As sure as the world spins, so too will the days quickly pass by.

I really can’t believe that my time in Gairloch has come to an end. For a moment it felt like things were never going to quite reach the finish line. But alas, it has.

If you’d asked me this time last year, ‘where do you think you’ll be in 12 months’ time?’ I surely wouldn’t have given you this :

The north-west coast of Scotland, where the weather is the harshest, but in the summer the days are the brightest. When you get a spell of high pressure hovering over your atmosphere, there really isn’t a place better than this.

And I mean it.

As I look out toward the Torridonian hills while I write this, knowing that I have left a few un-ticked out there excites me to the bones. Just knowing that I can come back here one day and finish off this story that is untold. Wester Ross you beauty, you really cannot put into words how much I have fallen in love with you.

23 Munros is my tally to date, at one point, around mid-summer I was averaging 1.3 Munros a week. Quite the achievement for a young budding amateur mountaineer.

I suppose I’ll be back, soon, one-day. I think. I hope.

I have, after all, left my mountain bike up here, so surely I’ll have to return sooner than I think?

Well, I can’t fit everything into my car for the return journey, well I can – I’m just choosing to leave a reason to return. Besides. Cycling in the winter? The paper round of winter 2012 was reason enough to never attempt that again.

But 14 years on, since that fateful day, the snow has in fact been forecast on the mountain weather report today. Sleet, hail and snow are all on the menu on the slopes above 800 metres high and I suppose, if and (hopefully) when I return in March you’ll still be here for me to painstakingly trudge through.

I may be a little unfit by then, because Scottish mountains are like no other – and I think I have tried to capture that fairly well in my writings this year.

But for now, a sense of sadness falls upon me. I’m not quite ready to say goodbye, I really don’t want to truth be told, but I must.

What’s next? I can’t really say, many doors have been knocked on, but few have been answered. But one thing that is for sure, the door is left ajar for me to return back up here for the 2027 season and I cannot wait for it.

So to all the people I met up here in Gairloch, I hope you all got home safe and sound and to the friends that I have made, contacts that have been shared – you’re half the reason why I loved this year so much – it’s been the best one of my life, the other half is of course – the Scottish Munros of the north-west Highlands.

15 hill days have been earmarked for me to tick off in 2027, I’m getting serious about bagging them all now.

So with the autumnal winds that carry the turning of the season, the crisp air reminds us that the end of the year is just around the corner, it is time to turn the page from the adventures of the summer and make preparations for the ones in the wintery seasons and beyond.

Grab that thick wooly jumper out of your wardrobe, dust off your thermals, water-proof that rain jacket and get on exploring. The weather may be turning and now’s your time to take your chances when you can.

I can’t quite believe this is over, but now, my hiking slows but my writing will continue to flow to keep you all entertained. I’m sure there will be many opportunities for me to make a fool of myself and have a good story to tell.

But for now, keep exploring, keep inspiring – and plan that next trip!

Have a safe winter

Bye x