A week in the Scottish Highlands | Pinnacle Newsletter #73
#73 A week in the Scottish Highlands
For the last week, I’ve been spending time with my brother James and his partner Nicole up on the Black Isle. In addition to attending the premiere of Down the Rabbit Hole, a new film about James’s struggle with mental health and the outdoors, we also took the opportunity to do plenty of hillwalking. Here are my excuses for being behind on the work towards my new book project…
As is often the case, the weather was better in the west, so we ended up visiting the Torridon area – and more than once. James and I climbed the Beinn Eighe Munros on a perfectly crisp and still day before the snow arrived, and the next day Nicole joined us for an ascent of Slioch, a peak none of us had yet climbed. The ascent of Slioch was particularly memorable for the truly incredible Brocken Spectres and fogbows we saw on the summit – easily the best I’d ever seen. I also took the train up to Achnashellach on another day for a solo ascent of Sgorr Ruadh, again in flawless conditions. I feel spoiled – four Munros in glorious November sunshine isn’t something I’ve ever experienced before!
We managed to pack plenty more beyond mountains into this week, including coastal photography and an excellent walk through the Abernethy Forest in atmospheric wintry weather. Photographically, it’s been the most creative and productive week I’ve enjoyed in quite a while, largely due to the fact that James is an extremely good professional nature photographer. His insights into technique, locations, and ways of seeing always make an impression, and never fail to get me fired up about landscape photography. And while the last week definitely wasn’t a work trip, I’m confident that it will bear fruit in the form of at least one published feature.
It also enabled me to make some headway on a new project I have on the go: a year without using GPS in the mountains. I won’t go into too much detail yet, as it’s still early days, but this is proving to be a very interesting experiment so far. It’s the opposite approach to the one I took in the Pyrenees this summer. The contrast is fascinating.
Trips to the Black Isle always inspire me and refresh my creative energies. Now it’s back to the wind and rain of Lincolnshire – but also home to my wife, and to the subtler charms of my writing desk. I had intended to make some decent headway on planning for The Farthest Shore while up in Scotland, but in the end my time was taken up by all the hills!
Recently published
What I’ve been reading this week – this week’s quality online reads on the environment, outdoors, and more.
Down the Rabbit Hole with James Roddie and Mike Webster – breaking new ground in the conversation about mental health and the outdoors – my blog post on the premiere of an important new film.
Until next time,
Alex
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