Sunday, August 07, 2011

Craig's mountain send off

 The death of one of my oldest and best friends, Craig, has been a real shock. I was able to go to Craig's service and for a walk up one of the Perthshire hills with his friends and family in his memory which really helped me to deal with the loss. I've been up the hill, Ben y Vrackie, "The Speckled Hill", many times with Craig and friends before as its so near Perth and also because its such a great walk, with lots of variety on the walk in. The climb itself isn't too much of a slog and the hill itself is a beautiful shape, a real little mountain at just under 3000ft. We were treated to perfect weather and fantastic views, a wonderful send off for the man. My friend Stone and I walked over to the hill's second peak - looking back at the tiny specs of our friends gathered below the summit lots of thoughts went through my mind, how short our lives are on the mountain timescale and how friendship can transcend the human life span.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Ian, was just having a little browse of your blog and came across this entry - sorry to hear such sad news - would like to offer my condolences. Glad you found such a profound and cathartic way to say goodbye to your friend. Vanessa x

Ian Watt said...

Thanks Vanessa - it was an amazing experience! we had one of the best days ever up Ben Vrackie.
Hope all well with you, would be great to catch up soon, Ian xx