A few years back a friend from London and I decided to head into the hills for an overnighter after he had once stated there were no Mountains in Scotland.

The further we drove north into Glen clova the more nervous he seemed to get. The idea was to walk half way up Jocks road in Glen Doll, make a detour via Loch Esk where we would camp overnight and then return to the car park via Glen Clova.


Jocks Road



Bachnagairn, at the top of Glen Clova showing the difference between Summer and Winter.

Some of my friends comments after a successful trip was how dark it became during the night. Something he was totally unaccustomed to. (During the summer months it doesn't get dark until 10-11pm and then gets light again around 4am. During the Winter months it gets dark around 4:30 pm and does not get light until 8:30am.)

A lot of inexperienced walkers get caught out simply because

a) they not do plan well ahead of time to complete there route whilst taking into account their navigational and physical abilities.

b) do not know the sunset time and that it can vary by so much during different times of the year.

c) actually do not realise that it gets so dark that they are not able to see their hands in front of their faces.

So common sense and how the urbanite views the machinations on how the world works can sometimes be at odds with each other when the urbanite is put into a different environment. It's just that urban living gives some kind of disconnect to the natural world. I don't think we should really be surprised.