Schiehallion (Sidh Chaillean)

Schiehallion, (or Sidh Chaillean) is the picture-postcard mountain of the Central Highlands. Over the centuries it has become famous for four things. Historically the mountain was the known as the "fairy hill of the Caledonians" - in the days when fairy-folk were not the whimsical delicate helpers of fairy-stories, but sinister subterranean abductors and slave-masters! Scientifically, the mountain was used in some pioneering research into physics of gravity. The Astronomer Royal in the 1770s worked out that the symmetry of the hill made it a perfect object for using to establishing its mass, and the extent to which it attracted massive plumblines towards it and away from the perpendicular. Apparently this process also involved the first use of 'contours' on maps. More recently the mountain has become well known for its dramatic appearance, especially from Loch Rannoch, and has adorned many mountain calendars and posters, or websites promoting tourism here.

In our family Schiehallion is above any of this quite simply remembered as a brilliant day out. Mrs H. and I wandered up this great hill when we were students, and sat for hours in bright sunshine near the summit, quire mesmerised by the views over Glen Lyon and Lawers. Yesterday, Boris and Norris joined me for a walk up the hill - again in fabulous weather. This was quite a challenge for the boys - its a bigger walk than they've done before - but they managed it more easily than I could have hoped for, despite the intense heat. Simply carrying enough water for three of us, for the nearly five hours we were away from the car was an important achievement in itself! If the climb had been beyond them, I was happy to turn back, but they seemed to plod-on relentlessly, with the incentive of drinks and sweets to be passed around at each landmark we passed.

Since the last time I was here, a new path has been cut into the hill, joining the ridge lower down and avoiding a really nastily eroded section of the original route. They have also added a steep parking charge to contribute towards the works. The boys were in great form all day, laughing, joking and blethering their usual bizarre mixture of conversation randomly jumping through the usual eclectic range of subjects.

Our family was strictly segregated on gender lines yesterday too. My wife, daughter, sister and mother spent the day shopping for clothes in Glasgow. Thankfully, they neither expected or requested the presence of the boys and so we took our chance and ran to the hills! With birds soaring on the thermal currents, heathaze shimmering over the heather, a beautiful mountain under our feet, views across Rannoch Moor from an airy summit that feels like standing in the sky to enjoy - who could even contemplate shopping!