In what has now become a tradition for our Gairloch holiday, Iona and I climbed a Munro (a mountain over 3000ft in Scotland). Previously we’ve climbed Beinn Alligin and Ben Wyvis.
This year, an ascent of Slioch was our goal!
Watch our video of climbing Slioch
Slioch is an imposing Munro by the side of Loch Maree (the 4th largest Loch in Scotland). It rises steeply from the loch shore on the opposite side to the road and the top is often hidden by cloud.
We knew this was going to be a big challenge; there’s a long walk in before you start climbing and, as you start only a few feet above sea level, we had a lot of climbing to do!
But Iona smashed it. With the undulations, we actually did a total of 4,252 of climbing and walked 13.5 miles over rough terrain, in some parts with no clear path. We got our Slicoh route from Walk Highlands, a great resource for hiking in Scotland.
For the first time on our Munro adventures, we were rewarded with fabulous views and weather – over Loch Maree, across to the Torridons, Beinn Eighe and in the other direction, the great wilderness, mountain peak after mountain peak, stretching into the distance. It made for some fabulous drone footage of the landscape.
And then there was the wildlife we encountered. Frogs, newts, deer and goats all graced us with their presence as we walked.
It was a great day in the mountains, and Iona will have the pleasure, every time we drive by Loch Maree, of saying “I Climbed That!”.
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