Fragments from the journey home

A flying visit to Fort William and Glen Coe with Hannah. It's work – a media event at the new Páramo store opening on the FW high street – but it's also fun, catching up with friends who live in the most beautiful spot along the north shore of Loch Leven.

Outdoor industry chat, gear news, a walk on the beach, fitting Manuka the spaniel with her new trekking rucksack, Chinese takeaway for dinner.

Hannah and I drive south through Glen Coe early in the morning. It's quiet. The stags are roaring. The colours on the hill are back to how they should be. We stop at the Coire nan Lochan parking area to get out of the car and gaze up at the heights. I know almost every rock; some have private, special names that only I have written down, recorded only in ink on paper.

My eyes roam over all of those crags, unspooling memory after memory from a younger me – and planning the next return visit. New adventures, new stories, with new climbing friends.

When we look up at an old favourite mountain we truly see immortality. A thing of beauty is a joy for ever.

The journey south over Rannoch Moor always feels like heading in the wrong direction, but the light, somehow, never seems to change. I'll be coming back to this place for as long as I live.