Training for Kinabalu

Me and Dad climbing up Mt Arkle

Properly started training for Mt Kinabalu now!

Spent three great days in the Scottish Highlands - the far north-west coast - which is absolutely stunning.

On the second day, Colin and I (and Sadie, our dog), went up Mt Arkle - a long, hard rocky ascent up to 787m.

The mountains in this region of Sutherland are quite unique. They are part of The Moine Thrust - not a painful warm-up exercise in the gym, but a geological feature left over from the formation of Scotland. These mountains are made from quartzite, 530 million year-old rock, resting on a slanted base of Lewisian gneiss. It's almost white, hard, sharp and definitely quite challenging to scramble over.

After setting off at 4pm, we managed the 18km round-trip in just over 4 hours. One of the joys of the far north in the summer is that it doesn't really get dark!

Turns out Sadie's quite a mountaineer too, with no fear and able to scale almost anything.

That was 787m. In November, Mt Kinabalu is 4100m. It's going to be tough.