Ben MORE (up and down than is healthy)

You don’t have to be masochistic to be into hill walking but it does help. Sitting here typing this (18/2/2007) my legs feel like hunks of steak that have been bashed with a mallet and then left to go off for three weeks. It’s a good feeling, honest and born of hard graft. The fish supper tonight tasted incredible. Nothing satisfies like dinner after a long hill day.

The weather was magnificent today. Sunshine and clear views from the Campsies to Ben Nevis. There aren’t many days like this in a winter walking season. Or perhaps there are but I don’t manage to time my walks very well. The route was the Ben More horseshoe, which is a long walk even in summer. With ice axe and crampons it was quite tough going by the end, but thoroughly enjoyable.

Had a great moment at the top of Ben More when a pal phoned me to say he was on top of Authur’s Seat which is a wee hill in the middle of Edinburgh. I mentioned that I was having lunch at 3852ft and the sun was shining from the Atlantic to the North Sea. The extra mile: it’s what life’s all about.