Scotland

During the August bank holiday weekend, I finally decided to do something I had been thinking about for a long time: visit Scotland for the first time and climb Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Britain.

I asked a couple of friends who are experienced and capable hikers if they would like to join me. One of them, Paweł, said yes, so the plan was on.

The Journey to Scotland

I decided to take the ferry on Saturday morning. My car was packed with everything we might need for the trip—tents, food, camping equipment, and, of course, my camera and drone.

We came up with a plan that I would leave my car near the M6 motorway and meet Paweł, who was travelling from Cardiff. From there, we would continue together in his car towards Ben Nevis, near the town of Fort William.

The drive was long, but the views along the way made it worthwhile. We didn't want to waste any time, and at around 7 p.m. we finally arrived at the car park near the start of the trail.

We set up our camp, cooked some food, had a few drinks and went to sleep. We wanted to get up early and start the climb as soon as possible.

Climbing Ben Nevis

The next morning didn't quite go according to plan. We had quite a few things to do before starting, including getting supplies and making the final preparations at the visitor centre. In the end, we started hiking at around 10 a.m.

There were plenty of other hikers starting at roughly the same time, so the trail was quite busy. The first section was relatively pleasant. It wasn't too steep, there were people all around us, and we managed to keep a good pace as we headed higher and higher.

I had decided to take my drone with me. Looking back, I'm still not sure whether that was a good idea!

Between the drone, camera, batteries, water and food, my backpack was pretty heavy. I thought the extra weight would be worth it for some great aerial footage, but the mountain turned out to be much harder than I expected. We didn't have much time or energy to stop, fly the drone and take photos and videos.

Still, I was lucky with the weather. It wasn't particularly windy, which meant I could fly the drone safely even at high altitude.

As we climbed higher, we took plenty of breaks to drink, eat and catch our breath. Eventually, after several hours of climbing, we reached the summit at around 4 p.m.

The Summit

We didn't stay at the top for very long. We knew we still had a long descent ahead of us and wanted to get back to the campsite before it got too late.

We also had a plan to stop at a grocery shop on the way back, but that idea quickly disappeared once we realised how tired we were!

Interestingly, I think I'm one of those people who actually prefers going uphill. Most people seem to hate the climb, but for me, the descent is usually much harder.

Going downhill uses different muscles, and mine definitely aren't as strong. Ben Nevis proved that once again.

By the time we reached the visitor centre on the way down, our legs were completely stiff. At the same time, something strange happened—we entered this weird combination of extreme exhaustion and uncontrollable happiness.

We were absolutely shattered, but we couldn't stop laughing. It was a feeling I had never experienced before.

Eventually, we made it back to our camp at around 7:30 p.m. After a couple of well-deserved beers, we crawled into our sleeping bags. We were completely exhausted, but very happy with what we'd achieved.

Back Home

The journey home somehow felt much quicker than the journey to Scotland.

I left home at around 3 a.m. on Saturday morning, and by around 3 a.m. on Tuesday morning, I was back in my own bed. It had been a long weekend, but an unforgettable one.

It was my first time in Scotland, and I definitely want to go back.

Climbing Ben Nevis felt like just the beginning. There are so many mountains, trails and places in Scotland that I still want to explore, and I hope this won't be my last adventure there.

Thanks to Paweł for joining me and making the trip even more memorable.