Last 100 Munros

Route: Pocket mountain from Rannoch station to Corrour station, getting train back

Height: 941m, 955m

Date: 12 November 2017

Time to summit: 4hr 17mins, 5h 37mins

Total time: 9hr

With: Dominic Williams

Weather: Sun and cloud, snow on the ground with occasional flurries, some low cloud on tops but views, very windy at times, dark for last bit

Notes: There were fantastic views across Rannoch moor to the snowy hills of the Black Month as we arrived at Rannoch station car park. We headed back along the frosty road for about 2km before taking the track that runs between Rannoch and Corrour. This went gently uphill and we soon got far too hot and had to stop and take off layers. It was easy walking along the track and we could enjoy the nice lighting on the Glen Lyon hills and those just north of Bridge of Orchy.  

Eventually the track we wanted branched off to the right and we began to make our way a bit more steeply uphill. We stayed on the track for a while but when it turned more determinedly east we struck off to make our way up to the ridge. The ground was fairly frozen which was good, as it would have been quite boggy otherwise. We were sheltered as we made our way up so it was quite warm going.

We slogged uphill, the ground getting increasingly snowy, until we reached the flatter part of the ridge. There the wind picked up a bit so it got colder but there were some fantastic views over to Glen Coe and the Mamores. The angle was quite an unusual one so it took us a while to work out which mountains were which. We stopped in a vaguely sheltered spot that we assumed wasn’t too far from the summit to eat lunch and got a bit chilly so when we started again we kept all the layers we’d put on on.

It was actually a reasonable way still to the summit of Càrn Dearg but not that steep. We passed two other people going the other way, who seemed to be vaguely running. The cloud was at about the level of the summit when we got there, but there were still some good views. From the summit we began to make our way down to the bealach between Càrn Dearg and Sgòr Gaibhre. There were signs of a vague path but this seemed to be the iciest part of the ground so it was often best to go to the side of it.

We descended a reasonable way down before beginning the climb up to the second munro. Ascending, the wind picked up and I found it quite tough going. Thankfully there was some fantastic lighting and fantastic views to keep me going. It was incredibly windy and cold on the top of Sgòr Gaibhre so we didn’t stay too long admiring the view.

We gradually made our way down to the col with Sgòr Choinnich, the wind still making going a bit difficult. At the col we decided to head down along the stream across the wide corie because the wind on the ridge wasn’t that pleasant and the sun was going down. We could see a snow covered path in distance so headed across the heather and peat towards it, the semi-frozen ground making going fairly okay. Eventually we made it to the path we’d seen in the distance - a fairly muddy ATV track, and followed this until it met a better track up to a small micro-hydro scheme.

On the track, we headed down though the trees to the collection of holiday lets and other buildings of the Corrour estate - I was surprised how many of them there were - and then along the track by Loch Ossian. Surrounded by the rhododendron bushes it was fairly dark as the sun had set by now. We picked up the pace a little as we realised we still had quite a way to go until the train station. We paused for a bit of rest where we could see the loch and the last bits of sun going down behind the mountains and then carried on using our head torches to light the way.

Ahead, we could see the lights at the youth hostel, which was quite good to give us a sense of how far we had to go along the loch. It vaguely began to snow/rain but only very lightly. It took us a while to get to the hostel, but at this point we didn’t have time to stop and look at it as the train was soon going to be arriving and we still had about a mile to go to the station. We picked up the pace and made it with 10 minutes to spare - so much for thinking we’d be waiting for hours!  

Route: Pocket mountain from Corie na Cas

Height: 1245m

Date: 23 September 2017

Time to summit: 2hr 2mins

Total time: 5hr 30mins

With: Dominic Williams

Weather: Windy, sunny and clear skies initially lower down, some low cloud on the plateau which cleared, deteriorated later in the day.  

Notes: It was a struggle to stand up as we left the car at the Corie na Cas carpark and made our way through the remains of the skiing base and removed ski paraphernalia. The good path took us up onto Creagan Dubh, which we later learnt from Jim was known as the windy ridge. It was certainly living up to its name! It was a bit of a struggle to walk at points and I ended up putting my sunglasses on because I was worried about my contact lenses being blown out!

The sky was clear looking down to Loch Morlich and Aviemore and so the views were quite good. However, looking up, the plateau was shrouded in mist - we did wonder why we were battling the wind to get up there…The path petered out but it was fairly easy ground, which rose slightly steeply in places, as we made out way up to Cnap Coire na Spreidhe. The cloud did seem to be lifting a bit and we had nice views over to Bynack More.

We carried on across the undulating plateau towards Cairngorm, eventually meeting a fairly wide path and more people. It was still pretty windy on the top and we sheltered behind the weather station to eat our lunch, enjoying the occasional views as the cloud lifted. After eating we carried on along the high ground, making our way around to the edge of Corie an t-Sneachda. The views looking down and back across it towards Caringorm were pretty spectacular. Some brave people were climbing up one of the routes, but possibly it would have been more sheltered where they were.

We went round the top of Corie an Lochain and began to descend along the ridge. The weather deteriorated a bit and we found ourselves in the cloud, getting a bit damp, again. It was fairly quick going along the path. We met some people wondering if we’d seen any people swimming but we hadn’t - they would have been pretty cold if they had been. The path made its way to the ski centre - our first real encounter with skiing infrastructure all day - going over some very full rivers, and from there it wasn’t too far back along the road to Corie na Cas.

Route: Cycle loop from Glen Clova Hotel to Glen Doll, run up Corrie Fee, up Mayar and Dreish, down via Kilbo Path, cycle back to hotel

Height: 928m, 947m

Date: 16 September 2017

Time to summit (from Glen Doll): 1hr 5mins, 1hr 35mins

Total time: 2hr 15min (just the run)

With: Dominic, Mhairi, Dave M, Jen, Colin, Ed  

Weather: Windy, rainy, cloudy

After a night camping that involved a 1am taking down of the tent and retreat to the car, the day of the duathalon dawned windy and cold with the threat of rain - quite a contrast to the sunshine of the previous year! Undeterred, we handed in our transition boxes and got ready for the race.

We set off cycling in waves of 20, separated by a few minutes. The first cycle of the day went from the Glen Clova Hotel, doing a loop around the lower part of the glen on the road, back past the hotel and then on to the Glen Doll carpark. For the first part we enjoyed a powerful tail wind blowing us along the undulating road, but paid for it when we turned around and headed back up the other side of the valley. During the final stretch from the hotel to the carpark the rain started, making cycling not that pleasant.

A quick change of waterproof at the transition point and it was time to start the run. Although I’d beaten him in the cycle, Dom quickly disappeared off ahead. We first made our way up the track towards Corie Fee and once across the bottom began the steep climb up its headwall. Everyone was walking at the point! On the ascent it was relatively sheltered, but at the top of Mayar the wind came back with a vengeance, and turning towards Dreish it was hard to stand up, let alone run!

Despite the weather, I was please to pass Dom at pretty much the same point I had done the previous year, part way up the steep section from the bealach. The weather continued to be quite unpleasant going up Dreish and back down to the pass, but at least we would be out of it sooner than the bedraggled looking walkers.

It was then carefully down the Kilbo path, where I managed to overtake a few people who, sensibly, were being a bit more cautious, and then into the woods. Here care had to be taken to avoid slipping on the mud and branches, but it was reasonably sheltered from the wind. Quite soon we made it to the river and it was a fairly short way along the flat back to the bikes. Last year I’d cramped up terribly at this point, but this year my legs were still working.

With the wind behind me I jumped back on my bike for the final stretch back to the hotel, trying to catch the person ahead of me, who I’d been following most of the way down. I didn’t quite manage it, but I was quite pleased with my time. After getting changed, me and Dom warmed up with some soup while waiting for the others to come in. We then all warmed up by the fire inside the hotel, before heading out to listen to the prize giving - someone had set a new course record despite the weather conditions. The sun had, of course, come out by this point, and the wind dropped - if only the start had been delayed!  

Route: Starting from end of Loch Arkaig, over pass into Glen Kingie, up to col between Sgurr Mor and Sgurr an Fhuarain, along ridge all the way around from Sgurr an Fhuarain to Sgùrr na Breachd-laoidh, along ridge down to near Glendessary Lodge.

Height: 1003m

Date: 2 September 2017

Time to summit: 4hr 58mins

Total time: 9hr 53mins

With: Solo

Weather: Initally cloud was fairly low, but lifted when I got to the ridge, continued to improve - sunny and clear.

Notes: There were already 10 other vehicles when I arrived at the end of Loch Arkaig at about 11pm at night and a couple of people had already set off before I did at about 7:30am. It was incredibly midgy as I was leaving, to the extent I wore my head net while walking along the track towards Glendessary Lodge.

Just as I reached near the keepers cottage I decided too check the route and realised I'd just missed the turning for path. I crossed some slightly boggy ground and soon met a rough but reasonable path going up over the pass between Druim a'Chuirn and Fraoch Beinn. This made its way up before petering out when the ground got a bit flatter and boggier. I was getting increasingly worried about whether my plan for the day would work  as the weather wasn't great - all the hills ahead that had now come into view were under cloud and it seemed to be threatening rain.

I descended a short way over some rough ground to cross the Kingie, which was pretty low, and stopped on the far bank for some food and to fill up my bottle, before heading up into the mist. I’d decided that the risk of getting shot was fairly minimal and to take the route straight up to hit the ridge between Sgurr Mor and Sgurr an Fhuarain. This was very steep and quite slow but I was heartened by the mist gradually lifting off the tops, and by the time I made it to the ridge Sgurr Mor was more-or-less clear.

But my first objective was Sgurr an Fhuarain. This was a relatively short snd easy climb along the ridge and from the top there were good views down to Loch Cuaich and beyond, as well as to Gairich. The weather continued to improve as I made my way back along the ridge and began the ascent of Sgurr Mor. This was a bit more rocky, but there was a vague path to follow.

On the summit it was a bit chilly but the cloud was mostly just skirting the top so I had good views over to Knoydart. After eating my lunch I continued on. The decent off Sgurr Mor has a bit of a path, which picked its way down fairly steep rocky ground and grassy ledges. At the col between Sgurr Mor and Sgurr Beag I scared a woman by saying hello - she hadn’t been expecting to see anyone else!

I carried on following a path up to the top of Sgurr Beag and then continued following the ridge down again to the col between it and An Eag. Here the path I’d been on zigzagged down into Glen Kinglass but I carried on the ridge, enjoying the fantastic views in the sunshine. On top of An Eag I stopped for some water and a snack while looking over to the broken, rocky flank of Sgurr nan Coireachan and down to Loch Cuaich. My route, however, was away from these, first going down to bealach and then up to Sgùrr na Breachd-laoidh.

The descent wasn’t too steep on a mix of rocky outcrops and grass. The ascent up to the summit of Sgùrr na Breachd-laoidh was quite steep following a dry stone wall but I eventually made my way to the top. The views across the glen to the other side of the ridge were great and I could now see all the way across to the Nevis range.

The ridge to head back stayed fairly level and high with lots of interesting folded outcrops, some with some very large mica crystals in them. As I made my way along I passed a man who’d been corbett bagging and was on his way to his third one of the day. Gradually the ridge turned and began to descent back towards Glendessary, taking a long sweeping line down above the bog I’d crossed in the morning. Without too much difficulty I eventually made my way back to the path I’d started up on, and soon came to the track. From there it was a few of kilometres of easy walking back to the car (and the midges!).

Route: Cameron MacNeish/SMC route, cycling from Linn of Dee to Geldie Lodge 

Height: 994m, 1006m

Date: 27 August 2017

Time to summit: 3h 35mins, 5h 13mins

Total time: 7h 40mins  

With: Solo

Weather: Cloudy, some wind, occasional bits of sunshine

Notes: The midges were ready and waiting as I got to the Linn of Dee carpark just after 9am, so I got as much ready as I could in the car and then set off cycling to towards Geldie Lodge. The track along the Dee to White Bridge was familiar from going up Monadh Mor and Beinn Bhrotain in March, but this time all the heather was out - a lovely purple colour. Past white bridge the track had quite a few more puddles on it, but was still okay to cycle along, particularly keeping to the centre. It seemed fairly flat, although cycling was into the wind, which combined with fairly flat bike tyres made it seem a bit harder than it might have otherwise been.

The track turned to follow the Geldie Burn and as I went along it I passed nine other people heading up - quite a lot considering these are some of the most remote Munros. The track was generally quite good to ride on with only a couple of small streams I got off to walk through. Eventually I reached the crossing across the Geldie Burn. Some other people that got there at the same time changed into wetsuit shoes but I just put my gaiters on and stayed dry crossing it -  the water probably only came up just over my boots.

I carried on cycling a little further to the ruin of Geldie Lodge where I left my bike alongside two other bikes in a small shelter, having taken about 1hr 15mins to get there. On foot, I began to make my way along the well made stalkers path towards Carn an Fhidhleir. In the books this was described as a bulldozed path but it didn’t have that feel to it these days. The way meandered through the heather for several kilometres, going very gently uphill. My legs were still feeling quite achy from my run the previous day.

Crossing a river, the path eventually ran out and I was left to pick my own way through the heather and peat hags. There were a couple of people a bit ahead of me, but we ended up taking slightly different routes, crossing a flatish valley to approach the steeper sides of Carn an Fhidhleir. Just before the gradient steepened I filled up my bottle from a small stream - I’d nearly drunk a whole litre already! The climb up onto the very broad ridge of Carn an Fhidhleir wasn’t too bad, and the honey-scents of the heather was very nice. There was a bit of a path along the side of the top that I followed gently up to the summit.

At the top there were reasonable views across to the Cairngorms and over to the hills near Blair Atholl. I sheltered from the wind behind the summit cairn to eat my lunch before continuing along a path along the summit. This dropped down slightly and I followed it contouring around the edge of small top. When I was at above the bealach between Carn an Fhidhleir and An Sgarsoch I dropped down grassy and heathery slopes into the peat. After picking my way across this, I then began to climb up again. The heather gradually got a bit shorter, and there were even some patches of stones! Nearing the summit, there was a bit of a path and generally it was very easy terrain.

Sheltering by the summit cairn again, I had some food and enjoyed the views, which now included over to Lochnagar and the hills by Glen Shee. To descend I headed vaguely northwards across the grass and heather and picked my way down slopes towards . As there were paths on both sides, I decided to take the route around the east of Scarsoch Bheag, as suggested in the Cameron McNeish book (SMC says to go west), and then struck a bit more north east to try and intersect the path I’d been on on the way up. The small path disappeared, but it wasn’t too bad going across the peat and heather to reach the main path towards Gledie Lodge.

I put my gaiters on before setting off, in anticipation of crossing the Geldie Burn, which was just as straightforward to cross as on the way out. Heading back towards Linn of Dee seemed much speedier than on the way out - a lot more downhill than there had seemed uphill - and I made it back to the car in only about 40mins!

Route: SMC route in reverse, cycling back to the car  (22mins) Height: 1049m, 1083m, 992m, 993m

Date:  8 July 2017

Time to summit: 2h 28mins, 3h 30mins, 4h 42mins, 5h 49mins

Total time: 8h 3min (7h 32min to bikes)

With: Dominic

Weather: Mainly cloudy, views from summits. Some showers. Very windy on ridge.  

Notes: We arrived at the gate one minute before 9am, where there were already quite a few cars waiting. After having our number plate noted and getting a ticket we followed the other vehicles up the valley. We stopped briefly at the grassy car park at the end of the walk to lock our bikes to a sign and then carried on about 7km along the road to where the large stalkers path came out. Finally getting around to looking at the description in the book it turned out that they actually have you doing it the other way around, but we decided doing the ridge west to east should reduce the amount of walking into the wind.

Followed by two people with a dog we set off along the stalkers track, which while a bit loose, was quite good going. We followed this up, it never being that steep. The ground around looked potentially quite boggy so it was quite good to have a path. Soon we had quite good views towards Sgùrr Fhuar-thuill and its tops as we followed the path below the cliffs on Sgurr na Muice and by Loch Toll a’Mhuic. We then started to climb a bit more steeply and the path disappeared in places but it was still fairly straightforward going along the grass and heather. We cut off the path towards the ridge just to the south of Sgùrr na Fearstaig. The wind was quite strong but the views over to Glen Cannich, Glen Affric and away north and west were fantastic.

We followed the ridge upwards. On the way to the top we passed a female ptarmigan that seemed to be behaving slightly oddly, but then noticed a ptarmigan chick nestled in the grass. The wind was very strong as made our way along the ridge undulating slightly as we made out way up to the top and then on to the Munro summit of Sgùrr Fhuar-thuill. I’d been up here 14 years ago in the mist and very strong wind and my dad had ended up getting confused so that we ended up going back on ourselves and only doing the first Munro. We didn’t stay too long at the summit, continuing down and then up again to the top of Creag Ghorm a’Bhealaich. It was an excellent to ridge to walk along, with fantastic views, even though it was a bit cold and very windy.

The ridge made an abrupt turn at Creag Ghorm a’Bhealaich and we followed it quite steeply down to the col with Sgùrr a’ Choire Ghlais, before beginning to go up again steeply, but on a clear path. It was a bit bouldery as we made our final ascent to the first of two of the large cairns on the summit, which had a trig-point inbetween them. We sheltered behind one the cairns to eat our lunch, vaguely sheltered from the wind. Around the summit of Sgùrr a’ Choire Ghlais, both just before and as we began to make our way down, we met quite a few other people, this being about the mid-point and people all having set off at similar times.

The descent off Sgùrr a’ Choire Ghlais was occasionally rocky but looking over to Carn nan Gobhar and Sgùrr na Ruaidhe the character of the ridge changed quite a bit, becoming much more rounded. We descend easily and then continued to follow the path up the broad grassy slopes of Carn nan Gobhar, which had some bouldery ground towards its summit on flat ground. It vaguely began to rain, but didn’t amount to much in the end and we paused there for a while having a snack. From there we continued easily following the route along the broad grassy ridge down a reasonable amount and then easily back up the same amount to the top of Sgùrr na Ruaidhe.

After some more snacks and being puzzled by there being what looked like a quarry, we began to make our way down off the ridge. From the summit there was a bit of a route to follow off the south west ridge which intermittently became tracks of a vehicle. This was slightly wet at times but not too steep. We made our way down into the Coire Mhuillidh, the path being followable but not amazing though the boggy grounds. Around a small dam, presumably hydro related, we met a more substantial track which we then followed down sharp zig-zags to where we’d left the bikes. The ride along the road was neither as windy or as much uphill as I’d been fearing and we made it back to the car in fairly good time.

Tayside Summit to Sea from Dominic Williams on Vimeo.

Route: Walk from Lawers nature reserve carpark to summit of Ben Lawers via Beinn Ghals; Run from Ben Lawers along the ridge to Meall Greigh, down to Fearnan, and along to Kenmore; Kayak along the Tay to Grand Tully, Cycle from Grand Tully to Broughty Ferry Castle   

Height: 1103m, 1214m, 1117m, 1123m, 1001m

Date: 1 July 2017

Time to summit: 1h 16mins, 1h 40mins, 2h 21mins, 3h 07mins, 3h 49mins

Total time: ~13h 30mins

With: Dominic, Berenice, Paul. With Hazel cycling, support from Pete, Jon and baby Amy. BBQ with DMC.  

Weather: Sunny, warm. Some atmospheric cloud around walk up Ben Lawers. Cloudier for Kayaking and Cycling, with a reasonably strong wind from the west.

Notes: After picking Paul and the kayaking kit up in Dundee we headed west towards Kenmore where we met Berenice. We left my car parked up and all got into Berenice’s car for the final stretch up to the Lawers nature reserve car park, dodging herds of sheep sleeping just on the road. It was about midnight when we got there so a bit dark and very still, so quite midgy. We hurriedly pitched our tents in the carpark and settled down for a few hours sleep. 

Waking up about 5:15am we were greeted by the sun peeking out over the ridge. It was looking to be a day of fantastic weather! We had some breakfast, packed down the tents and by 6:16am we were ready to set off back to Dundee. It was a lovely morning to be out walking and even wearing shorts I was warm enough. We took the signposted route to Ben Lawers, going along a very good path across the lower slopes and deciding, partly for completeness sake, to take the route up over Beinn Ghlas. As we began to go more steeply up some low cloud built up, but this was mostly below us by the time we got on to the ridge, making for very atmospheric views. We made our way up to the top of Beinn Ghlas and from there ran down to the col with Ben Lawers, and then we walked up to the summit.

Given it was just before 8am it was slightly surprising to find two other people with their dog already on the summit! We couldn’t have asked for better weather - it was sunny, bright and there were fantastic views. I retrieved a postcard that had been left by my dad and his friends below one of the trig points and we posed for photos with a silky pillowcase that mysteriously gained the DMC logo on it later. As lovely as it was on the top it was time to start the summit to sea challenge proper and begin running along the ridge!

We spread out a bit as we descended down the ridge and I managed to go the wrong way for a short while, waving to Paul as he took the correct route. We gathered together at the col and walked most of the way up An Stùc. The descent off An Stùc was not particularly runnable. Me, Dom and Berenice took one route and Paul another. Paul seemed to have picked the best route, going steeply down a gully, while our way was a bit scrambly - as good as Salomon Speedcross shoes are for running they aren’t made for trying to climb down wet schist. Me and Dom managed to cut across to the other route and Berenice climbed back up again and came to it higher up. Eventually we all made it to where Paul was sitting waiting at the col and then it was time to go up again to the summit of Meall Garbh. 

The remainder of the ridge after Meall Garbh was much less rocky. Berenice said she would be happy for us not to wait for her for the rest of the run, so me, Dom and Paul headed off. It was a bit boggy in places on the way down Meall Garbh and up Meall Greigh but mostly runnable. A quite new lamb decided it preferred Paul to its mother so we had to pick up the pace to avoid the sheep getting too angry. After a while we made it to the summit of Meall Greigh and could see Loch Tay below. We took the NE ridge, running over tussocky, grassy ground, picking up vague paths occasionally until we reached a good track. 

We turned off the ridge and onto the track, making our way down several zig-zags. When we hit the forest a gate barred the way across the track but the fence was easy enough to climb over. A few more sharp zig-zags in the trees later we hit a better quality track, which we followed for a short way before turning off onto a very overgrown track. It was quite useful to have the map on my phone to be sure this was where we wanted to go as it wasn’t very obvious, although it clearly had been a reasonable track, and was probably the best way down through the trees (Berenice ended up cutting down a firebreak). Approaching Fearnan we left the trees and ran along the track through grassy fields, which lead us into the village. We hadn’t agreed where we were meant to meet Pete here, and we didn’t see him anywhere (we were over an hour late at this point), so we continued down to the main road hoping to intersect him at some point. The A-road was fairly narrow so wasn’t the best place to be running along without a pavement. We agreed for Paul to go at his own pace while me and Dom carried on ahead, taking a grassy, slightly overgrown track though the trees for a couple of kilometres. This was much nicer than the road, although to get back to the road we did have to go back down through some woodland as the track wasn’t quite as marked on the map. Another short section of the A-road lead us to a carpark about 1km from Kenmore. We stopped there and Dom used the toilets. While I was waiting, Paul went past. It turned out he’d seen Pete on the road and now Pete was heading to pick up Berenice in Fearnan . We continued a short way more on the road then took a woodland path along the banks of Loch Tay, cutting of a corner, which brought us out through the grounds of Kenmore hotel. Then it was across the bridge and to the car with Berenice and Pete cheering us on for the final stretch!

At Kenmore it was time for some food, including the cutting of the Summit to Sea cake, and then a quick change into kayaking kit. We drove the boats around the bridge and then launched into the Tay, watching a wedding taking place at the Inn on the opposite bank. I’d forgotten to make sure the footrests were adjusted correctly so had to fiddle around with those a bit. The river was quite gentle as we set off, and indeed for most of the way, but with a reasonable amount of flow to keep us going along. As we crossed under ‘Chinky Bridge’ we hit probably the biggest rapids of the paddle but they were good fun rather than scary. About half way to Aberfeldy I decided that I needed to adjust the footrests again so had to get out on a gravel beach to faff around with them. Once back on the river it was generally very pleasant paddling downstream, even seeing a large bird of prey at one point. There were a few people fishing but we went past them on the other bank and there weren’t any ill feelings.

As we got to the bridge in Aberfeldy we saw Berenice and Pete on the bank, which was nice! After a quick hello and some photos we headed off, keen to continue. Berenice and Pete also continued, albeit more quickly in the cars, down to Grand Tully to meet Hazel, Jon and Baby Amy who’d been waiting for a while. The river between Aberfeldy and Grand Tully continued to be easy and pleasant to paddle. There were some bits that were very flat and in one of those we formed a small raft so Dom could get some malt loaf out from inside his boat for us all to eat - we were feeling a bit in need of energy at this point! After a while I began to feel quite stiff from being in one position for so long, although I was pleased that my shoulder and wrist were generally okay as they have caused me problems kayaking before. The approach to Grand Tully was a bit more bumpy but still quite easy, and we all made it to the end without swimming. The others were waiting for us on the banks before Grand Tully rapid and helped me and Paul out with our boats while Dom paddled the rapid, along with quite a few teenagers practicing on the slalom course. When we were all off the river it was time for another quick carpark-change into our cycling gear and some more food. Paul was driving my car back to Dundee and Berenice was driving Pete back up to Kenmore to pick up his car. Hazel was joining us for part of the cycle to Dunkeld but because we were running a couple of hours late her and Jon had to take Amy back after this so she could have her tea and go to bed.

We set off cycling on cycle route 7, first crossing over to the other side of the Tay and then along the quite road paralleling the river. Crossing over the river again, a short stretch on the main road took us to another quiet road which was very pleasant to cycle along. The weather was still good and there was a bit of a wind behind us. After a while we followed signs towards Pitlochry, turning off the road and down a hill to cross the Tay again. We continued on the cycle path over the Tummel and the A9, and then cycled alongside the A9 for a while. This was mainly separated by a verge and trees so it wasn’t too bad. After a while we turned onto a quiet road that climbed up above the road, and then began to descend reasonably steeply into Dunkeld. Jon picked Hazel up in Dunkeld and me and Dom continued on. Along the quiet A-roads I saw a red squirrel, which made me very happy. We wended our way through the undulating countryside, crossing over the Tay and enjoying the scene of the wind passing through the barley in the fields. We passed through few settlements but in Murthly we stopped at the shop for a bit of a rest and ate an entire giant bag of crisps as well as some other bits of food - it was getting close to tea time but we still had a fair way still to go to get to the sea. Crossing over the Tay again and then the Isla, we began to approach the Sidlaws but road we’d originally planned to use to cross them was closed, so we ended up taking a route that Dave M had recommended. This perhaps not quite as steep as others but I was definitely flagging a bit when I got to the top of the first of the climbs. Revived with a Snickers bar we carried on towards Collace and Dunsinane hill. There was another bit of a climb, but from there onwards it wasn’t too bad, and I realised I’d actually been on this bit of the ride before.

It was a very steep descent down through Abernyte to the Carse which should have been fun, but I’m still a bit too scared about using my brakes on my road bike so I took it quite slowly - Dom got up to 50kph! There was a small section of the road to get across the A90 which was hard into the wind but as we turned to pass Inchture and then along the road to Dundee the wind was at our backs blowing us along! We stopped for some jelly sweets and then pushed on for the final stretch - the oil rigs in the docks coming into view so we knew we were nearly back. Passing through Invergowrie we continued on along Riverside and hit cycle route 1. This took us through the docks (I’d worried about the gates being closed after a certain time but they don’t seem to be) and then right along the Tay into Broughty Ferry. 

At the castle we stopped for some celebratory pictures and then headed onto the beach to join the rest of the DMC gang for the BBQ and for a brief paddle in the sea! It was very windy on the beach but thankfully people had been sensible enough to bring wind breaks to shelter us while we enjoyed some slightly sandy veggie sausages, halloumi and prosecco. The BBQ was converted into a fire pit, Bruce using a sledge hammer to break up the wood, and we warmed ourselves by it while having some more summit to sea cake. Eventually, after a long but fantastic day it was time to head home for a well-needed sleep.

As today’s my 29th birthday my quest to compleat* my Munros before I’m 30 has now reached the final stretch. More by chance than design, rather pleasingly I’ve got a nice round 30 to do in the next year, the final one, Schiehallion, scheduled for 23 June 2018.

The other remaining 29 are some of the tricker ones, not in a technical climbing sense, but in that they are quite a long way from roads, and include visiting both the points that people argue are furthest you can get from tarmac on the UK mainline. So the next 12 months should involve quite a few long days, bike-ins, bothies, and wild camping spots.

The final 30, about 14 days on the hill plus a few more for walks-in, grouped roughly by area/trips, are:

Caringorms: An Sgorsoch and Carn an Fhidhleir (Bike in from Linn of Dee or Glen Tilt, possible run)

Locharber(ish): Sgurr Mor (from Loch Arkaig)

Glen Strathfarrar: Sgùrr à Choire Ghlais, Carn nan Gobhar, and Sgùrr na Ruaidhe

Glen Cannich: An Socach and An Riabhachan

Torridon: Liathach (Spidean a’choirs and Mullach an Rathain)

Glen Carron: Maoile Lunndaidh;                       Sgurr a’ Chaorachain and Sgurr Choinnich;                       Bidein a’ Choire Sheasgaich and Lurg Mhor;                       Beinn Liath Mhor and Sgorr Ruadh

Fisherfield: Ruadh Stac Mor, A’ Mhaighdean, Ben Tarsuinn, Mullach Coire Mhic Fhearchair and Sgurr Ban

Loch Ericht/Loch Ossian (potential walk through Dalwhinnie to Corrour or 3 day trip from Rannoch): Ben Alder and Beinn Bheoil;                                       Carn Dearg, Geal Charn, Aonach Beag, Beinn Eibhin;                                      Sgor Gaibhre

Perthshire: Schiehallion - the last one! 

Because I’m a bit geeky (and it’s easy to do off the Hill Lists app) I made a graph showing my climbing rate so far - it’s improved considerably over the last few years so this all should be achievable in the next year. Going to university for eight years in the south of England, unsurprisingly, turns out is not that helpful for Munro climbing, but having a parent who’s trying to compleat is. Moving to Scotland on the other hand is good for Munro climbing!

Route: Pocket mountain/SMC route with slight variation at end 

Height: 933m

Date: 22 June 2017

Time to summit: 1h 57mins

Total time: 4h 18mins

With: Philip

Weather: Mainly cloudy, humid and fairly warm, view from summit but cloud down at times. Windy on ridge.  

Notes: A nice easy mountain to complete the trip with my dad. After using the facilities at Achnasheen station we set off a short way on the road and followed the “official footpath” signs past a farm with barking dogs and then up onto the grassy hillside. There was a rough worn path on the ground that made its way up following the Allt Achadh na Sine on its northeast side. On the other side of the river there was a newly bulldozed track. It was fairly easy to follow and not too steep although it was a bit damp in places.

The ground levelled out, got a bit more boggy and the path much less distinct. There was quite a lot of sphagnum moss as you’d expect in a bog. Careful choosing of the route, aided by following routes that people had been before meant our feet we stayed reasonably dry. As we went into the corie the gradient gradually increased, and we were left to our own devices to cross up its grassy sides onto the ridge. As we made our way up there were good views across to Slioch and Beinn Eighe, although the tops were in cloud.

On the ridge, Fionn Beinn presented a more interesting side with quite steep and rocky cories going down towards Loch Fannich. Once on the ridge it was only a short way along the broad grassy slopes to the summit trig point. Although the cloud was fairly low and skimming the top we had reasonable views out west to the sea, north to the Fannichs and south and east to the interesting looking corbett of Sgurr a’ Mhuilinn.

For our descent we decided to take the option of making it into a round walk, sticking on the ridge and heading east past the spurr going out to Creagan nan Loagh. Below, we could see a track coming a reasonable way up the slopes through the forest. We carried on the ridge a short way and then headed down to cross a drystone wall where there were some very nice schists with quite big garnets. We sat there to eat our lunch and then continued down grassy slopes with a fairly gentle gradient where there were lots of violet and cotton grass.

The track seemed to go up to a nano hydroscheme across a small river. We followed it all the way down to the road very easily - the gate out did say you shouldn’t enter because it was a building site, but there were no such prohibitions at the top. We then had a short section along the road back to the station, finding a geocache enroute.  

Route: SMC route

Height: 933m

Date: 21 June 2017

Time to summit: 3h 26mins

Total time: 7h 43mins

With: Philip 

Weather: Mixed, mainly cloudy but in the morning some bright sunshine, humid and fairly warm, view from summit but cloud came down and showers on descent. Windy in places with very strong gusts on ridge.  

Notes: The forcast wasn’t that great so we made a fairly early start driving round to Coulags via the facilities at Achnasheen. After parking just to the west of the bridge we began making our way along the track to Torridon. Soon there was a footpath sign, curiously from Gloucester County Council, diverting the route on foot a short way around the track, but this soon made its way back onto the track going to the hydro works for a short while. A short way we diverted off the track to follow a slightly rougher, presumably original, route that vaguely paralleled the hydro track. This wound its way gently uphill and was very good going. Just to our side, very close at times were various diggers and machines doing things to make the run-of-the-river hydro scheme, including a rock crushing one.

Eventually we crossed the Fionn-abhainn on a bridge and left the hydro works behind. The very good path continued along the valley with quite good views of Meall nan Ceapairean to the west and Maol Chean-dearg coming into view. The weather was vastly better than anticipated - I was even regretting not wearing shorts! After a while we came to a very nice and well maintained bothy that we had a quick look around. Continuing along the valley we passed a couple of tents. The good path continued, although there was one vaguely boggy patch before we took the fork off to the left to continue our ascent up.

This was a little bit rougher but very very well graded with zigzags as we made our way up to the bealach between Maol Chean-dearg and Meall nan Ceapairean. The sandstone cliffs of Meall nan Ceapairean towered above us quite impressively. Just before getting into Coire Garbh we stopped to refill our bottles, although this seemed to make it cloud over a bit more. We continued on the excellent path which made its way up to Bealach a’ Choire Ghairbh in a series of very wide curves making it very easy going. We were now into the quartzite and the path was very white. As we approached the belach the views over to An Ruadh-Stac were very impressive - it looked like it would be a good hill to climb another day.

We turned onto the ridge, continuing on path that was a little loose and sandy but still quite good and zigzagged. The wind got up as we gained the ridge. We made our way fairly steeply up for a while through jagged outcrops of quartzite and then continued along a flatter area on the broad ridge. The gradient steeped once again when we hit the sandstone, although it did get a bit grassier. This went up in two steep sections, the second being mainly boulders with an indistinct route to follow. We met two men coming down - the campists - who had 3 black labradors with them. The wind got even stronger as we approached the summit, although when we got to the wide flat area of the top it did seem a bit less intense.

At the summit my dad went to find a geocache and I tried, with quite poor phone signal, and ultimately unsuccessfully, to deal with a text from my bank saying they had a security concern about my credit card. It was very hazy but we could see over to Beinn Alligin and Liathach and Beinn Eighe. While we ate our lunch the weather seemed to get a bit worse and by the time we were ready to leave the summit the cloud had come down and it had started to rain.

Descending we retraced our ascent, first making our way down the sandstone boulders. At the bottom of this first steep section I decided I was too hot in my overtrousers and that it had stopped raining so I could take them off. A few minutes later I was quickly trying to get them back on! The short, sharp, rain showers continued all the way down to the belach, although we didn’t get particularly wet. By the time we got down into the corie the weather seemed to have improved so we were able to take our waterproofs off again.

The very good path made for an easy descent. We stopped for a while in the bothy to have a snack - looking at the log book it seemed to be a  popular spot. After setting out we ran back in to shelter from another shower for a short while. Eventually continuing we carried on along past the hydro scheme where they were still hard at work and made our way back to the car just before another shower started.        

Route: SMC route in reverse 

Height: 1010m, 993m

Date: 20 June 2017

Time to summit: 3h 36mins, 5h 43mins

Total time: 8h 52mins  

With: Philip

Weather: Some cloud around initially but both summits clear and by the end of the day quite warm and sunny with blue skies.  

Notes: Although we were camped up at the start of the walk and made a reasonably early start several people set off before us. We started along the path which made its way between the end of Liathach and one of Beinn Eighe’s ridges. There was still cloud around on the tops but it was clearly lifting. The path was excellent and we made reasonable progress going gently up. As we progressed we got more views of the various Corbetts that lie to the north of Torridon as well as Liathach’s steep northern cories.

The path curved around and eventually we made our way into the fantastic Coire Mhic Fhearchair. The triple buttress was reflected in the still lochan which was quite spectacular. We made our way around the east side of the lochan following a worn path and cairns over sandstone slabs and then beginning to ascend reasonably steeply. Going up we fairly soon made it to the quartzite and so the scree. (I’m not sure if the route suggested in the pocket mountain book might be better because it avoids the scree.) This was a bit of a pain to go over but didn’t last too long and where the gully narrowed we were able to made our way up mainly on fractured quartzite ledges.

Once up to the col it wasn’t too far along the ridge to the summit of Ruadh-stac Mór. We sat on the top to eat our lunch, enjoying the view. There was still a bit of cloud around but this wasn’t sticking anywhere for very long. Once we’d eaten we continued back towards the main ridge - I decided to go over Còinneach Mhòr while my dad contoured around it. When we met up again we decided it was time to put suntan lotion on before continuing along the ridge. There were fantastic views all around looking over to the Glen Carron hills, Fionn Beinn, Slioch, Fisherfield, and even over to the Cullins.

Walking along the ridge slightly undulated and had quite steep drops but was fairly easy, going over quartzite, then more sandstone and then back to quartzite. It was then not too far up to the trig point on Spidean Corie nan Clach, and then a short way up, with some opportunity to play at scrambling. At the top we stopped for a while enjoying the sunshine and the views - the way along the rest of the ridge looked very tempting to continue along, but my dad was (reasonably) not very keen.

Instead we made our way back down to the trig point and then descended quartzite scree along some fairly tight zigzags a short way to a col. We decided to go out to the end of the promontory where we ate our second lunch, enjoying more fantastic view in the sunshine. Eventually we decided we should probably go down so went back to the col and then began a steep descent down a worn path where there was some fairly loose rock and soil.

After a while this reached the corie floor and the gradient lessened a bit. We decided it was worth filling up our bottles again as it was now very sunny - lots of blue skies - and fairly warm. The path improved to one that had probably fairly recently been repaired, and had some good zigzags to take us steeply down again. It got so warm that I decided to zip of the bottom of my trousers. We continued down, the gradient eventually getting less steep, and eventually got to the small patch of trees and a rough carpark by the road along a short track. From there is was not too far back along the fairly busy road to where our car was with good views of Liathach in front of us. The car park had got a lot busier while we were away - there were quite a lot of cars parked along the road!

Route: SMC route over horns of Alligin

Height: 922m, 986m

Date: 19 June 2017

Time to summit: 2h 28mins, 3h 41mins

Total time: 7h 16mins  

With: Philip

Weather: An improving day - cloudy with mist on both summits, but clearing intermittently and some sun on the way down.

Notes: The rain in the morning but a promise of an improving day, meant that we didn’t set off until almost noon. The rain had cleared and there were signs that the cloud was lifting still when we set off from the car park by the bridge over the Abhainn Coire Mhic Nòbaill. The path heading up Tom na Gruiagaich was excellent - it was mainly made sandstone steps going up the first section. Before we started into Coire nan Laogh the ground flattened out a bit, but with the path wasn’t boggy. We ate out lunch in the flatter area looking across to Beinn Dearg, Liathach and Beinn Eighe, where the cloud was slowly lifting.

After eating we continued on the path into the corie. The path was good, although fairly steep going along the sandy and grassy slopes. Around huge sandstone cliffs towered up above us. We hit the mist as we went up which wasn’t fun as it got a bit damper. Eventually we hit the ridge and from there it was a very short distance to the summit trig point of Tom na Gruagaich.

Unfortunately it was still misty on the summit so we we made our way down along the ridge. It was moderately steep and there were some big steps in the sandstone to go down. As we descended the weather seemed to be improving quite a bit - we could see over to Gairloch, Rassay, Skye and the top of Tom na Gruagaich was also occasionally coming out of the cloud too. As we continued along the ridge the other Torridon mountains were also beginning to come out of the cloud a bit too.

We made our way up along the path to the top of Sgurr Mor, and back into the mist. There were, however, some vague views down occasionally. Our descent route was down over the Horns of Alligin so we continued along the ridge picking our way down sandstone ledges along the path. Going down we got out of the mist before going up the ‘horn’. It is nicely scrambly and quite fun to go up. The rock reminded me a lot of climbing on millstone grit in the Pennines. There were three horns and there was nice scrambling on all of them, with only one bit I made look harder than it should have been. My dad hadn’t been over them when he’d been up Beinn Alligin the other two times with my Mum and with my Grandma.

At the end of the Horns it was then still quite a long way down steeply over sandstone ledges, although there were occasional steps. Eventually we made it down the steep ground and decided this was the point to have second lunch. Over the flatter ground it was much easier going along another excellent path with bridges across the two rivers we had to cross. The tops of Beinn Alligin were mostly out, as was Liathach as we made our way along the Abhainn Coire Mhic Nòbaill. The views meant the shape of the mountain was revealed much better than it had been before.

The final way along back to the car along the Abhainn Coire Mhic Nòbaill was very pretty, with some excellent waterfalls long the river, which became increasingly gorge-like. Eventually the wide open view gave way to a pretty wood of scots pine for our final way back to the car.

Route: SMC/Pocket Mountain route from Kinlochewe

Height: 981m

Date: 18 June 2017

Time to summit: 4h 34mins

Total time: 8h 27mins  

With: Philip Gilligan

Weather: Initially sun and cloud but increasingly overcast with some showers, misty on ridge and quite windy

Notes: Driving along Loch Maree the cloud was almost off the summit of Slioch so we were optimistic that we would have better conditions than the others from DMC did the previous day. We parked up at the carpark at Incheril and began walking along a path along the edge of fields towards Loch Maree. It was generally quite good going although on there were some slightly damp patches. It was also getting increasingly sunny and we were a bit worried about our lack of suntan lotion. The bracken and tree lined path made its way along the river crossing a few small streams.

We crossed on a bridge across the deep Abhainn an Fhasaigh and I decided it was time to unzip the bottom of my trousers before we started up going more steeply uphill. We followed a reasonable, although slightly boggy in some places, path uphill over Torridonian sandstone. There was quite a good variety in the sandstone including some blocks with lots of huge angular clasts. We continued up, moderately steeply, and a short way before the col between Sgùrr Dubh and Meall Each we stopped to eat our lunch. Although I decided it was worth the leg bottoms back on my trousers, looking over to Beinn Eighe the improvement looked to be continuing as the summits were now out of the cloud.

Unfortunately this improvement was not to continue. As we made our way into the corie and skirted around the base of Sgùrr Dubh it began to rain sufficiently heavily for us to put our waterproofs on, and cloud came down on the top. Following a path for a while we then crossed a steep slope to get to a col on the ridge.

Once on the ridge navigation seemed like it would be straightforward however the combination of quite thick mist and flattish sandy ground meant we lost the path and ended up using the map on the GPS to navigate between the two lochans. From there the gradient steeped quite a lot and we ended up picking our way up through the sandstone blocks and boulders. Eventually we joined the path - we knew there was one as we’d seen it earlier - and continued up along this. Gradually the gradient lessened and we eventually made it the trig point (not the summit) and then a bit further along to the summit.

As there was no view in the mist and it was quite windy we didn’t stay very long. We continued east, first along a fairly wide, grassy ridge with lots of sand that eventually narrowed to a rocky sandstone ridge. This went down a short way and then up to the top of Sgùrr an Tuill Bhàin. From there we set a fairly direct route down into Corie an Sleaghaich avoiding the steepest ground. Underfoot it was fairly bouldery and grassy. It was also drier than we thought it might be crossing the bottom of the corie to the col between Sgùrr Dubh and Meall Each.

For the remaining bit of the decent we followed our route out. Before we started descending too much we stopped and had our second lunch. On some rocks not too far away were some goats with huge horns! We continued down over the varied sandstone, eventually coming to the bridge across the Abhainn an Fhasaigh. From there it was another 4km along the shores of Loch Maree to the car. While it seemed further than on the way out because we were a bit tired and hungry, it was still a very pretty route.

Route: From Glenlochsie Farm along the landrover track to the summit. Return the same way.

Height: 1051m 

Date: 3 June 2017

Time to summit: 1h 05mins 43seconds

Total time: ~2h 30mins

With: Dominic and assorted other racers

Weather: Cloudy, some rain to start with, but got sunnier

Notes: I was still recovering from having been in Borneo, but we didn’t have any other plans for the day so we decided it should be fun to do the Glas Tulaichean uphill race. I didn’t really have any memory of going up there previously, so that was another bonus.

We arrived at the start with just enough time to put our warm layer on the landrover to be taken to the summit, and get our numbers. These all seemed quite high, but it turned out they didn’t start from 1…It was initially quite sunny however as we were warming up by the start it began to rain. This meant I, foolishly, decided to keep my windproof layer on when the race started.

I set off initially quite fast but was soon overtaken by most people and by the time we crossed the first river my desire to keep my feet dry meant that I was very near the back. I didn’t mind too much though, and kept plodding along on the track that went fairly gently up Glen Lochsie. At the second stream, just before the track steepened significantly I decided I had to take my orange top off, putting me last.

It continued to be a landrover track as I climbed out of the valley, although pretty steep in places. I was determined to overtake the guy in front of me and slowly gained on him as we climbed up. About half way up, not long after I’d clawed my way into penultimate place, the gradient lessened a bit, but I continued to having to keep walking occasionally. Eventually people started passing me making their way back down, and on the final climb towards the summit there were quite a lot - everyone shouting words of encouragement.

Turning off the landrover track the final few hundred meters were on a path - I was quite happy to eventually reach the trig point where Dom was waiting! There was one than one bag left at the top, which puzzled me and the organisers as I was sure there was only one person behind me, however as we began to descend it turned out that there were 3 others!

We took a leisurely pace walking down the route we’d come up, the weather improving and it turning out quite warm. Back at the barn we had some cake and sandwiches and it was time for the prize giving - although I was fourth from last I still won a bottle of wine for coming second in the senior women category so not to bad after all!

Route: Glen Doll carpark up Corie Fee to Mayar, across to Driesh and down the Kilbo path 

Height: 928m, 947m

Date: 14 May 2017

Time to summit: 2h 40mins, 3h 48mins

Total time: 5h 48mins

With: Dominic, Patricia, and Philip

Weather: Mixed. Initially a bit overcast and showery, but quite sunny towards the end of the day, windy on the tops.

Notes: My parents were visiting for the weekend so we thought it would be nice to get up into the hills, and given how close they are to Dundee we thought it would be good to head, once again, up Mayar and Dreish. We took the route of the duathlon, partly so my parents could see what the run was like. Heading off from the Glen Doll carpark, we made our way easily along the track towards Corie Fee, stopping a few times to take our waterproofs on and off. By the time we got into Corie Fee the weather improved and before it got steep we stopped to eat our lunch on some big boulders.

Contining on, we climbed steeply up on the path to the top of Mayar where there were nice views but it was very windy. After stopping to take some pictures, we continued on our way between the two summits. At the top of Driesh we sheltered by the trig point and had some snacks, before heading down on the Kilbo path. At both where we went into the forest and back in Glen Doll there were Cairngorms Scenic Photo Posts, the idea being that you put your camera on the post and can compare it with other people’s photos from the same spot.

Route: SMC route from Glen Brittle Campsite 

Height: 944m, 924m      

Date: 7 May 2017

Time to summit: 4h 18mins, 6h 23mins

Total time: 9h 13mins

With: Dominic

Weather: Sunshine, quite warm, some wind at times, occasional clouds

Notes: We left Dave M at his car at the end of the Glen Brittle road and then parked up at our camping spot. The route followed the path up to Corie Lagan for about 1km and then turned off, crossing a small stream shortly afterwards. The going was good along the path and there were fantastic views over to Rum and down to the small island of Soay. When we’d left Sligachan in the morning the clouds at the north end of the ridge looked quite threatening but the south end of the ridge was clear.

We made our way along the path, pausing for Dom to trim an errant toenail, then followed it into Coir’ a’Ghrunnda. The route then steepened but had reasonable zigzags in the scree. After a while we reached a wider area in the corie and took the cairned path that skated the bottom of the cliffs, avoiding the bouldery area. At the base of the slabs up to the loch we ate our lunch before beginning making our way up. It was fairly easy going on a vague path although there were a few more scrambly bits where we had to take a bit of care in selecting the right route. Eventually we made it up to the top and into the corie, where the fantastically blue lochan was surrounded by rocky peaks.

After re-applying suntan lotion, we made our way around the side of the lochan, passing quite a few circles of stones where people had bivvied. Our route took us up scrambling over bouldery slopes up to the ridge between Sgùrr Dubh an Da Bheinn and Sgùrr Thearlaich. Reaching the ridge we had fantastic views to the northern end of the ridge, where there was still a bit of cloud on the tops and out over to Blaven. We went down a short way and then continued scrambling up over boulders and ledges to the very narrow top of Sgùrr Dubh an Da Bheinn. We didn’t pause there long before continuing down to the col between it and Sgùrr Dubh Mor. There was a reasonably clear route, some of it a bit scree-y and one little bit of scrambling. We passed a couple of groups of people coming up including two runners we’d seen down in Glen Brittle.

The way up Sgùrr Dubh Mor looked reasonably intimidating with lots of steep faces. The key to getting up was following the ledges around to the right until there were good bits to climb up, with the climbing being fairly short, not too bad scrambles. The summit with a cairn was tiny, only really space for two people, but was a fantastic view point. I went a short way along the narrow arete because I wasn’t sure if the highest point was actually ahead, but looking back it did look higher where the cairn was.

The descent down was okay with bits of down climbing, but this time we could see the ledges rather than the cliffs. We then retraced our steps back up to the top of Sgùrr Dubh an Da Bheinn before beginning the descent down the south ridge. This was a similar type of descent - short sections of scrambling with ledges in between. About half way down we couldn’t see a good way along the crest so we took a route down more on the east side. This involved going down over large boulders and then a bit of down climbing but got us to the base of An Caisteal. The textures in the rocks - peridotite by this point - were really interesting, and were very good for scrambling.

We skirted the base of An Caisteal and then began to scramble up the crest of Sgùrr nan Eag. This was more of a ridge to go along, but keeping slightly on the west side was quite good fun and not too tricky. Eventually we reached a much gentler gradient, and it was then a bit of a way along to the summit with the cairn on it. The cold wind became much stronger on this section of the ridge and at the summit we didn’t stay at the cairn very long because it was so windy. 

We dropped down slightly to have something to eat and were caught up by two men who’d been following us since Sgùrr Dubh Mor. On the descent down we ended up overtaking them and being over taken a few times. We took a line below the crest of the ridge on the west side going down some small scrambly bits and then more boulders and scree, eventually making our way down to the lochan.

Making our way around the edge of the lochan we then began to retrace our route up Coir’ a’Ghrunnda, involving some bits of down climbing at points where we’d scrambled up. We took a lower route across the scree slope, which was also okay to go across, before hitting more of a path again. There were lovely views over to Rùm still and the lighting was very pretty. From there It was a fairly easy walk back to the campsite in Glen Brittle. 

Route: From Sligachan up Bruach na Frithe, skirt round the tooth, up Am Bàsteir, up west ridge of Sgùrr nan Gillean via the West Ridge, down ‘tourist route'

Height: 958m, 934m, 964m    

Date: 6 May 2017

Time to summit: 2h 53mins, 5h 10mins, 7hr 42mins

Total time: 11h 04mins

With: Dominic, Benenice, Andrew B, Bruce, Aileen, Simon L, Jim, Ila, Ilze, Mhairi, Simon O, Andy M, Richard, Craig, Chimed, Louise, Stephen

Weather: Sunshine, quite warm, some wind at times, occasional clouds

Notes: Me and Dom were the last to leave, taking the 8:30 for a 9 start too literally, but caught up with the others while they were waiting for some of the group at the campsite. The views up to the ridge were tantalising - it was another day of perfect weather. We walked a short way along the road and then turned onto the path that goes through to Glen Brittle. As we were such a big group we got quite strung out along this, but people did wait at various points. It was a reasonable walk in along the well-made path but fairly easy going.

When we reached a high point on the path we turned towards to the ridge, and started to go more steeply up. Just below the corie we had a bit of a stop while people filled up their bottles, and then continued on. This way up Bruach na Frithe started off up steep slopes with a bit of a covering of grass. There were excellent views over to Raasay and as we climbed higher south along the ridge. There was a worn path to follow so finding the way was very easy and the weather couldn’t have been better really. Continuing on it got increasingly rocky with some bits where you had to use your hands occasionally but still with a reasonable path to go along. After not too long and without any real difficulty we made it to the top - I felt slightly sorry for the other people there to have such a bit group descend upon them!

We stopped for a while and most people had something to eat. Louise and Stephen headed down from here to go swimming and the rest of us continued on towards Am Basteir. We headed along the ridge along a scree-y path. Some people went up over Sgùrr an Fionn Choire on the way - some of us started up there but decided it seemed a little tricky. We followed the route on the north side of the ridge past the Tooth and round the base of the summit of Am Bastier. This was pretty loose and scree-y but not too bad really. It was then a short climb along scree zig-zags to get back onto the ridge. We paused slightly before heading up the ridge towards the summit, with people putting helmets on.

It was a nice scramble along to the Bad Step - a short, steep nic to climb down. Simon L was down on the other side before you could blink but the rest of us tied into a rope to climb/be lowered down by Jim. The people without harnesses went first, and then those of with harnesses took our turn - with such a big group this took quite a long time! I might have been fine climbing down without a rope (I had become quite worried about this bit reading route descriptions in the preceding week) but given we were carrying it was good to have it there. Once down it was a short way up the ridge to the summit where the fantastic views continued. By the time I got to the top quite a few of the group were already climbing back up the Bad Step and we followed them after not too long, the climb back up being fairly easy, especially with a rope.

Back at the col we’d come up to about half the group decided to make their way down, but me, Dom, Berenice, Andrew B, Simon, L, Aileen, Jim, Bruce and Ila carried on to the West ridge of Sgùrr nan Gillean. A path contoured around to the base of several chimneys where we met some guys who’d been trying to get up (without a rope) for a while, but who decided to turn back. Jim decided that it was sensible for us to go up a slightly harder (Diff) chimney - the middle one of the three - which was better than the easier route when you got to the top. Simon tied on and began to lead up the chimney putting in a couple of slings and making it look very easy. Jim followed taking another rope with him so we had two lines to save on time. He made it look a little bit harder, and Dom, who followed next a bit harder still, especially a boulder that was blocking the way out, which I also found a bit tricky to get around. Ila and Bruce didn’t have harnesses and Ila decided it was best to go down, but we fashioned some sort of chest harness for Bruce to use. I was the last one to go up. It was quite a nice route to climb although my boot lace came undone and I had to tie it half way up the route!

Eventually we were all up on the ridge crest and the rest of the route was then a fairly easy scramble, including making our way through a hole in the rocks. Once on the top - Berenice’s 200th Munro - we were all smiles, enjoying the view and Simon’s malteaser tiffin. Skirting the edge of Am Bastier we could see two figures who we wondered if they were Paul and Dave who were doing the whole traverse (it was!). Regretting that we had to go down, we started to descend. The route to go wasn’t entirely obvious, but we knew we wanted to keep vaguely on the south side of the crest to avoid some steep climbs. I’m not sure how successfully we managed to do this - there were quite a few down climbs - but it was reasonably good fun and we could do it so it didn’t matter too much.

After a while we made it down to where we turned off the ridge where we met Ila who’d come all the way round to meet us. We now followed a bouldery route down into the corie, and after a slightly flatter section, down some steeper zig-zags. Once we got onto flatter ground and an easy path Bruce and Jim headed speedily off towards the Sligachan Inn, while the rest of us took a more leisurely pace. It was still quite a way back to the bunkhouse so we stopped for something to eat, and then continued on enjoying the evening sunshine and the views across to the Red Cullin. With slightly sore feet we eventually made it back in time to enjoy the tasty lasagna that Mhairi had prepared!