COTLAND’S STATUS as a peak-baggers’ paradise is beyond doubt. Throughout most of my hillwalking career, collecting Munros and Corbetts has been a high priority. Time off, trips and routes have often been planned around hill-bagging. However, it’s been hard not to notice recently a growing recognition that the Highlands offer much more than list-ticking exercises. Enthusiasm for backpacking and bothies and the popularity of the Cape Wrath Trail reveal a desire for deeper, more immersive experiences. Thanks to Scotland’s relatively liberal access and wild camping laws, the barriers to exploring off the beaten track are relatively few for the responsible hill-goer. I realised I was looking for something different, more than day trips and bagging alone could offer. I wanted something more immersive, less goal-driven – just to be out there for longer, in the glens and woods as well as on the hilltops, open to experiences rather than chasing them, and balancing movement with stillness
