One and a half ascents of Ben Hope, Scotland’s most northerly Munro

January 26, 2022 Trip reports arkle, ben hope, ben klibreck, britain, cameron mcneish, foinaven, hamish brown, hill walking, munros, north coast 500, scotland 6 Comments

Sir Hugh Munro said of Ben Hope that he didn’t know any mountain of its height which could be climbed with less exertion. Surely a quick ascent on Christmas Day would be just the thing before our Christmas turkey? Ben Hope had other ideas.

The Scottish coastline and the secret village across the loch

January 12, 2022 Trip reports britain, scotland, scottish highlands 8 Comments

I’d never previously considered the far north of Scotland as a Christmas and New Year holiday destination. According to the daylight indicator on my Garmin watch, the sun rises at 9.07am on the summit of Ben Hope, Scotland’s most northerly

The Ben Lawers Five: peak-bagging perfection

November 3, 2021 Trip reports an stuc, ben lawers, britain, hill walking, munro bagging, munros, peak bagging, scotland, scrambling 2 Comments

You’ve heard of the Famous Five and the Jackson Five, and you may even remember the Dave Clark Five, but if you’ve never heard of the Ben Lawers Five then you’re missing out – it’s one of the great days out for Munro baggers.

The weirdness of a Highland heatwave: 3 strange incidents on Beinn Liath Mhor

September 15, 2021 Trip reports beinn liath mhor, britain, dehydration, glen carron, hill walking, munros, scotland, scottish highlands 5 Comments

Edita stood atop a pile of rocks, waving her trekking pole frantically in celebration. But I was in no position to celebrate. Between us lay about 100m of unspeakable, ankle-twisting boulder field. But it was the summit, and in a

The Glen Spean Nine: peak bagging and bet hedging in Central Scotland

August 20, 2021 Trip reports binnein beag, britain, creag meagaidh, glen roy, glen spean, hill walking, munro bagging, munros, peak bagging, scotland 1 Comment

Glen Spean is a good place “for those who want to hedge their bets with the weather” said the Walkhighlands guidebook. Given that the weather in the Highlands of Scotland is famous for being unreliable, this sounded like a pretty good recommendation.

Sgurr nan Gillean and Am Basteir: the Black Cuillin’s hair-raising finale

November 25, 2020 Trip reports alexander nicolson, am basteir, andy hogarth, britain, cuillin ridge, dave fowler, edita, hill walking, isle of skye, munros, scotland, sgurr nan gillean 2 Comments

We were facing a full day out in the Black Cuillin under sunny skies. Yes, that’s right. Beautiful sunshine in the Black Cuillin of Skye. I can’t believe I’m saying that. After two satisfying days on the ridge and another one to come, things were turning out well.

Sgurr na Banachdich to Sgurr a Ghreadaidh: touching cloth in the Black Cuillin

November 11, 2020 Trip reports britain, cuillin ridge, dave fowler, edita, hill walking, isle of skye, munros, norman collie, scotland, sgurr a ghreadaidh, sgurr na banachdich 1 Comment

I had injured my leg and didn’t know if I had time to recover for the next day of scrambling. What should I do: an easy walk to test it out, or a long day out I’d been looking forward to for a long time? Luckily, our guide Dave had a cunning plan.

Sgurr Alasdair to Sgurr Mhic Choinnich: the secret of Collie’s Ledge

October 28, 2020 Trip reports alexander nicolson, britain, cuillin ridge, dave fowler, edita, hill walking, isle of skye, munros, norman collie, scotland, sgurr alasdair, sgurr mhic choinnich 3 Comments

In last week’s post, I explained how we had hired a mountain guide to do Skye’s infamous Cuillin traverse, over 11 Munros with many technical sections. I had injured my knee backpacking the previous week, but I was determined to give it a try. Would I cope?

The Cuillin Traverse – to do or not to do?

October 21, 2020 Trip reports andy hogarth, britain, cicerone guides, cuillin ridge, dave fowler, edita, hill walking, inaccessible pinnacle, isle of skye, mamores, munros, scotland 7 Comments

We’d hired a mountain guide to do the Cuillin traverse, a 12km ridge on Scotland’s Isle of Skye, which takes in 11 Munros and many subsidiary peaks. But with injuries in both legs and a knee that couldn’t bend more than 90 degrees it seemed inconceivable for me.

The world’s most stupid navigational error

September 23, 2020 Humour britain, edita, grey corries, hill walking, munros, navigation, scotland, stob choire claurigh, weather 3 Comments

After a promising start to the day, the clouds moved in and the rain started pounding against them as they ascended the south ridge of Stob Choire Claurigh, the highest point in the Grey Corries, a ridge of quartz-laden peaks