Munros - up to 2006

Here is a look back at some of the trips I did during my first round of Munro bagging - completed in July 2006.

Ben Lomond

I`ll start with Ben Lomond because it was probably the first Munro I ever climbed - I did it several times in my student days, as it is right in the middle of Glasgow`s rural playpark. Two trips stand out - the first one was in very poor weather - cold, rain, low cloud. I had got to the top, and had started back down, when I met a guy running round the side of the mountain, dressed only in singlet and shorts. He stopped and asked me how to get to the top - I thought this was a silly question - if you want to get to the top you go uphill. So I pointed up the hill and said that it was up there. He thanked me and ran off. Later in life I learnt about hypothermia, and realised that this guy was probably seriously hypothermic - running around with few clothes on, and completely dis-orientated.

The other occasion I remember was quite the opposite - it was a beautiful day. I got to the top with my boots, gaiters, and big rucksack, probably containing a sleeping bag, as that was considered an essential item to carry up mountains in those days. Sitting at the top was a middle aged couple dressed in light casual clothes and shoes, with a picnic basket, a bottle of wine, and two proper wine glasses. I felt very overdressed, and crept away in embarassment.

An Teallach

An Teallach is a classic - one of the finest ridge walks in Scotland. I did it on a superb day in late April in 2005. A long walk in from the A832, SW down the track toward Shenavall, then up onto Sail Liath, and onto the ridge. I scrambled all the high spots of the ridge, except for one, which was a bit hairy. Once I had reached the second Munro, Bidean a Ghlas Thuill, time was pushing on, so I headed east over Glas Mheall Liath, and headed back for the track. It was a fabulous day.

The Fannichs

I enjoyed the Fannichs - they are a range of mostly smaller Munros, and they are easy walking, and it is quite easy to do several of them in a day. Some of them I did twice, just because they were there, and so was I !

Slioch

Slioch is a very striking mountain when viewed from across Loch Maree, and looks almost impossible to climb. I did it on an incredibly hot day in July 2003, it was a very long trek in that heat up from Incheril, by Kinlochewe. I did make one mistake, I didn`t go up Sgurr Dubh, I went round it and into the corrie, and then up. So I missed out that bit of the horseshoe.

The Fisherfields

These six Munros are very remote, some of the most remote Munros there are. A more dedicated munroist than me would probably do all six in one expedition, involving at least one overnight. I did them in three lots.

For Beinn Tarsuinn, Mullach Coire Mhic Fhearchair, and Sgurr Ban, I cycled up from Incheril to Heights of Kinlochewe, then north up to the head of Glean na Muice, which is where the track runs out. There is then a footpath over to Lochan Fada, then you can start climbing.
For Beinn Chlaidheimh, I came down from the north, from the A832. I cycled southwards down the track passed An Teallach to Achneigie, then once across the river, it is an easy walk up to the summit. Fortunately it was during a dry spell, so the river wasn`t too difficult to cross - in wet weather I don`t know if it would be possible to cross it. Most of the track is cycle-able, but it does get quite rough in places.
For A Mhaighdean and Ruadh Stac Mor, it was back to Incheril - I left my van at Incheril whilst it was still dark, and did a lot of the cycling by moonlight. This time I managed to cycle right up to Lochan Fada, although the footpath to Lochan Fada isn`t cycle-able for its whole length, but quite a lot of it is, and it is quite a lot quicker than walking. From Lochan Fada, it was a very tedious contour round the side of Beinn Tarsuinn on quite rough terrain, and up to A Mhaighdean. The trek across to Ruadh Stac Mor is quite difficult, as that side of Ruadh Stac Mhor is mostly precipice. However there is one route up, and on my way up, I marked my way back down with a small cairn - it is all scree slope above the precipice, so would have been very difficult to find the right route back down again.

Loch Quoich

Loch Quoich causes a bit of grief to munro baggers, as it acts as a barrier to accessing two Munros - Gairich, and Sgurr Mor. You can get to them from the dam, but that`s going to be a long trek. So I turned to water power, and using Gairich as a guinea pig, I paddled across the loch from the road to Kinloch Hourn, that runs along the north side of Loch Quoich. The only boat I had available was my very small kayak - a play boat with a very low forward speed, and it took a remarkably long time to cross the loch. However I got there, and climbed Gairich. The seed was sown, and some time later, I did the same for Sgurr Mor.

Knoydart

Knoydart is of course another area, this time with three Munros, that is cut off by water, only this time it is cut off by the sea - Loch Nevis to the south, and Loch Hourn to the north. The two normal routes into Knoydart are either by ferry from Mallaig to Inverie, or by a very long walk-in from Kinloch Hourn. However, having learnt from Loch Quoich, I got out my little play boat again, and set out from the end of the road at Corran, and paddled across Loch Hourn. My first trip was to Ladhar Bheinn, with the cloud base lifting and rolling away as I climbed. Sometime later I paddled across Loch Hourn again, and did the other two Munros, Meall Buidhe, and Luinne Bheinn.

I did the other three Munros in that area, Sgurr na Ciche, Garbh Chioch Mhor, and Sgurr nan Coireachan, from Glendessarry, and by far the worst bit of the whole expedition was driving along the side of Loch Arkaig !

Glen Shiel

There are 21 Munros accessed from the road that runs through Glen Shiel, and I got very bored of going there. It is very tedious and inefficient doing it solo, and chopping it up into different days. It would be much more efficient to have a partner, and two vehicles. Or to do it solo, with at least one overnight.

Glen Shiel has I think the unenviable qualification of presenting me with some of the worst weather I ever had in climbing 284 Munros. I did 4 or 5 of them on the south side of the glen, in the most awful weather - low cloud, heavy rain, and a westerly gale. Fortunately I was working eastwards across the tops, so I had my back to the weather. The people going in the opposite direction were having a very difficult time. The other contenders for the worst weather award would be my trips up Conival + Ben More Assynt, and Ben Starav + Glas Bheinn Mhor.

The Mamores

One of the Mamores` claims for fame is that they are in the wettest part of the UK, and only occasionally allow themselves to be climbed in the dry. I was very lucky, or else I chose well - I had blue sky and sunshine for every one of my trips in the Mamores.

The most striking of these trips has to be the Ring of Steall - a fantastic horseshoe shaped ridge walk that equals anything else in Scotland. Accessed from the head of Glen Nevis, the Ring of Steall includes four Munros - An Gearanach, Stob Choire a` Chairn, Am Bodach, and Sgurr a` Mhaim, as well as some other tops. I did it clockwise, and it was a fantastic day.

Ben Nevis and Carn Mor Dearg

Another superb ridge walk - I did this horseshoe from Torlundy, a long walk in, then up the NW side of Carn Dearg, which is quite steep. Up on to the ridge, and followed the ridge round and up onto the summit of Ben Nevis. I then set of for Carn Mor Dearg, but didn`t go far enough south before dropping down, and ended up looking straight down the precipitous NE side of Ben Nevis. Ooops ! After climbing back up, I set off again in a better direction, and headed for the famous Arête.

If you have never done it, the Arête is a fabulous very narrow ridge, the top of the ridge is made up of huge blocks of stone you have to climb over, and all the time there is a very steep drop on both sides, of several hundred metres.

Somewhere in the middle of the Arête, I met a 30-something couple going in the opposite direction - they looked as if they were out for a walk in their local park - casual clothing, matching fleeces, no packs, no map or compass to be seen - and they were dragging two long-haired golden retrievers along behind them. Not your average dog walk !

Carn Mor Dearg is a magnificent mountain in its own right, but it just gets totally dwarfed by its neighbour, Ben Nevis. It is a great walk back down the long sloping ridge heading NW. The view from Carn Mor Dearg of the NE side of Ben Nevis is quite stunning, and is probably the only way to really see what this side of Ben Nevis looks like.

Loch Pattack

Loch Pattack is a fabulous area, with 9 Munros arranged in a half moon shape around it, to the west and the south. It is easily accessed by bike, by cycling from Dalwhinnie down the side of Loch Ericht, then up and over the hill, and down to Loch Pattack. This is best done after a spell of dry weather, as the track along the side of Loch Pattack gets submerged when the loch is high.

I loved every one of my trips into this area, and have been back to do five of the Munros again, for my munro bagging round 2. So I still have four to do for the second time.

The far north

The far north of Scotland has four Munros in it, they are not the most spectacular of mountains, but good days out all the same. I did Conival and Ben More Assynt in some atrocious weather, and was quite literally blown off my feet and a good two metres off to the side. Every now and then I could hear a rush of wind coming, and I had to drop down onto my hands and knees to save getting blown over again.

One of the characteristics of the far north is the speed at which the weather can change - fronts happen very fast, I watched a front coming over when I was on the summit of Ben Hope, it was very spectacular - big black blobs of cloud were boiling up and down and around - and I was level with them. And the temperature was dropping at an amazing rate.

The other noticeable characteristic of the far north is the scenery - it is quite unlike any other part of the country. Mountains which are huge lumps of rock rise straight out of the bog. There are acres of completely bare rock. It is quite lunar in appearance. None of the most spectacular mountains are Munros, many of them aren`t even Corbetts, but they are stunning just the same. If you are going to this area, take time out to climb some of them, they are as fabulous to climb as they are to look at.

The Cuillins

No other Munros in Scotland prepare you for the Cuillins - they take munro bagging into a whole different experience.

I was well through the Munros by the time I went to Skye, and I was stunned by them. Bla Bheinn was one of the first ones I did, and it was a great day.

My approach to the various Munros on the Cuillin Ridge wasn`t perhaps as well organised as it could have been. I did some at the south end, then some at the north end, then some at the south end, and then some in-between. It does require some detailed studying to work out the best ( and safest ) routes to take to get to the various Munros, if you are not doing the ridge walk in one go. Even when you are on the ridge, it is quite hard to correlate in your mind how the peaks you see in front of you correspond with the peaks that are shown on the OS map. Even the OS Explorer 411 sheet is not much help, as there is so much detail on it, that the peaks get lost.

The way it worked out, the last two of the Cuillin Munros that I did were Sgurr Mhic Choinnich, and finally Sgurr Dearg, and the Inaccessible Pinnacle.

I was fairly confident that I could get to Sgurr Mhic Choinnich, but I knew I could have a problem with the Inaccessible Pinnacle, as I don`t do rock climbing on a regular basis. The abseil down would be no problem to me, as I do SRT stuff, and I had already done some abseiling on the Cuillin ridge - sometimes out of neccessity, sometimes just for fun - but the climb up ?

On the day, as usual, I took my ropes, harness, descender, etc, up with me, as just maybe I would get use them. I did indeed get up to Sgurr Mhic Choinnich, by climbing the left hand stone chute out of Coire Lagan, then scrambling up the north ridge of Sgurr Mhic Choinnich to the summit.

I came back down the ridge to where I had stashed my rucksack, and was getting organised to go up Sgurr Dearg, when two other climbers came down the ridge. We chatted briefly, and they said they were on their way to do the whole ridge in one go, and I asked them if they were going to be doing the Inaccesible Pinnacle. They said they were, and asked if I was going to be doing it - I said I wasn`t sure, as I am not a regular rock climber - I said the abseil down would be no problem to me, but I didn`t know how I was going to get up it. And they said that they would get me up it - we could all rope up with me in the middle, and they would get me up it.

Off we went , and climbed up to the base of the In Pin. We got roped up - or rather they roped me up alpine style, and off we went. I did get there, I was struggling quite a bit at one point, but got to the top okay. As I had predicted, the abseil wasn`t a problem, except my descender didn`t like their rope very much, as it was quite a thick rope.

I have no idea who they were, but I am eternally grateful to them for their help in getting me to the top of my last Cuillin Munro.

There is actually a sequel to this story - a few weeks later, after I had finished all the Munros, I went back to Skye, and to the Cuillins again - they are actually quite infectious - once you have got used to them, there is some great mountain climbing to be had. I did the classic Sgurr nan Gobhar, Sgurr na Banachdich, Sgurr Dearg horseshoe, which took me back up to the In Pin again. After a lot of swithering, I reckoned I would try to see if I could get up the In Pin again - after all, I had done it once, all be it with a bit of a struggle, so I knew what to expect. And I romped up it - not a moment`s hesitation all the way up. I wonder what kind of psychology was at work here - when I was roped up, with the others, I was struggling - when I was solo, with no rope, and no protection of any kind - I had no problem with it.

My last two Munros

My last two Munros were An Socach and finally An Riabhachan, to the north of Loch Mullardoch.

I had done the other two Munros to the north of Loch Mullardoch earlier in the year, when there was still a lot of snow on the tops - I did them from the dam. Getting to the summit of Sgurr na Lapaich was very hairy - it is very steep at the top, and I had my ice axe ready in case I slipped - I would have had a very long slide.

I reckoned the best way to get to them was by boat - by this time I had got a sea kayak as well as my little play boat, so that made life a little easier, as the sea kayak is a lot faster than my little playboat. I had already used it on Loch Mullardoch, as I did Beinn Fhionnlaidh by boat, rather than do the long trek from Glen Affric.

It was a pleasant enough day - and strangely enough, I didn`t really feel any sense of elation as I was coming down from An Riabhachan. More a sense of what do I do now ?

I have started doing them again, only this time I am also doing the Corbetts as well, so this should keep me busy for a good few years. There are 284 Munros, and 220 Corbetts, so I have got 504 mountains to do in total. I do wonder if I will ever finish them all.

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