Chris is a keen highland walker who shares his naked day hiking at Fisherfield, south of Ullapool.
Naked Munro bagging. I never really thought it was either practical or possible. And yet, there I was on a remote mountain in the Scottish Highlands, sitting naked on a trigpoint.
Munros are Scottish mountains over 3000 feet high that I and many others have an addiction for. I am officially a 'bagger', trying to climb all 282, and the Highland weekend at Loch Ossian gave me the perfect excuse to explore some new areas in the week before and climb some more mountains. I'm usually up in Scotland in the depths of winter as I love the mountains in their snowy coats, though this clearly doesn't present the ideal conditions for naked hiking! Summer in Scotland can be just as problematic - the famous midges, the notorious Scottish weather, but both were kind to me on this trip, and I was finally able to take the plunge and try some naked rambling. I chose one of the remotest areas of Scotland for my first naked walk; Fisherfield, in the far north near Ullapool, and wow, it didn't disappoint.
I set out from the roadside in just a sarong and a t-shirt - the track climbs from the road quickly, so I was soon able to remove both as I walked along in beautiful sunshine with stunning views of a rugged mountain called An Teallach. I saw only one person on a walk through stunning scenery to the Shenival bothy, and another walker who passed me on a lower track, possibly deliberately avoiding the strange naked person in front of him! I saw no-one else, and, other than donning my sarong as I approached the bothy, I was naked the whole day.
At around 4pm I reached the summit of my first Munro, Ruadh Stac Mor. An hour later, I was on my second, A'Mhaighdean and then headed for the third, Beinn Tarsuinn. Astounding views surrounded me over the Summer Isles back towards An Teallach and over to Torridon. In 25 years of walking in the Highlands, it was one of the best days of walking I've ever done. The atmosphere was beautifully clear, with sun glinting off the lochs and the distant sea and quartz sparkling on the mountain sides. It was awe inspiring.
At around 7pm I was climbing along the winding ridge to the last summit of the day thinking that I would go the whole day without wearing a stitch, but as I came to the end of the ridge I saw two figures on the summit. I wasn't quite ready to meet them without a stitch on, so I quickly donned shorts and t-shirt, and joined them on the top. If the two women had seen I had been naked just moments before, they certainly didn't mention it and we exchanged pleasantries and each went on our way. My day ended with a high level camp at 800 metres with a beautiful sunset over the Fisherfield Munros. A fitting end to a perfect day.
The following day I was greeted with a huge mountain thunderstorm, so I waited out in my cozy shelter, but it left the day damp and cold so there was no more naked walking that day. I did, however, chalk up my third Munro of the trip the next day, Ciste Dubh north of Cluanie Inn in Kintail, before heading down to Tulloch station ready to catch the train to Corrour the next day to meet up with the British Naturism crowd at Loch Ossian. A very enjoyable weekend with friends old and new and plenty more naked walking ended with a cracking meal at the Station House restaurant. A perfect end to a week of naked firsts.