the time basking in the sunshine with my friends while some of us went climbing, and travelling about with friends to see some of the rest of the area.

The four one-day hikes were to:

• Cùl Mòr (849m)
• Cnoc an Leathaid Buidhe (368m) and Cnoc an Leathaid Bhig (378m)
• Canisp (847m)
• the saddle Bealach Mòr (650m) on Suilven (731m)

The details of these walks will be published in my official logbook at the website of the Mountain Training Association in the next few days – there’s no sense in duplicating things here.

These four walks and the two days idling about with friends do not account for the eight days I had in Scotland. The inescapable moral of this sorry state of affairs is, dear reader, to write up blogs and logbooks immediately after the event, and not leave it for three months. Now I will be left wondering for the rest of my life where the missing two days went. Grr!

Anyway, there are more mountains in that part of the world than you can shake a stick at, and I am looking forward to going back to explore some of them.

The Smart car has just enough luggage space and payload mass for me to have someone with me next time, which will make the journey more companionable, but might restrain me from shouting out joyfully, “Och aye, bonnie Scotland!” as the car speeds purposefully towards the Saltire-adorned road sign proclaiming Fàilte gu Alba / Welcome to Scotland, or then again, it might not.