Fionn Bheinn, 14th September 2025
I seem to have been eternally busy with a variety of things lately, not least signing up for and training for more races, so it has left my weekend roster far too full to manage big trips into the hills. I checked my annual leave calendar in July and decided I had enough days spare to give myself a good full week in the hills in my van.
I had put together an ambitious plan to get through a load of Munros and I was a bit doubtful that I'd do it, but I never betrayed that in the conversations I had about my trip. I had kind of hoped for optimal weather but Scotland can always surprise you as I've found out too many times already this year.
I packed my van on the Saturday before I left, packing everything I'd need for a week on the road; guitar, walking and running gear, plenty food and a bottle of Ardbeg for ballast.
On the Sunday, I left the house about 0830, knowing I had a long drive ahead of me, and planning on taking that part fairly easy at least.
I made Perth McDonalds for a coffee before 10am, but already I'd had some drama - the new stereo I'd installed had decided to completely die within the first hour. A quick poke around revealed that my reliance on pliers and not a proper crimping tool was the culprit. A short rewire and a bit of tape later and we were back in business and it held for the rest of my week no bother.
From Perth, I just headed non-stop to Achnasheen and arrived in the little hamlet at 1300. I had a quick faff, a banana and then got into my running gear for the hill. It had been quite warm, but there was a band of rain heading up from the south and I wanted to get this done before that kicked in. Ahead of that was a lot of cooler air and that was starting to come in now.
By 1315, I was on the track up. The nice looking zigzag path was well-fenced off and a wee man I spoke to said it would be fine to jump the fence, but I didn't want to ruffle any feathers with the locals, so I just took the slightly muddier path.
I met a couple coming down, and I saw the man take a look at my trainers then he said "I hope you brought your flippers". It's funny the difference between hill runners and hillwalkers - the former really don't care about getting wet feet and for the latter that's the day ruined and they'll never buy those boots again. I didn't care about wet feet.
I made to the 700m mark where it flattened out and got much cooler in the wind, so it was on with an extra layer. The flattening also brought the bog, and I was hopping over peat hags, but before long, I was on a steeper slope on the way to the ridge and I got some views out to Torridon. A short while later, I made it to the summit where there were a couple of folk having a beer and taking photos on the summit. They left and I had the top to myself.
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| Fionn Bheinn |
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| My wee mug on Fionn Bheinn |
It was a bit breezy but dry and I made good time heading down the hill. I found a stone wall and followed that for most of the way, then picked up a better path. The path felt great underfoot, my mud talons gripping and giving me lots of confidence on the descent. I was really enjoying it and making great time.
I made it back to the road at 1515, and was back at the Midge Bite cafe for 1530. By this time the cafe was shut, so it was some coffee cake and Irn Bru in the van, then get changed and head for my overnight stop.
I headed for the Silverbridge car park where I've stayed over before but it wasn't even 5pm, so I headed down the track to the Wade Bridge on the Alltan Dubh, got some nice pics and chilled out a bit.
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| Wade Bridge |
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| More Wade Bridge and the peaty river |
I headed back to the van, put the pop top up and started to cook dinner. Then a coach party turned up and pretty soon a load of tourists were all standing pointing at my van. I think they liked it as much as I do! Dinner was nice and then it was time to settle in for the evening with some tunes and a dram, and to get plans ready for the next day.
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| Van life |
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