Glen Rosa

One of the big draws for this new job was the location - the island of Arran. It's often called 'Scotland in miniature', and it's quite an accurate description. This little part of it, Glen Rosa and the surrounding mountains, looks very much like the highlands of Scotland and I couldn't wait to explore it on my first weekend here. I took the main 'tourist' route up Goat Fell (the island's highest mountain, on the right of the glen in this photo), then opted for the less well-travelled route down. This involved heading along 'The Saddle' between Goat Fell and Cir Mhor, the peak in the middle of the photo. It was quite a scramble, much more so than I expected, and probably not something I should have done by myself! I escaped relatively unscathed (one knee sliced open on a rather sharp rock) and then enjoyed a leisurely walk back down Glen Rosa to Brodick. Despite a few hairy moments, it was a great route. I think I'll try it again in the future, but perhaps in reverse!