Scottish Perfect: SS26 by Dreaded Path
A field test of our SS26 collection by the Dreaded Path team in Northern Scotland. Words by Joshua Murray & photos by Andy Foote.
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Traveller, there is no path.
The path is made by walking.
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The first few hours passed the way they always do.
Nobody says much.
Footsteps on wet track, breath clouding in cool air.
Above Glen Dye, the rock rose into view.
From here, it always looks closer than it is.
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Every climb feels the same and somehow different each time.
A rhythm took over, silence falling between steps.
The wind tugged at what we carried, rattling packs.
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By afternoon, rain arrived.
Seams tested, sleeves soaked, patience thinning.
The hills shifted from green to grey, granite shining.
Late in the day, the tor appeared.
A bit of shelter behind it was enough for coffee, food, and quiet.
We joked about the weather being “Scottish perfect”, showers, wind, then sun.
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The wind eased, the rain stopped, the hill stayed.
Darkness filled in, the route home familiar, worn by years of our footsteps.
Twenty-eight kilometres, measured in steady steps.
A dreaded path, I’d once called it,
a path worn by return, by habit,
by all the times you go there, looking for something.
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Step after step,
year after year.
The same hill,
the same friends,
the same weather.
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It asks for time and return
for what you give without realising.
And that’s enough.
A dreaded path is made by walking.
