So, my very long-awaited week's holiday was coming to an end. Each day a different walk from the Walkhighlands website (thanks, what a great resource), and just one more to do.

Ever since reading about how Nevil Maskelyne spent four months in 1774 on the summit of Schiehallion measuring the gravitational pull of the mountain (from which the density of the whole planet could be calculated - and proving the Earth wasn't hollow!) I have wanted to climb it too (Map of a Nation, by Rachel Hewitt, 2010). And reading on this website that it was a relatively straighforward climb, I figured it would be a suitable first Munro after a very long break.

But as I packed up and drove away from Glencoe it was already chucking it down, and by the time I crossed Drumochter the clouds had closed right in and I was kicking myself for having left it to the last day. But with nowhere else to go I decided to drive around to the base of the path, so I would know where to go next time (next year).

However, as I sat in the car park it seemed to be getting brighter to the west. So not going really wasn't an option - and was I glad. As soon as I was on the lower slopes the rain stopped, the clouds melted away and the sun came out.


The path is so good that the first bit of climb was very easy, and views were fantastic.



Of course, I had forgotten that thing about thinking you are near the top, only to find you're not, and as the path petered out on the rocky upper slopes I remembered that Munros are actually quite high. As I approached what I hoped was the summit, the clouds started drifting back, and I met someone coming down who said 'I don't think you'll see anything'.

Eventually I came to a point where there was no more up, just greyness all around. I sat down for a couple of minutes, not intending to linger, then this: Loch Rannoch appearing briefly out of the gloom.


Success! Heading home happy.