68. Ben Wyvis (Glas Leathad Mor) (85) (P600 17) 16/07/08

The weather wasn't forecast to be amazing, but it was bright when we got the bus from Inverness. The walk began with a pleasant stroll alongside a babbling brook in the forest followed by a steeper climb up the shoulder of the hill, all along an excellent path. We entered the mist at about 800m, but did get eerie glimpses of roiling clarity from time to time. The wind was quite strong on the summit ridge, but we battled the length of the 2km plateau to the summit cairn, where it was suddenly quite still. Not great views, but at least it wasn't raining. A fair representation of Scottish hills for Lilie's first Munro. The descent was down steep grassy slopes to start with and then a damp trudge without a path back to the trees. A 4hr round trip, but we then had to add to that a trapse along the road for an hour to the nearest bus/train stop. Then we failed to spot the thrice-daily bus as it whizzed past, so had an hour's wait for the train. We enjoyed the delights of deep fried haggis in the evening in a cheap restaurant, since we had completely failed to find any pubs in Inverness. I'll remember not to have it again.

Lilie at the summit shelter