All too often I get asked the question, but what will we do if the weather is bad? Like somehow a day of outdoor activities is going to be ruined by a little bit of Scottish drizzle….

All too often I get asked the question, but what will we do if the weather is bad? Like somehow a day of outdoor activities is going to be ruined by a little bit of Scottish drizzle….
There are many ways to ascend the mighty and iconic mountain of Suilven set in the heart of the North West Highlands. But among my favourites this year have been on a 4 day expedition combining canoeing with hill walking and by helicopter for a filming project.
A big tick for any mountaineer the Cullin Ridge traverse is certainly a jewel in the crown of Scottish hillwalking. A very risky booking for late in the season left me wondering if this could be a difficult experience. However October brought us some of the best weather of the year.
April hails the start of the Duke of Edinburgh expedition season.
This year the hail seems more literal. April usually brings an assortment of weather with sunshine and showers. But this year seems to have brought more sunshine and snow. Lambing snows might be a slight underestimation.
Suilven is a classic and unmistakeable outline on the northwest highlands skyline. The remote and isolated Graham sits at 731 meters high and usually requires a 3 hour walk in to access it’s steep and intimidating sides. Enter the Canoe, drifting silently across Loch Veyatie. Camping on Fionn Loch is most certainly my favourite way to access Suilven.
With the changing of the clocks on the first day of training we did wonder if anybody would turn up at the wrong time.
It was early as I parked up outside The Glasgow Academy. Met the group and started the long process of kit checks.
The end of the world, Saint Kilda.
40 miles west of Harris Saint Kilda sits on it’s own, taking the full force of the Atlantic Ocean. Hirta is the largest island and contains the World heritage site of Village bay. Not only does the Saint Kilda archipelago contain the largest sea cliffs in the UK it also contains the largest two sea stacks in the UK and these were to be our destination.
Friday, rain….. lots of the stuff. I was cursing myself for not bringing a more heavy duty waterproof as I dripped and squelched my way back to the minibus. Once reunited with the place of dry and warmth I found myself driving back down to Kinlochewe to walk into camp site number 2.
So it’s back to work and back into a Canoe. This time working for Active Stirling running a Duke of Edinburgh through the highland fault line.