Scotland trip report: eight days across Glencoe, Skye and Torridon

Names have been changed, mostly to protect the guilty.

When we said our goodbyes in Glasgow, I was genuinely very sad. We'd just had one of the best weeks ever and one I certainly won't forget. Although it's one of the most logistically complex trips we run, it didn't feel like work at all. The post trip blues were seriously bad. I've been in contact with the people who came along since and they said the same.

So how did we get to that point?

Arrival & Glencoe

Let's go back to the beginning. Day 1 was all about assembling the team and getting to Glencoe. Rory and I were making our way from London so we met at Euston bright and early. It doesn't matter how many times I've packed a bag for a trip - I always worry about forgetting kit.

I'd gotten to know Rory on his first trip - the Jove Weekender. We caught up on the train before Tom joined us near Manchester. I'd never met Tom before - it was his first trip. The bit I remember most from our conversation that day (aside from how much of a lovely bloke he is!) was how much effort he had gone to, to dehydrate some vegetables to enhance his camp meals!

We collected the van at Glasgow station and met up with Maya. She had been on the Jove Weekender and also the Welsh 3,000s trip that year so it was lovely to catch up with her. Finally, we collected Elena who had flown to Glasgow.

Then we were off! Once I've met everyone and we're on our way to one of the most beautiful parts of the world - I can relax somewhat. It's always the most exciting part of the trip as we still have a whole week ahead of us.

We headed to our campsite - the Red Squirrel Campsite - to set up our tents. One was borrowed and two were brand new. This is why we do the campsite phase of the trip. It gives people the opportunity to get used to it in relative comfort.

Next we headed to Fort William to grab supplies for the upcoming days and ensure everyone had all the kit they needed. It's really important to make sure we're set up for success given we go to some very remote areas of the highlands.

The evening was stunning! We got to the famous Clachaig Inn where we had some dinner, shared some stories and had a few drinks over some live music. My main memories were some of the interesting food choices… Rory and Tom went for the game pie that had a clear warning about the possibility of it containing gunshot. Free from any cracked teeth, we drank plenty of Sheepshagger (a delicious Cairngorms brewery beer!) and enjoyed the music! It was a really fun evening and a brilliant way to kick off the trip.

The next day was an early start - partly because it's a big hiking day on Bidean nam Bian but also because the carpark fills up very quickly! So our plan was to take breakfast with us and make it in the carpark. It was a beautiful early morning and a great opportunity to test out our stoves and cooking methods for the first time.

Maya won the prize for the best breakfast with eggs and sourdough toast - it made me instantly regret my bland porridge… The only let down for Maya was her very fancy coffee machine (yes, a battery powered, portable coffee machine) didn't work.

Once everyone was done, off we went. The pace for the day was relaxed. We're in one of the most stunning parts of the UK - it's not a time to rush through and ignore the scenery. The loop is long and involves a few summits.

After a few hours, we stopped for lunch. This time Tom nearly produced the best lunch performance - certainly when it came to effort. Remember the dehydrated vegetables he prepared? Not only were some of those on display but also dehydrated tofu. After waiting an agonising 15 minutes for them to rehydrate (probably only 3…) he dutifully added them to his noodles. What he'd managed to create over the course of 6 hours of dehydrating peas, tofu and corn was a pot noodle. His performance was only let down by spilling green tea into Maya's bag of precious Percy Pigs...

As the weather was so good on the summits, we could see for miles. Views of Glencoe, Ben Nevis and beyond. It was a long day (~9-10 hours of hiking) but a really special one. We finished once again in the Clachaig Inn but being a Sunday, it was a much quieter evening. What I loved to see was how keen Tom was to try everything Scottish - this meant his first go at Haggis which must have gone down well as it was ordered whenever possible thereafter.

Skye

I love Skye! And I mean really love Skye. Every time I go across the bridge at the Kyle of Lochalsh, I get a buzz of excitement whether it's bluebird summer or the cold dark of winter. It still feels like an alien world each time I visit. The mountains and the coastlines are dramatic and even intimidating.

This trip is designed to be a progressive one building up to our mini-expedition in Torridon. The main objective for Skye was to complete our first wild camp. Why Skye? It offers beautiful and remote feeling places for a wild camp which are relatively easy to get to. For many people, it might be the first time they've packed all their kit into a pack for an overnight camp. With our chosen spot being only ~2km away from a road and over easy ground, it's perfect.

Before our camp, we went for lunch and headed up to visit the Old Man of Storr. On these trips, we generally avoid touristy stuff - but on the Isle of Skye, exceptions are definitely made for the chance to see this stunning landscape.

As we set off, it started to rain... As much as that dented morale ahead of a wild camp it was quickly regained when we got up into the hills to view the incredible Old Man of Storr and surrounding cliffs. Thankfully, the rain stopped as quickly as it started and so we had plenty of time to marvel at the sights in front of us.

Feeling content and a little worried about the weather dampening the mood, we headed off to the northern part of Skye for our wild camp. The plan was to find a spot near Rubha Hunish - pretty much the northern tip of the island. We took our time to ensure we had everything we needed. Elena, clearly a seasoned wild camper, even brought a box of roast potatoes and a coffee cup full of left over soup.

For those who haven't been to Skye and seen its coastlines, I can tell you it's breathtaking. On a clear day, you can see for miles. Thankfully, we were able to put up our tents out of the rain and even enjoy some views and our dinner together before that changed.

The wind and rain picked up overnight which led to an uncomfortable sleep for some - particularly those of us with the super lightweight tents. However, Tom woke up looking very pleased with his 3.5 season tent. The wind wasn't particularly strong but either way, his tent was rock solid. Rory discovered a few issues with his setup which is ultimately the purpose of the Skye wild camp.

In the morning, we packed up and headed back to the van. Northern Skye doesn't have much there in the way of amenities or cafes, so we made haste to Portree for a much needed warm meal and lots of coffee. I always really enjoy moments like that after being out; none of us had showered yet and we were all tired after an averagely comfortable night in a tent, but we all had plenty to laugh about. We were on our fourth day of the trip by this point - we were really starting to get to know each other!

We grabbed supplies to keep us going through lunch and made our way to the Fairy Pools. This was not the original plan. We had planned to go and do my favourite trail run in the world (there may be nicer runs… but I haven't found one I like more yet) but the weather was looking bad and honestly, the team didn't particularly want to do it.

Whilst I am desperate to show people all the things I think are beautiful and special - the best thing about this trip is we can be flexible. So we went to look at the Fairy Pools at the base of the Black Cuillin mountains. These are intimidating looking peaks, but rightly everyone was mesmerised as we discussed possible routes and adventures associated with them. We escaped the Fairy Pools just as the midges were starting to appear.

Maya, Rory and I are all coffee fiends. Rather than try and find a cafe, we thought we had everything we needed to make a scenic brew overlooking Loch Sligachan. Still learning how to use her Jetboil, Elena nearly set fire to herself and we all got soaked in a downpour but again, it was a great moment!

After this, we headed to the mainland for fish and chips and then onto Torridon where we stayed in our first hard accommodation of the whole trip and prepared for our expedition into its rugged wilderness.

Torridon Expedition

This was it - two days in the wild. This is what we'd been building up to. I was very happy with everyone's ability to look after themselves, so I was very excited. If you've never been to Torridon hostel, you're missing out. It's a stunning one with exceptionally comfortable rooms/beds (two pillows, wooden frames and even towels!) and views of mountains.

Once we'd showered and prepped our kit - we decided to have a few drinks and play some games. It was going well and a lot of fun until I accidentally spilled a bottle of red wine all over Maya's new white shirt… I still feel bad about that to this day but thankfully I haven't scared her away!

The next morning, we had a relaxed start. The early morning forecast was rain and so I wanted to wait and make the most of a better weather window. As we'd be wild camping, we had time. So around 10.30am, we left the hostel and started our ascent of Beinn Eighe. If you've been, you'll recall this is a large mountain. Not only is the ascent fairly demanding, there's a large plateau which takes a while to cross.

With our heavy expedition packs, progress was slow but steady. The weather held up nicely on the ascent and summit. It gave us an opportunity to have a proper lunch with some unbelievable views of Liathach and the various mountains north of us. It was special but short lived as the rain started to come in for our descent.

Getting off the mountain is arguably as tough as ascending it. The descent is a steep and unpleasant scree slope. Thankfully, everyone did a great job getting down in the rain and mist but again progress was slow. The original plan was to get to the start of mountain number two - my favourite - Beinn Alligin and make camp there.

But it wasn't to be. Everyone was fairly wet and starting to get cold at this point so we decided to camp sooner. No one was upset by that decision and everyone pulled together to help set up tents. If you've ever tried to camp in Torridon, you'll know it's tough to find patches of ground not covered in boulders but the spot we found was perfect (as much as it could be).

We only saw two other people that day on Beinn Eighe. It's not often you can go somewhere in the modern world and spend the best part of ~9 hours alone.

Given our slow progress however, we had to leave very early to make sure we got the next mountain done in good time. So the team was less than impressed when I set a 5am leave time…

The next day, we packed up and were on the road by just before 6am. We had one patch of rain as we were packing up which was less than ideal - but that was it the whole day. In fact, the weather was perfect as we made our way through the Glen surrounded by the giants only fully revealed as the sun started to break through the clouds.

When we got to the start of the ascent of Beinn Alligin - I made the decision that we should leave all our expedition kit and I'd carry essential safety items (waterproofs, water, food etc.). That meant some of the group could go without a pack and we could move more quickly.

I went to Torridon only a month prior to our trip and buried a bottle of whisky. I had planned for it to be a fun game / surprise for people to go and find it before our wild camp but as we never made it to that spot, I thought I'd grab it for us to have on the summit.

I learned something about my leadership on this day… Beinn Alligin is another huge mountain with an epic ridgeline. Along it are a series of chunky ascents that perhaps I hadn't appreciated on my solo missions. Needless to say, the rest of the group very much did and gave me a lot of stick (rightly so!) for downplaying them.

After hours of hard work, a few minor meltdowns… and lots of questioning life decisions to book this trip, we made it to the summit and everything was forgotten. We admired some of the finest views in Scotland. We could see our entire route back to Beinn Eighe, Liathach, Skye and much more. It's a very special summit. I've not been to every mountain in Scotland - but it's going to have to be pretty epic to top those views. I was very proud of what everyone had achieved and how hard they'd pushed themselves.

We didn't linger on the summit for long however - the next phase of the mission was to get off the mountain and to my favourite pub - the Applecross Inn. It was ~2.15pm. We had many things working against us, one being the fact we had to retrieve the expedition kit we'd cached and the other was the 5km walk to get back to the hostel after the descent of the mountain, followed by me needing to get back to Beinn Eighe (about 10km further on from the hostel!) and fetch the van all in time for our 7.30pm booking.

Torridon is remote - really remote. There's one taxi I know of and the guy was away on holiday. Booking him in advance would never work either - it's impossible to know exactly when we'll come off the mountain.

As added pressure, if we didn't make that reservation, food options were limited. So I ran down the mountain with Tom to get the kit. Carrying all the dry bags with people's stuff for ~1.5km proved to be the hardest part physically but we did it and made it to the road at roughly the same time as the others. Once everyone was reunited, we started walking - time was ticking!

Maya took the initiative and started hailing people for a lift. It didn't take her long to succeed - she managed to get someone to stop but sadly they only had one space. It made most sense for me to take it, but unfortunately, the kind woman could only go as far as the hostel but at least could check in and I'd have a shorter distance to cover to get back to the van. The others carried on walking still hoping to hitch a lift.

The time now was ~5.30pm and we had an hour's drive to get to the pub - I wasn't feeling confident at all. But then by some miracle, Maya worked her magic again and got her and Rory a lift back to the hostel, and better still, the very kind guy offered to take me on to collect the van.

Just as I was returning, Tom and Elena also got dropped off so we had time for a quick shower before getting on the road. I was buzzing and so pleased everyone put in so much effort to make it happen despite being so tired.

The route to this pub is stunning by the way. It runs along the Bealach na Bà (the Applecross Pass) - the mountain road that takes you to Applecross village. It's so epic, it's featured on Top Gear!

We made our table with barely a minute to spare! We went big on dinner and rightly so - starters, big mains and desserts for some plus plenty of beer to wash it down! That meal was a celebration of something challenging that we'd been through together. Everyone was on a massive high and any questioning of life choices was quickly forgotten. It was a brilliant evening!

Glenshiel & Oban - The Wind Down & Celebration

The plan for day 7 was to go kayaking on Loch Carron. However, the weather was pretty grim and the group were very, very tired - which is not surprising given we'd put our bodies through so much already! So instead, we went for a big breakfast before making our way to Glenshiel.

For much of the week, Maya and Tom had been bigging up their love of wild swimming… Well today was a perfect day to show us what they're made of. So we made sure we found a spot with as many pebbles as we could find to make it as ungraceful as possible for poor Tom who went barefoot, to get in and out the water. Some say the pebbles forced his body to twist and curl in shapes resembling a famous character from The Lord of The Rings...

After that entertaining interlude, we headed to another lovely hostel - Ratagan. We didn't have much company and so were able to enjoy the living room with unbelievable views of Loch Duich and the mountains beyond. I did offer a walk or run but there were no takers (I was secretly happy about that…) so we just relaxed, played games and waited for the second very special pub - the Glenelg Inn.

It's an unbelievable pub which I was very excited to take people to. The food is on another level and it feels like being onboard an old wooden ship. As an added bonus, it was Maya's birthday which she'd kept extremely quiet! Thankfully it didn't get past Rory so we made sure to embarrass her with some birthday celebrations.

When we finished watching an epic battle royale of chess between Maya and Tom, we headed to bed ready for our final day - Oban. Our objective was the whisky distillery for a tasting. Feeling quite excited, we decided to do a bit of a pub crawl involving plenty of beer, some games of pool and some unexpected live music by a band called The Haggis Neaps and Fatties! They were amazing and we had a brilliant time well into the early hours. We even saw the guy who led the whisky tasting (and was excellent by the way!) which felt a bit like seeing a teacher outside of school (even though he was only 19!).

As fun as the evening was, it only made the blues much worse the next day. The time had come to head back to Glasgow / London. We were all genuinely very sad the trip was coming to an end.

We'd just had a week or so of epic highs and some big lows, plus a couple of meltdowns! We'd visited remote places and celebrated achievements. Importantly, we'd gotten to know each other on a level above and beyond what could be achieved in a pub alone, at a run club or even over the course of a weekend.

To come back to the start of this report - we'd been on a proper adventure and created memories we wouldn't forget in a hurry. No one really cared about how many metres of elevation we'd climbed or how fast we'd done it. The best stories came from the fact we were late and had to beg and borrow from strangers!

If you've read this, you may understand why this is my favourite trip Jove Club does (maybe ever does). It's taking determined and committed people to all my favourite places in the UK (and arguably the world) and short of a couple of minor tweaks, I wouldn't change any of it.