The first time I joined a hill walk with Jonathan was 2008. I was joining a Christmas programme in Cluny with my wife Eveline and saw the notice for a Boxing Day walk. The walk and company were good fun and I appreciated its challenges: leaving the path at some point, ascending a mountain while trudging for miles through the heather and across boulder fields, crossing a raging stream along a slippery tree trunk that made a bridge. Only later I learned this was Carn Eilrig, near Aviemore.

My second walk with Jonathan was in October 2012, when I had already been living in Findhorn for two years. We went up Slioch, close to Kinlochewe. After a long walk-in through lovely woods in glorious autumn colours and along the loch, we started to ascend on a path along a stream. At some point we left the path and headed for the summit. Around 3:30pm we reached the summit cairn at 980m. A glorious moment!

Stunning views of Loch Maree deep down and many mountains around us. On the map I saw they had mysterious sounding Gaelic names. Tired, I was happy the lunch break gave me a welcome rest.

We didn’t go back the same way we came. Jonathan decided to return along a lesser top. Why making this walk unnecessary longer, I thought, feeling my weary limbs (I didn’t know it made the walk actually a bit shorter). The descent from this top was steep, wet and slippery. Why make this walk so difficult, I thought angrily. The slope relented and gave way to a seemingly endless stretch of stony ground. When we finally reached the path back along the loch, dusk set in. Soon it became totally dark and I stumbled along the never ending path, feeling very tired. This was just too much! Why would I ever again join a walk with Jonathan Caddy?

However, back in the car I didn’t feel too bad after all and I later enjoyed the many beautiful pictures I had taken of the walk. I started to think with pride of the Slioch walk. I hadn’t known before I was able to accomplish such an – to my mind – epic walk. The tiredness had worn away in just a few days. The beauty of the landscape had made it worth it.

I decided to give Jonathan another chance with the Boxing Day walk that same year. The next year I began to join more walks which gave me a taste for even more. Gradually the magic of the land got me. The Scottish mountains are so diverse, every area with its own character. The Cairngorms, Torridon, the Fannichs… What a blessing to live in a country with such easy accessible, stunning nature. Gradually I became a regular.

Hugo Klip

First Walk with Jonathan