Munro Diary

266, 267. Ben Ime, Beinn Narnain. 14/04/2024

265. 12/04/2024

263, 264. 11/04/2024

261, 262. Sgurr Choinnich (139), Sgurr a'Chaorachain (78). 30/05/2023

Another clear day in the highlands for this walk up the same glen that I'd cycled a month prior. We made rapid time, which was good for the various transport logistics that ensued after the walk.

At least 6km striding along an excellent track was followed by a rope bridge across the river (unnecessary in such dry conditions - I walked through the water) and then a gentle climb up a path leading ultimately towards Lurg Mhor. When we reached the shoulder of Sgurr Choinnich at about 650m, we turned left and scrambled up a small path to the summit (with plenty of interesting bits along the way). Competitive tendencies came to the surface when it was discovered we had a chance of our first morning munro of the trip, so we climbed without a break to get there at 11.58. Such is the madness of youth!

It was an excellent vantage point and the short ridge across to Sgurr a'Chaorachain was short and sweet, meaning we were trotting down the steep grassy side and rejoining the track in no time at all. Apparently my descent line was again novel, but it got me to where I wanted quite efficiently. Overall, a straightforward loop of two great hills.

5h50, 21km, 1200m

Some antics crossing the wire bridge

Some scrambling up the shoulder of Sgurr Choinnich

Looking back from Sgurr a'Chaorachain on the ascent party

259,260. Beinn Liath Mhor (258), Sgurr Ruadh (195, P600 58). 29/05/2023

One of those frequent wall-to-wall sunshine days in the highlands.

Chris was permitted a lie-in, so we only made it to the trailhead in the nick of time to pinch the last parking space. The first part of the climb was up a path through the scrub before the barren Torridonian landscape opened out and the day's route became clear.

From 400m to the east top of Beinn Liath Mhor was a steep climb up a zigzagging path that was quite sapping on the legs, but the views greeting us on the top were worth it. It was quite a bumpy ridge and the shattered rock and scrambling made for slowish progress here, but we were also taking our time to enjoy the clear tops.

The descent to the bealach was filled with interesting terrain and small challenges to keep us entertained, but it didn't take us too long to reach the second munro of Sgurr Ruadh. Here we met our second large party of 10+ walkers at the summit - the hills were positively packed on such a sunny Bank Holiday.

The descent went past the impressively buttressed Fuarr Tholl corbett and onto a path back to the car park. I even braved the midge to dip my toes in the stream near the start - the joys of a spare pair of socks!

6h40, 18km, 1300m

Beginning the summit ridge of BLM

Yours truly before the descent to the bealach

SR looking suitably Torridonian

255-258. An Socach (67), An Riabhachan (29), Sgurr na Lapaich (24, P600 57), Carn nan Gobhar (152). 28/05/2023

With a near-perfect outlook for a few days, we embarked on the somewhat audacious northern Mullardoch ridge, which the guidebook recommends splitting into two walks!

We needed a fairly early start and were at the dam by 8.15am, whence the walk begins with a 10km lochside path (of sorts) before making its way gradually up to the remote An Socach - first along a path seemingly in the middle of nowhere and then across peat hags and up a steep shoulder to the curved summit ridge. We arrived shortly after midday to find a fellow walker on his fourth munro of the day, which was good going!

From here it was an undulating and sometimes scrambly ridge to An Riabhachan across several minor tops and the conditions were excellent without being too warm. Sgurr na Lapaich was the highpoint and involved the only significant bit of re-ascent of the day, but there was nothing challenging. The view back from Carn nan Gobhar (which does well to be considered a separate munro) was spectacular.

My companions were sceptical as to my descent line from here, but I maintain it made the most efficient use of the soft grassy bits to get us back to the loch in rapid time. We made surprisingly good time and overall this walk shouldn't be considered a daunting prospect. It contained a pleasing amount of ditance spent at a high level.

9h50, 32km, 1900m

Our first summit of the day after a good 4h of walking

Looking east along the ridge

South from SnL

The summit of CnG

Joe enjoying the vista of SnL

254. Slioch (170, P600 56). 27/05/2023

An exciting sleeper journey to Inverness ensured I was suitably unrested for this walk, but the long summer evening allowed us to tackle a medium length walk despite only setting off at midday. Joe had also kindly decided to level the playing field by doing a 5k race in the morning so that my sleepy legs didn't fall too far behind.

We started with a nice walk in along loch Maree for an hour before climbing into the mountain up a good path. Then we entered the mist and lost the good path. A stiff climb ensued up the side of the corrie in approximately the right direction, before re-finding the path near the crest of the ridge.

The mist and drizzle were joined by a chilly wind to cool us down on our way up to the summit, but not long after (as we scrambled our way along to the second top), the mist lifted and we had a fantastic view back to the mountain.

The descent was somewhat warmer and we yomped back along loch Maree for a fish 'n' chips supper in Contin.

6h10, 21km, 1000m

Slioch out of the clouds

Loch Maree peeping through the glen

253. Maoile Lunndaidh (128). 09/04/2023

Still keen to make use of mountain bikes, this hill allowed for a bike for the majority of the distance. The ascent and headwind on the bike still made it hard going, but after a couple of hours I was parking up by the lodge and beginning the stiff climb straight up the shoulder of Carn nam Fiaclan. There was no path, I just had to steadily make progress. At about 800m, the slope relented and despite the strong wind, things became much easier. After climbing along the lip of the corrie, the hill opened out into something close to a plateau and I could enjoy the wind mostly behind me towards the cairn I could see from a kilometer away.

On the descent from the top, a path was found following a gorge and then a stream before I cut across the not-too-wet bog to the lodge. Before getting on the bike, I investigated the bothy, which was definitely more on the "emergency shelter" end of the scale, but it did possess an electric heater!

After that, I whizzed back down the glen with the wind behind me, more than an hour faster then on the way out.

3h30 walking, 2h30 cycling

A patch of snow on the approach to the summit plateau

Looking back across the plateau to the nearby munros of Sgurr Choinnich and Sgurr a'Chaorachain

At the top, with the likes of Lurg Mhor in the background

The rudimentary bothy, in spectacular surroundings

Some nice horses encountered on the cycle

251, 252. Bidean a'Choire Sheasgaich (224), Lurg Mhor (162). 08/04/2023

Some glorious April weather in the highlands and although our drive included a 2h diversion following closure of the A82, we made it to Kishorn complete with mountain bikes, ready to attack these remote munros.

With bikes, we approached from Attadale in the south, which I think was a good move, but the 24km of cycling (including plenty of ascent) did sap energy from the legs.

From the highpoint of the cycle in, we had a great view of our targets in the distance and we then enjoyed a fast bumpy descent to Glendronach lodge. We left the bikes a little further on and were soon attempting (and failing) to find a supposed path up to the ridge. This ended up being quite a slog, but things improved once we reached the crest. The final ascent was steeper and rocky, but not too exposed and by this point there was a bit of a path. Views abounded and we could feel the remoteness of this peak, with no human habitation in sight in any direction.

The descent to the bealach was straightforward where I left Hilde to snooze whilst I nipped up Lurg Mhor. The descent from the bealach was quite forgiving and we enjoyed our way down to the loch, from where it was a flat track back to the bikes and the long cycle out.

In all 4h30 walking, 8h45 total

A view of the peaks from the pass during the cycle in

A view of the summit after reaching the crest of the ridge

Lurg Mhor from Bidean a'Choire Sheasgaich

The summit of Lurg Mhor

Bidean a'Choire Sheasgaich, with the hills of Torridon in the background

249, 250. Ben Cruachan (31, P600 55), Stob Diamh (143). 22/09/2022

The cloudy weather was due to lift through the morning from the NW, so we gambled on this applying more to Ben Cruachan than some of the other options.

Starting at 8.30am, the first part of the walk was up a steep wooded path still damp from the overnight rain. Gradually this levelled off and the Cruachan dam appeared and we climbed some metal stairs to get onto the top. There was then a flat track-walk around the reservoir for a quarter of an hour (past one of the many hydroelectric tunnels that bores through the mountain) before the 700m pull up to the summit. By the time we reached the small summit, the clouds had managed to lift off and we had clear views.

The descent along the ridge had a couple of short scrambles, but they looked harder than they were (in particular a traverse of some slabs which was quite exciting. There were several small extra bits of ascent, which added time to the ridge walk, but there was a lot to recommend about the ridge.

Despite a small shower at the start, the descent was a fairly comfortable one back to the dam and then retracing our steps through the woods. All in all, a classic circuit and a great ridge. The 15km and 1500m of ascent took us 5h45.

The reservoir from near the summit of Ben Cruachan.

At the summit, with the ridge beyond.

Approaching Stob Diamh (on the left)

Halfway down with Ben Cruachan in sunshine

Dam and summit from below.

248. Gulvain (161, P600 54). 21/09/2022

Forecast was for cloud everywhere across western Scotland, so we chose this hill so as to at least stay below it for the long walk in. The weather turned out better than predicted, with the cloud base around 850m, but we were certainly still in mist at the top.

The 6km yomp along the valley floor to the foot of the mountain was perfectly pleasant, although we were air-bombed by dozens of deer keds along the way.

The climb of the hill itself was described as relentless in the book, but there was a good firm path the whole way, so this passed relatively easily. Lots of mist and a chilly breeze meant that the ridge between the north and south tops didn't live up to its potential, but we got an impression of what it could be like.

Apart from one other couple we met on the ascent, we had the place to ourselves and the 22km walk with 1400m of ascent took us a shade under 6h - an hour less than suggested by the guide.

Looking back along the glen of our approach.

Celebrating the views at the top

A moment almost without cloud when we returned to the track

246, 247. Stob Coire Sgriodain (174), Chno Dearg (86, P600 53). 20/09/2022

Compared to the crowds of the previous day, this walk felt like proper Scottish wilderness. Although there were a couple of extra cars in the car park upon our return, we didn't meet a soul whilst on the hills. We were told afterwards that this is the area that the Hermit of Treig chose to live after searching for the most remote place in Scotland.

After a couple of kilometers of track and path, we were making up our own way to the top of Stob Coire Sgriodain, guided by the apocryphal "obvious grassy ramp" that our book described. We narrowed it down to three potential ramps and chose the middle one. This turned out to be fine, but it wasn't obviously correct. As we climbed, the cloud began to lift and from the upper slopes we had sunshine until well into our descent.

The walk around to Chno Dearg was gentle, as was the descent along squishy grass slopes. I imagine this could be quite wet at times though. Overall, this was a fairly easy walk for two munros and the 15km and 1050m ascent took us exactly 5h.

Approaching the first munro in the sun!

Looking north on the summit ridge of Stob Coire Sgriodain

Loch Treig from Stob Coire Sgriodain

Chno Dearg from Stob Coire Sgriodain

The summit of Stob Coire Sgriodain

244, 245. Bidean nam Bian (23, P600 52), Stob Coire Sgreamhach (65). 19/09/2022

Due to the Queen passing away, I needed to find a new walking partner (long story). Fortunately, a willing victim was found in Matt for a four day tour of the highlands.

For our first climb on the way north, we chose the conveniently placed Bidean nam Bian. Arriving at 11am, we needed to be a bit creative with parking in Glen Coe, but a solution was found and we were soon on the well-made trail up the Corrie nan Lochan. There's no walk-in on this hill, you're straight in to the 1000m of ascent to the subsidiary top of Stob Corrie nan Lochan. The last part of this is quite steep and includes some easy scrambling and much of it was in atmospheric conditions (i.e. swirling mist).

Not exactly clear at the top, but most of the time below about 1050m was. After heading along the ridge to the second munro, we made our way down into the sheltered Lost Valley. This unusual geological feature is a hanging valley, but with very sheer sides. Lots of people were walking up just to see this and we crossed paths on our way back to the car. 12km and 1350m of ascent took us 5h15.