I know I am really lucky to be able to walk outside for an hour or so, every single day. But though I love my daily walks, I have of late rather missed walking much further, in the hills. A few days ago, I had a sudden urge to go for a good long walk so we all set out for Conic Hill.
We can see the knobbly outline of Conic Hill from the top of our garden, and it’s an important local landmark. The hill’s name has nothing to do with its shape but is rather an anglicised form of the Gaelic còinneach (meaning mossy). It’s the hill that gave its name to this moss-inspired cardigan design.
Moss thrives in damp environments . . . and on a rainy February day, Conic Hill is very damp indeed!
Our spirits were not damp though . . .
. . . on the contrary, it felt quite exhilarating to get up high above the landscape once again, and to see these familiar local vistas.
At the top of the hill, the cloud descended, and for a while we were buffeted by hail
. . .but the skies cleared on the way back down, opening out one of my all-time favourite local views, west across Loch Lomond, and the islands and crannogs that mark the Highland Boundary Fault.
We all came home tired and soaked but very happy.
Roll on Spring, and more long days outdoors, like this.
If you’d like to know more about Conic Hill and the environs of Loch Lomond, I wrote an essay about this landscape in our West Highland Way book. And if you are interested in my knits, I’m wearing a pair of Green Shoots Mittens and a Craigallian Hat.
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