Last weekend the whole hostel was booked out by a returning guest to celebrate completing the Munros. Our soon to be “compleationist” visited with his friends and family so that he could climb his final Munro and have a party afterwards. That’s 282 certified Munro mountains ascended. According to some of those who have completed them all in one go that adds up to a cumulative height gain of anything between 126,000 metres and 175,000 metres!
Also last weekend, the riders of the Tour de France were tackling the first mountain stages of this year’s route in the Pyrenees. Both of these feats led us to muse on the allure of going uphill.
When you’re on a bike there’s certainly something to be said for the thrill of descending, although we prefer the effort of cycling uphill. Anyone can descend, but not everyone can climb.
When walking, it’s a whole different story. If you’re like us then your knees definitely prefer going uphill. In any case, both on foot and on two wheels the higher you get the better the views become and the bigger the world seems.
Surely that must be the answer. What can beat the sight of a temperature inversion in the hills? You literally walk above the clouds and look out over a white sea punctuated with island peaks poking through. If that doesn’t make you feel small and wonder about the beauty of the world then we don’t know what will.
Luckily, the world is full of mountains and we are blest with an abundance of hills not far from our doorstep. Go in any direction and you will find a peak you can ascend. So why not come to Invergarry, head uphill and leave the everyday world behind, and below.