Wot, No Writing?

It finally happened. After months of remaining with five miles of home, COVID-19's grip on Scotland finally fell low enough that a wider range of travel became possible again.

I like mountains.

The last four months have seen repeated cycles around Loch Leven and the roads wrapping around it. Walks to, but barely into, the Lomond Hills. Five miles isn't far, and while I've found much more to love about the land around home than I knew existed (a job lot of red squirrels, an osprey, tree creepers, bee nests and the like), evening flights of my drone over home revealed hills that were temporarily out of reach.

But it ended.

From July 3rd, residents of Scotland were freed of the five mile traversal limitations. I say "limitations", they were necessary and they appear to have reduced infection rates quickly and effectively here. We are now at a point where Scotland's approaches are coming later in England, despite England seeing the infections first.

Mountains though. That's what this is about. It might seem strange to miss elevation, or maybe it doesn't. Walking hills allows for a mindset that isn't found much elsewhere. Concentration on footwork, navigational responsibilities, taking care not to tread on small members of our wildlife community. Breathing.

At a certain height, civilisation begins to disappear. All that can be seen are peaks and the beginnings of the valleys and glens that descend into the spaces between them. People are few and far between, even on relatively busy days. Calm and peace pervades the mind, weather is weather, whether it would be perceived as good or bad down at pavement level.

Fortunately, you don't have to travel far in Scotland to find mountains.

I began with a couple of well-known walks, I wanted to ease myself back in and meet familiar views once again. I chose Ben Venue, a Graham in the Trossachs, and then Ben Lawers, the tenth highest peak in Scotland at 1214m. Popular peaks, "easy" peaks, a welcome introduction back into ascents.

I won't go into descriptions on Ben Venue, I'll let this video do the work:

Ben Venue was a climb with a friend on July 8th. An 8am start.

Ben Lawers was a solo endeavour that I set off for at 4:30am on July 12th (hence being alone).

There are huge differences between company and solo outings on the hills. Company (the first I'd had that wasn't family since February) allows for sharing and showing. A time to talk. Company makes me a little more adventurous usually, after all, it is easier to take the new route when there is someone to accompany you. Solo is a more meditative experience (especially when the sun is still rising). Just me, the route, and the hill. No pressure on time, no requirement to keep up with someone or set a pace.

At 6am on Ben Lawers, it really was just me and the hill.

My route took in munros Beinn Ghlas, Ben Lawers, and munro top Creag an Fhithich. My original plan had been to climb up An Stuc as well, but it seems that despite four months of near constant cycling, the muscles and stamina gained from climbing hills needed regenerating. I sat on the cliff over the descent to An Stuc and enjoyed the view, then climb back up Ben Lawers, took in the sights for nigh on thirty minutes, then began my descent via the path the runs below the north face of Beinn Ghlas and allows amazing views of the valley in which Allt a' Chobhair meanders its way into Glen Lyon. Third time up the peaks here, and the first time taking that path.

I took my time on my own. 7hrs just mooching around. I knew that I had missed hills, but when facing the endless peaks and the shadows of clouds drifting over the them, I spent more time than I realised in awe of them. Sometimes, the feeling of insignificance is a good thing.

Of course, with this week being hills, I had very little time for writing. I edited one chapter of The Vile Realm and wrote this. Not a huge amount really, but it needed to be done this way.

I've not exactly got hills out of my system, but it should be easier to concentrate on writing now that I've got a few peaks under my belt this year!