My favourite things - Big Hills

[Alan T]

After very little mountaineering for a couple of years due to foot trouble, and recent drastic but highly successful remedies, I made my comeback this summer holiday with 5 big Scottish hills in 6 days, two with wife & very fit 16 yr-old son, and 4 with son alone.

This is the view a fortnight ago from the top of the 'Pap of Glencoe', whose cone dominates the seaward entranceto Glen Coe and Loch Leven, seen here, with our campsite by the shore.

It was a good test for me, as it's relentlessly steep for 2400 feet from sea level.

[Alan T]

...and here's a view in the opposite direction...

[NotDadsW41]

Whew! Big Hills is right! What a gorgeous view!

[Alan T]

NotDadsW41 wrote:

...Big Hills is right! What a gorgeous view!

Well, little molehills really, by the standards of the rest of the world. But friends with Himalayan experience tell me that Scottish hills look just as big as you approach them even if they are a quarter the size of the Alps and an eighth the size of big Himalayan peaks. They look less Alpine in winter now, as there's been little snow and ice in Scotland for the last few years.

Here's a little view out to sea from the top of the 'Pap'. Don't know who the bent old cripple might be. Quote from son on our asking whetherhe fancied tackling an inviting-looking ridge: "Not with you two crips!"

[selvin]

Alan,

Your shots bring to mind my boyhood Shakespear forays:

This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall,
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England,

(Shakespeare, Richard II)


A bit pedestrian and jingoistic but noneless beautiful poetry describing a beautiful place.

Aloha and thanks for sharing.

[Mugmar]

Breathtaking views. Glad your foot is feeling better.

Mugmar

[calr]

"Beautiful" is not enough to describe this part of the Earth! Superb, wonderful, inviting...etc.

I wish I was there!

Cal

[Alan T]

Well, it is rather wonderful there, provided you can avoid the rain & the midges! Oops! I'm failing in my capacity as an unofficial Scottish Tourist Board PR man!