It was an August summer’s day in 2021, when I hiked 5 miles to the top of Ben Nevis in Scotland. This was the first summit of the 3 UK Highest Peaks that I want to collect. The other two are Mount Snowdon (Wales) and Scarfell Pike (England).

Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the UK at 1345m and the total return trip was 10 miles and took just under 9 hours to complete. The weather at the summit was not great and the view was poor because of the mist but it was certainly worth it.

It is a busy route with lots of other hikers. I set off from the Glen Nevis car park and crossed the footbridge over the River Nevis and followed the Ben Nevis Mountain Path. The first half of the mountain path is easy going underfoot whilst the second half is often rough terrain and care must be taken to avoid injury.

The return journey was the same as going up and by now my legs were very tired. I had to take extra care on the descent as this is when most injuries occur when you are tired. I was lucky with the weather as it didn’t rain, so for that, I was glad.

Overall it was a fantastic day and I have many fond memories of the hike.