Driven out of the city by call of the wild; Escape from the pressures

It always surprises me how quickly you can get out of Glasgow and into the hills. As a birthday treat I scuttled away from the office at five o'clock, just beating the gridlock, and was on the summit of Ben Lomond, Scotland's most southerly Munro, just over three hours later.

I had been tied to a word processor all week and the previous weekend. The bear in me badly needed to escape, if only for a few hours. It craved fresh air, fine views and the natural rhythms of the mountains.

It was 6.15pm when I left the car park at Rowardennan, by Loch Lomond, and made my way up the well-worn path through the woods. The air was still and sultry and the midgies drowned in my sweat before they even got the chance to bite. Once clear of the trees the atmosphere was fresher. A slight breeze kept the insects at bay but it was still sultry. Doe-eyed and somnolent cows, with calves by their side, were too drowsy to move and I had to step around them, following the long and winding trail that climbs up on to the long shoulder of the Sron Aonaich.

By now I was into an easy rhythm, my pack felt light on my back, the views were opening up and I could sense the office tensions beginning to evaporate. New, fresh perspectives crowded in - the jumble of hills that surrounded me, the languid call of a cuckoo from the depths of the woods below, the ragged shoreline of the loch stretching into a Highland landscape, the joyful outpourings of a skylark - eternal values, things that have always been, as ancient as the duration of days.

My basic needs were now much simpler. Several hours earlier my head had been bursting with the pressure of things that had to be done in a finite amount of time - now, my only requirements were a flat bit of ground and some running water. In Scotland you're rarely without the latter!

My plan was simple - climb to the summit, enjoy the views, then descend a couple of hundred feet and camp for the night. I had a lightweight tent, a stove and some food. By leaving the mountain early next morning I could be back in the office by nine - refreshed and hopefully better prepared to cope with life as an outdoor magazine editor. Better prepared to adapt to the wants and demands of other folk's agendas.

The summit views were all I could have wished for. Entrails of cloud and mist had wrapped themselves round the lower slopes of the Arrochar Alps, leaving the peaks like islands. A jumble of hills choked off the northern waters of Loch Lomond and in the distance the twin peaks of Ben More and Stobinian were graced by a halo of cloud. Away below my feet, at the foot of Ben Lomond's great north-east corrie, the white-washed farm-house of Comer looked curiously tranquil in its remote setting.

It was after nine by the time I had put the tent up, crawled inside and cooked a meal. The archipelago of islands at the southern end of Loch Lomond turned black in the gloaming and it wasn't long before the lights of Luss and Balloch began to twinkle in the half- light. An hour later the southern sky glowed softly, reflecting the light of the sleeping city.

Two-and-a-half thousand feet up on my mountainside eyrie I surveyed the scene with a sense of wonder and deep satisfaction. I would sleep with the tent door wide open and at odd waking moments during the night I would glimpse the sky, the hills, the loch and its islands and feel glad that I was here, re-connected to the land for a few precious hours. Tomorrow would bring its own challenges, and I would be better prepared to face them. What more could you ask for from a birthday treat?

Map: OS Sheet 56 Access point: Rowardennan car park Distance: 7 miles/12km Approx time: 4-6 hours Route: A footpath climbs through the woods from behind the public toilets in the car park at Rowardennan. Follow this path up through the woods and up the southern slopes of the hill to gain the shoulder of Sron Aonaich. Follow the path as the shoulder rises to steeper slopes where the path zig-zags on to the summit ridge. The route follows this undulating crest and then climbs over some slabs of mica-schist to reach the broad summit. Either descend the way you came or continue north, then west to gain the Ptarmigan Ridge. Follow the ridge south to the Tom Fithich burn which is followed to the West Highland Way track. Follow the track south to Rowardennan.

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