Eat Sleep Wild
Routes Recipes and Wild Experiences from the West Coast of Scotland
Here you’ll find my field notes from a three-day, 50km wild camping trip to some of the most remote hills in Scotland, including some of the highest in the UK. The Moine Mòr, or “Great Moss”, is a vast, high plateau in the Cairngorms between Glen Feshie and the Lairig Ghru. This route is also …
Gleann Leireag (aka Glen Leireag) is a hauntingly atmospheric and remote glen on the western flanks of Quinag. While most visitors to this area head for the hills, we set our sights on the glen itself, which stretches below the steep, crumpled bands of Torridonian sandstone that shape Quinag’s northern summits. These trip notes share …
I’ve written before about wild camping around Breabag. This different route was a chance happening thanks to a visit with friends Charlie and Aileen from my Wiltshire days. We took the opportunity of having two cars to start in Inchnadamph and finish at the Bone Caves car park. The journey looks relatively short on paper, …
This is less of a trip report and more of a feature on one of my favourite local hills, Breabag, just south of Ben More Assynt. An ascent of Breabag is a shortish 11km round trip from the Bone Caves car park (NC2529 1788). These caves are worth a visit in themselves – natural limestone …
We had three dog-free days during a spell of some windy but reasonably good weather. The original plan was a circuit via Foinaven. But as this was our first backpacking trip of the year and we didn’t fancy negotiating the windy exposed ridges of Foinaven with laden bags and rusty legs, we crafted this journey …
Quinag’s dramatic western face is one of those hallmark views as you drive west from Lochinver. Its sheer, seemingly unscalable slopes make it look daunting for casual walkers, which explains why most ascents start from the east. I’ve been curious about alternative approaches and stumbled across a route in the Cicerone guide to Scotland’s Far …
The Fannichs are a group of remote mountains in the northwest of Scotland near Ullapool. There are nine Munros in the Fannichs, and many require a rather long (and boggy) walk in. But as this day proved, it’s totally worth it. It helped I had spectacular weather: cloud inversions, a calm breeze, balmy weather for …
Field notes from a hike up spectacular Arkle in Sutherland. With its fascinating geology and exciting ridge scramble, this is easily one of my favourite hills in Northwest Scotland! FYI: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of my links, I might earn a small commission. Thanks for supporting the …
One Sunday last November 2022 we decided to seek out the remains of the American B29 Super Fortress that crashed near Strachur on 17th January 1949, just after the end of World War II. I’m not great on my history, so part of this undertaking was a learning exercise. I was born in 1979 and …
The landscape around Ben More Assynt is a great area to explore on foot as there are numerous options all around depending on the weather and what you’re in the mood for. This point to point journey took us on a section of the Cape Wrath Trail from Inchnadamph to Glen Oykel with a diversion …
Assynt is one of my favourite places in Scotland for a backpacking trip. With few people and even fewer roads, it doesn’t take long to journey on foot into some wonderfully remote and wild places. I’m grateful to live here with a lifetime ahead of me to explore Assynt on foot. This adventure took us …
Achmelvich Bay is famed for its white sand beach at the south end of the bay. It’s a superb setting, popular with tourists, with a neighbouring caravan site adding to draw. For these reasons I find it a bit ho-hum, however a short walk from this beach is a smaller more secluded beach with some …
Ben More Assynt and Conival are the only two Munros in Assynt and coincidentally, the closest Munros to our home base on the Stoer Peninsula. This there and back route from Inchnadamph is a long but enormously rewarding day out – in good weather, that is! Read on for highlights, and if you’d like a …
Just north of Ullapool in the far north of Scotland is the North West Highlands Geopark, a UNESCO status geopark comprising around 2000 square kilometres of coastline, beaches, mountains, peatland and forest. It’s my favourite part of Scotland, not just for the geology, but also for its sparse population, inherent wildness, and unique landscape of …
My birthday tradition for years has been to start and finish the day in a tent, and so this year took me to Glen Affric, often described as “the most beautiful glen in Scotland”. After this trip it was easy to see why. The glen, stretching for 30 miles from Kintail to near Cannich, is …
The West Highland Train Line is one of the most scenic rail journeys in Scotland, travelling from Glasgow to Mallaig through mountains, moorland and lochs. The line also passes through some convenient stations for point to point walks. I’ve had a few on my mind, including this trip from Fort William to Corrour Station via …
Highlights from a week in the northwest highlands…here’s my day-by-day notes from the trip where we took in some iconic hills including Suilven, Stac Pollaich, and Ben Nevis. To quote Mark, “the whole trip was a huge success – a good thing came out of every hill we climbed” – in fact a good thing …
The Cobbler (aka Ben Aurthur) is one of the most popular hills in the southern highlands and for good reason. Its distinctive “triple fang” outline is visible for miles and begs you to take a closer look. From afar it looks intimidating, but a clear path makes the journey relatively straightforward. And if you dig …
I have a birthday tradition that involves starting and finishing the day in the outdoors (usually in a tent!) and 2022 was no exception. This year’s birthday getaway took me to the Cairngorms for a 3-night backpacking trip through the Grampian Glens with Mark and Lucky. The trip was inspired by Route 14 in Graham …
This was a weekend of many firsts, not least of which was our first time around this epic circuit in Glencoe via Bidean Nam Bian, the highest summit in our home county of Argyll (it still feels amazing that I get to call Scotland my “home” – I don’t think that will ever get old!). …
In this post I’m sharing highlights from a Summer Solstice two-nighter near Fort William that we took on 20-22 June 2022 (how cool is that date?). The original plan was to find a wild camp, but I was inspired by the “Overnight at Staoineag Bothy” route in Scottish Bothy Walks, which I’ve had on …
A few scenes from a walk on a perfectly clear day up Beinn a’Chochuill and Beinn Eunaich, two Munros east of Loch Etive in Argyll and Bute. We were lucky to have such good weather and enjoyed sensational views for miles, all the way to the Cuillins on Skye, the Paps of Jura, and Ben …
Highlights from a January overnight stay a Achnanclach Bothy in the farthest reaches of Northern Scotland with my #bothybuddies, Jane and Jimmy (J2). Scotland in winter may seem like a daunting prospect: it’s cold, it’s dark, and unless you have winter mountaineering skills, walking options can be limited. Still, winter has become one of my …
A return to Dartmoor and the Erme Plains, but taking a slightly different route inspired by the Dartmoor Cicerone Guide by John Earle. This route heads up the Erme Valley to Erme Pits, then back via Yealm Valley. Ample camping opportunities can be found pretty much everywhere, be it up on the isolate moor or …
