Climbing Ben Nevis Scotland

The four hour bus ride from Edinburgh to Fort William traverses over the highlands of Scotland. It's beautiful country, similar to the mountainous arctic regions of North America. The only big difference is there are small towns spread throughout. We arrived at Fort William, which sits at the base of Ben Nevis and the popular trailhead where over 100,000 climb per year. After getting some information from the tourist office, we grabbed some food for our hike. We looked into a hostel nearby but we would have to sleep in separate rooms. So we asked about camping on Ben Nevis if it was ok, they said "aye". We started up the trail with our packs on but quickly decided to ditch them, do the climb, then pick them up on the way down. We could see a nearby campground so why not just stay there? The hike is an easy one. Although there is a good 4,000 feet of elevation gain, it only took us two hours to summit. Everyone was telling us 4-6 hours. It's height is only 4,409 feet but this far to the north, not much grows giving it the appearance of being much higher. We passed everyone going up and down. Most people on the trail are not climbers...just your average person wanting to say "I've climbed Ben Nevis". On the summit, we were in a total fog. I guess this is typical for the area...too bad. Back in the campground was a sight to see. There were tons of tents all full of people waiting to or having climbed the mountain that day. People were sharing stories, many had binoculars looking up at the mountain, there was real fear in the air. It was like being at any big mountain base camp but it was just a simple half day hike up a trail! The campground was a good choice as it had warm showers, laundry machines, food and lots of people watching.

Ben Nevis - United Kingdom Highpoint