The sky’s a hazy grey as the sun starts to rise, just visible behind the dense low-hanging cloud. We slide slowly – though not silently – into mirror-smooth Loch Ossian. Reflections of bare-branched trees ripple, a bird of prey hovers on the horizon. It doesn’t get much wilder than this; a full immersion into the elemental Highlands.
We’re staying at the Loch Ossian youth hostel at the water’s edge, one of the most remote in the UK. Off-grid, with no vehicle access and sleeping 20 in two bunkrooms, it’s a place to truly escape from the world (and we have it all to ourselves). Old black-and-white photos of early female mountaineers hang on the walls; our damp hiking gear dries on racks by the fire; at night the pitch-black sky twinkles with countless stars.
