Sustainable Scotland: the low-carbon road to the Highlands

A wilderness break in the Highlands offers eco-friendly accommodation and travel, and visits to projects promoting regenerative farming and reforestation

The sky’s a hazy grey as the sun starts to rise, just visible behind the dense low-hanging cloud. We slide slowly – though not silently – into mirror-smooth Loch Ossian. Reflections of bare-branched trees ripple, a bird of prey hovers on the horizon. It doesn’t get much wilder than this; a full immersion into the elemental Highlands.

We’re staying at the Loch Ossian youth hostel at the water’s edge, one of the most remote in the UK. Off-grid, with no vehicle access and sleeping 20 in two bunkrooms, it’s a place to truly escape from the world. Old black-and-white photos of early female mountaineers hang on the walls; our damp hiking gear dries on racks by the fire; at night the pitch-black sky twinkles with countless stars.