Hot foot from Ben Klibreck on the Monday night, we searched in vain for spot I’d camped at by the loch shore nine years ago. In the end we plumped for a nice spot just off the road under the trees but eventually had to abandon the attempt to put up the tents due to the midges. I’ve never seem that many before. I could barely breathe at times they were so thick and I stumbled around choking and coughing, watching Penguin get madder and madder as he couldn’t get his tent up and get out of the swarm.

In the end we had to camp in the Ben Hope car park which had the only breeze around and even then, not that much. But at least we could get the tents up largely unmolested. In the morning we were woken by the rumble of cattle running along the road a couple of feet from the tents!

The great north run with Penguin had seen us climb Ben Klibreck, Ben Hope, overnight at the fantastic Sango Sands campsite at Durness (a personal favourite), make an abortive attempt on Conival and Ben More Assynt (horrendous rain and thick cloud) and finally stagger back to Skye for a breather. Breather over, we headed down the road to the north Glen Shiel ridge to climb Carn Ghluasaid, Sgurr nan Conbhairean and Sail Chaoruinn.

Exploring the far north with my oldest pal Penguin, we met up in Inverness on the Monday and drove up to just beyond the Crask Inn, dumped the car and hit the hill.

Mr. Vic. 1997 - 2014. Miss you forever old pal.

These are just some thoughts I was having recently, especially sat in front of the bothy fire the other night. Food for thought.

With the Easter weekend set fair, warm(ish) and dry, I drove across country to Kincraig to meet up with my oldest pal, Penguin. Our objective a day on the hill, climbing Sgor Gaoith, ‘rocky peak of the wind’, on the western edge of the Cairngorm plateau.

Sunday morning I finished off my TMA for the OU music course I’m doing, looked out the window and saw it was easing off. A wild morning had given way to a short lull in the storms rolling in off the Atlantic. I needed out. I needed some adventure after all that studying so headed round to Blaven, intent on not much other than wandering around.

Ever since I read The Only Genuine Jones I’ve been waiting for Alex Roddie’s next novel, the first in the Alpine Dawn series, that’s set in the heart of the Cairngorms. The other day I got hold of it on Kindle and devoured it in a single sitting.

The Atholl Expedition is set around Blair Atholl and the southern Cairngorms, with the expedition taking place into an area I love dearly, the great corries and crags of Braeriach in search of, well, you’ll have to read the book to find out. Don’t be put off by the mountaineering connotations. This is not a mountaineering book. It’s a damn good story with fantastic characters set in fantastic scenery. It’s a book for anyone who loves wild places and cracking good yarns.

Sunday dawned completely cloudless with a winter sun slowly rising from behind the snowy Knoydart peaks so I crammed everything into the ‘sac, gobbled down some porridge and hit the road, bound for Craig, up by Achnashellach.

Carrying on from my previous post about the UNIQLO Ultra Light Down Parka, it arrived the next day! So this is a wee taster before I use it through the winter, on the hill and on the bike.