A quiet picnic?

Quietude is never far away in the highlands – so don’t miss out on it!!

Travel anywhere in the highlands in summer and you will come across lots of weird and wonderful sights by the road. The whole spectrum of ‘outdoor thrill seekers’ can be found, from tour buses taking a short walk at the main beauty spots to folk changing in and out of flashy look gear for climbing up or diving off our mountains. All good – but what I can never get my head round is the ‘trunk road picnic’.

Get some lovely food, some fold out chairs, some good company and head for a 2 metre wide concrete layby with HGVs, caravans and motorbikes roaring by. Something not quite right there is there?! And I’m not talking about a quick stop on the road to break up a drive and have a bite to eat – I mean set in for an afternoon of traffic watch. Why???

The highlands are filled with countless spots of serene tranquillity, spitting distance from the road. Why spend your time taking in the sights and sounds of the kerbside for the sake of a little imagination or a couple of minutes research on the map?