After a few years of delay thanks to the pandemic, me and a friend finally made the Journey from Yorkshire to Fort William, Scotland to climb Ben Nevis - The UK’s highest summit!
Starting the day on Friday, after work, we had to make a 600km (375mi) drive from our home county of Yorkshire to Fort William, Scotland - where we had a hotel reservation. After battling the traffic from the school holidays and the inclement weather from Storm Otto, we made it up north in just 7.5hrs.
The next day after a good sleep we left at 08:00 to climb the mountain. Unfortunately, the forecast was rain and snow from lunchtime, so we weren’t expecting the smoothest climb to the top.
We started the day with persistent drizzle and a climb into the almost immediate fog, reducing the visibility to about 50m although we were incredibly lucky with the weather shifting in our favour and the fog clearing, for once the unpredictable nature of the UK’s weather was on our side!
After another hour of hiking and a much-needed break to eat some Scottish shortbread at the 1000m mark, the ground went from wet to frosty and then finally to snow as we were treated to some amazing views of neighboring mountains making an appearance through the clouds.
Reaching the summit in just under 3 hours time, we were treated to some blue skies and some awesome views of the Scottish Highlands (a true rarity this time of year). Although the cloud cover meant that we couldn’t see Northwest England and Northern Ireland the views were breathtaking and much better than anything we expected to be able to see in the morning.
The return trip to the car was uneventful and went smoothly, the trip overall was a great success and I can now say I’ve been to the highest points in England, Wales, and Scotland!.
But, boy, does it look ever so amazing!!!