Great Mountain Days in Scotland. Dan Bailey

      Hallival and the Skye Cuillin (Walk 47) from Askival (Walk 46)

      The most eroded paths are a chore to walk on and visible from afar. Short of restricting access, the long-term solution is to engineer a new path surface, an expensive and labour-intensive process favoured only by conservation-minded landowners. If the work is done intrusively, there can be something over-manicured and park-like about these snaking trails of gravel or flagstone steps; but sensitive methods do exist, and on the crowded hills these may be the least bad option. Where paths are still in a more ‘natural’ (messy) state, damage can be minimised by sticking to the middle of the trail and avoiding cutting corners at zigzags.

      It seems barely credible that litter on remote mountains is an issue worth mentioning, but sadly even the hillwalking community has its idiots. Large visitor numbers inevitably mean more rubbish, with pride of place going to Ben Nevis, the highest dustbin in Scotland. But discarded beer cans, cigarette butts and food packaging can be found almost anywhere in the hills. The responsible course is to pack out everything that you’ve carried in, including fruit peel that does not readily biodegrade in the hilltop environment; bonus ‘greenie’ points for anyone willing to pick up other people’s rubbish (I draw the line at bog roll).

      Toilet waste is another problematic environmental issue. No one wants to encounter human leftovers halfway up their scramble or next to the summit cairn at which they’ve sat for lunch (this really happens). The most responsible course is to carry out everything you produce in a biodegradable flushable bag enclosed in an airtight, waterproof canister; in some wilderness areas in the United States this is now compulsory. Next best is to bury solid waste at least 15cm deep, for which a trowel comes in handy. This can be hard to achieve in snowy conditions, but simply hiding the evidence in the snow to be revealed at the next thaw is a loathsome ruse. Never defecate close to burns and lochs – an exclusion zone of 30m is a bare minimum – and ensure you are downstream of anywhere people are likely to collect drinking water, close to bothies for instance. Used toilet paper should be packed out or carefully burned, although note that the environmental benefit of doing the latter is cancelled out if you inadvertently start a forest fire. Female sanitary products are not biodegradable and should always be carried home.

      North Goatfell from a camp on The Saddle (Walk 45)

Using this guide

      All the walks in this book require a degree of fitness and the endurance to maintain a steady – if not necessarily athletic – pace from dawn to dusk (or beyond). The walk times are loose suggestions only, indicating roughly how long an experienced hillwalker of normal ability might expect to take in favourable weather. Committed fell runners could conceivably halve the time estimates, although they are not primarily intended as performance targets to foster competitive or inadequate feelings (delete as applicable). Timings do not allow for mid-route siestas or the progress-slowing properties of heavy loads, high wind, poor visibility or deep snow. If a given walk is quoted as 16hrs, that means 16hrs of solid walking; whether to do the lot in a single rigorous day or spread it over a more leisurely two is up to you. Obvious places to break for the night are mentioned in every walk description.

      Overall ascent and distance figures are provided in the information box at the start of each walk. These have been measured from OS maps, so it is worth remembering that they may not fully reflect the intricate ins and outs walked on rough ground, nor those little zigzags on steep slopes, nor the cumulative height gain of the many ups and downs too slight to be represented by contour lines at 10m intervals. In the walk description distance is further subdivided to give figures for the approach, on the hill and the return (where such a division is applicable). Approaches and walk-outs are usually at a low level and tend to follow clear paths. While these legs might be done sensibly in darkness or poor weather, the harder ground on the hill itself will usually be better left for daylight. Knowing the length of each stage should help with route planning at times of year when light is in short supply.

      Major points at which the nature of a walk might significantly change in winter conditions or very wet weather are mentioned in the information box under Seasonal notes.

      The more obvious points at which a walk can be curtailed are listed under Short cuts in the information box. These are get-out options for bad weather or tiredness, and in some cases can also be used to split the single long day’s walk described into two more manageable separate trips.

      In walk descriptions ‘left’ and ‘right’ are relative to the direction of travel, while compass directions (NE, SW and so on) are always approximate unless precise numerical bearings are given. Key navigational features along the route that appear on the map in the guide are shown in the walk description in bold. The maps throughout this guide are adapted for the book from Ordnance Survey data and are at a scale of 1:100,000 (1cm = 1km). For navigation on the routes, it is recommended that you use the relevant Ordnance Survey or Harvey maps, details of which are given in the introduction box for each route.

      NORTHWEST HIGHLANDS

WALK ONE

      Ben Hope and Ben Loyal

Start/Finish	Track entrance off the Tongue–Kinloch road (NC 554 526); limited parking in laybys N and S of here
Distance	33.5km (21 miles)
Ascent	1800m
Time	12hrs
Terrain	The Moine Path gives an easy start, but thereafter the low ground is predominantly boggy and pathless. The north ridge of Ben Hope is steep and rocky with some modest grade 1 scrambling higher up; the infamous Bad Step (a rock climbing pitch) is easily bypassed. Ben Loyal is gentler and grassier underfoot, although several of its summit tors provide optional scrambling.
Maps	OS Landranger (1:50,000) 9 & 10; OS Explorer (1:25,000) 447
Transport	Bus from Thurso to Tongue; no public transport to the start of the walk
Accommodation	Tongue YH (01847 611789)
Summits	Ben Hope 927m (‘hill of the bay’, Norse); Ben Loyal 764m (possibly ‘law mountain’, Norse)
Sleeping Out	Good camping beside any of several lochans under the east flank of Ben Hope, and also near the ruined cottage at Dithreibh (NC 541 469)
Seasonal Notes	The north ridge of Ben Hope needs some care in winter conditions, but there are no other particular difficulties. The low-level bogs are best in a dry spell or when frozen solid.
Short Cuts	The good track running between the hills permits either mountain to be done on its own as a shorter circuit

      Bens Hope and Loyal are peaks on the edge, with the expanse of the Flow Country rippling out to the east, and northwards the cold open sea. Next stop, the Arctic. Both stand tall among the great hills of the far north, each rising in magnificent independence – Hope a precipitous wedge, Loyal a remarkable multi-topped mass bristling crags and tors. These rugged individuals tend to be tackled separately, and their standard routes are fairly short outings. However, the two can also be combined in this extended loop, a logical and compelling challenge for the more ambitious. The peaks themselves may be the obvious highlights, but the emptiness between them has its own unique atmosphere too. Some tolerance for bogs is required.