With Covid no longer restricting movements and gatherings, it was more-or-less back to normal for Spring Bank Holiday week this year, with a camping trip to the Highlands. What wasn’t normal was that a few friends were joining me for the start of the trip for my long-awaited final Corbett!

One long-term benefit of Covid has been the introduction of the option to work from home (although I rarely choose to do so!). Defining Ruth’s house as home for the day helped get my trip off to a good start by putting me north of the Manchester traffic before the Friday rush hour. Consequently, I had a good drive up to the Highlands, with a pause for dinner at the Real Food Cafe in Tyndrum, arriving in Glen Nevis to set up camp at around 8pm. With Alison and Iain not due to arrive until late evening, I headed to the pub for the rest of the evening to read and plan for the week’s walking.

Saturday was quite a bright day. Alison is also bagging Corbetts, and had proposed we walk up two Ardgour hills south of Glenfinnan. Ruth and I had done those two in combination with a third Corbett, so the shorter walk gave the opportunity for a different horseshoe with a totally new descent route for me. We parked by the bridge at Callop and set off south along the track. Soon it was time to turn off the valley path and head up the ridge of Meall na Cuartaige – pathless but fairly easy going with good views south into Ardgour. Once over the minor top, we continued up the ridge to the day’s first Corbett, Sgorr Craobh a’ Chaorainn.

From there, it was a fairly easy traverse along the ridge to Sgurr Ghiubhsachain, with a few steep slabs to negotiate towards the top. The summit gave excellent views over Loch Shiel into Moidart.

We descended the rocky north ridge to the fishing complex at Geusachan, then followed the tracks along the loch shore and through the forest back to Callop.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1922867

Once back in camp in Glen Nevis, and showered and changed, it was not long before my other guests started to arrive: Jeff, Helen and Ashleigh having paused for the night in the Southern Uplands and broken their drives by Loch Lomond and in Glen Coe; Ruth and Josh having done a walk up Beinn Dorain and Beinn an Dothaidh on the way up; Alan having driven across from Edinburgh after a morning parkrun. Jeff and Helen had offered to host a barbecue by their campervan (formerly Dave and Jo’s!), which gave a good chance for everyone to meet and eat together.

Sunday was Corbett completion day. We decided to be green and travel together in two cars to Gleann Dubh Lighe, starting the walk just after 9am and glad to get moving out of the midges after faffing with boots and gaiters in the sheltered forest car park. The first few kilometres were on large tracks up the valley, with a short pause to look around the bothy before continuing up to the bridge at the head of the mapped track.

From there, it was a fairly steep and unrelenting climb of 600m or so up short grass all the way to the ridge at Meall an Uillt Chaoil. Some found it tougher than others, but we all reconvened on that first top, taking the chance to admire the views south to Loch Shiel and the previous day’s Corbetts, and west over the less-often-seen Loch Beoraid. The ridge ahead to Streap, over the intervening top of Stob Coire na Cearc, was also impressive.

We made our way north along the undulating ridge, pausing for a lunch break on Stob Coire nan Cearc, and before too long were on the final grassy arete approaching the summit. Having had a few spots of rain on-and-off as we climbed, it was great that the sun came out for a few minutes on the summit as we enjoyed champagne in plastic cups and took a few photos.

Once we’d savoured the moment, aware that our dinner was booked for 6pm in Glen Nevis, we pressed on along the easier ridge east to Streap Comhlaidh, which just required a short re-ascent. Then it was a steep grassy descent back into the valley, thankfully quite pleasant underfoot with more short grass and no major tussocks or awkward bog. An ATV track led us back to the bridge and the firmer tracks from there back to the cars, which we reached at around 6pm. We called the Glen Nevis Restaurant to check that they would be happy to hold our booking, and headed straight there. A good hearty and sociable meal to end the day and conclude the celebrations.

Streap had proven to be a great choice of final hill – a fine day’s hillwalking, typical of the best of the Corbetts, with dramatic views in all directions , and not particularly difficult ground – enough to challenge the less experienced of my companions but to be unmanageable for them.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1922876

Most of the others departed on Monday morning: Jeff and Helen back home; Ruth and Josh towards Arisaig for a few days; Alan up to Glen Shiel and Glen Elchaig for a couple of days more Corbett-bagging. Ashleigh wanted a rest day, so I left her with a suggestion to visit the viaduct and memorial at Glenfinnan, and went off myself to bag a couple of Munro Tops northeast of Aonach Mor.

I started my walk at the Nevis Range ski / mountain biking centre, which I had visited for Fort William parkrun at Easter. The first couple of kilometres were zigzagging up the forest tracks. Then, as the gondola had not yet opened for the day and there were not yet any downhill bikers, I walked up the lower part of the black trail to easily escape the forest and get onto the ridge of Meall Breac. From there it was a fairly easy ascent, parallel with the bike route, with some good views over Loch Linnhe and towards Carn Mor Dearg, and on up to the lift station.

From there, I improvised a route traversing east across the ridge of Aonach an Nid and then through the valley to gain the ridge of Tom na Sroine. This gave easier going up to its 918m summit, the first of my Munro Top objectives for the day. The walking was rockier, with dramatic crags on the left hand side, for the continuation up to the second Top, Stob an Chul-Choire. There were impressive views of the Grey Corries to the east, and of the eastern crags of Aonach Mor, with many snow patches remaining, to the west.

Once over the Munro Top, the final bealach gave very dramatic views south towards Aonach Beag, the summit of which was stuck resolutely in cloud all day. I hadn’t been sure what to expect of the final climb up to Aonach Mor. It proved to be straightforward, mostly on short grass, easily avoiding a couple of snow patches and with a little mild scrambling in places, emerging very close to the summit cairn. I continued west a few paces to enjoy lunch overlooking Carn Mor Dearg and the north face of Ben Nevis, watching a shower approach over Glen Spean as I ate!

Soon after I continued walking, the shower arrived, and at 1200m turned out to be of snow rather than rain! It was only light though, and only lasted 10 minutes or so. I followed the ridge down over rough ground, back to Meall Breac and parallel with the bike track (now in light use) back down to the car park. Another good day out, actually more interesting and less awkward tops than I’d expected! I bet very few of the visitors to Aonach Mor make the detour to those ones!
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1922883

In the evening, Ashleigh and I cooked in camp then went to the pub for the rest of the evening. The next morning, she was feeling energetic enough for a short walk. I suggested we take a bit of a road-trip west onto the Ardnamurchan peninsula, where I had had my eyes on the short walk up Ben Hiant for some time! We took a scenic drive along the coast to the Corran Ferry, then over to Strontian and along the shore of Loch Sunart, pausing in Salen for photographs.

A few more miles along the minor road brought us to a good viewpoint over the beach at Camas nan Geall to Ben Hiant, which was grassier than I expected of a geologist’s mecca! It was not much further up the road to the highest point of the pass, from where we started our walk. A path gave easy walking all the way up the ridge to the summit. Sadly, although we started in the dry, light but persistent rain soon came over and lasted for an hour or so, until a bit after we’d left the summit. We had better views on the descent when it cleared out again, particularly north towards Rum and Eigg, and Skye in the distance.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1926556

Once back at the car, we continued west to the end of the road and had a look around the lighthouse at the end of the headland – the most westerly point on mainland Britain. The sun was shining by this point, giving great views over the sea to the islands, and we enjoyed an ice cream at the café before starting the drive back to Glen Nevis. We passed through a pretty torrential rainstorm on the way from Acharacle to Lochailort though! In the evening, we didn’t feel like cooking in the rain so went out for a curry in Fort William, then back to the pub for hot chocolates.

Ashleigh departed home on Wednesday morning, and I also packed up camp ready to set off on a one-night backpacking expedition from Glen Elchaig over a few new Grahams and Munro Tops. After a quick stop at Morrison’s to buy provisions, a couple of hours’ drive brought me to my starting point at the head of the road at Camas-luinie to set off walking just before noon.

My first objective was Carnan Cruithneachd, a steep and rocky Graham on the south side of the valley. Rather than follow the track up and then have to ford the wide river, I followed the south bank of the river right up as far as the Allt Ban an Li-ruighe, and was surprised to find a fair path even beyond the house at Coille-righ – a good choice! Once easily across that tributary stream, I struck diagonally uphill to pick up the stalkers’ path making a rising traverse around the west of the hill – clearly very little used but easily visible on the ground and still a good aid to progress. There were good views back down the valley.

The final approach to the summit was pathless but fairly easy over short heather, with attractive crags to weave through. The summit itself gave excellent views in all directions, and I could see most of the ground I would cover on the remainder of my expedition over the Munros of Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan and An Socach.

After a late lunch, I continued by dropping southeast over the moorland to reach the path over Bealach na Sroine, which I followed down to the Abhainn Gaorsaic above the Falls of Glomach. Sadly I didn’t get any views of the falls this time, and I didn’t fancy a detour with already a strenuous route planned. It wasn’t tricky to cross the river above its confluence with the Allt Coire-lochain, after which it was a fairly steep and tiring climb up grass onto the ridge of Creag nan Clachan Geala. I followed the ridge all the way up to my next objective, the West Top of Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan (a new Munro Top for me), enjoying the views into Kintail.

By the time I’d made the pleasant traverse over to the Munro summit and back, it was around 6pm, and I still had a few miles and undulations to cover to reach my planned camp, but the evening was brightening and of course there were many hours of daylight still available so that didn’t matter.

The ridge north included three more new Munro Tops: Stuc Bheag, Stuc Mor and Stuc Fraoch Choire, offering good views over Coire Lochan and Loch a’ Fhraoich-choire as well as back up to the Munro. A localised shower passed over An Socach but thankfully missed me by some distance! I continued over the lower tops of Creag Ghlas and Sgurr na h-Eide before dropping down fairly steeply to camp near the summit of the pass past Loch an Droma – a very secluded spot where I expected to see nobody all night and was not disappointed! There was some good soft, dry grass for camping, a good stream for obtaining water, and not many midges.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1926558

After a good night’s sleep, I was up fairly early the next day and all packed up by 7:40am. It was only a short climb north to my next objective, the Graham, Carn na Breabaig – not a dramatic hill but a good viewpoint over Glen Elchaig and Loch Mullardoch in particular.

As the weather was sunny and calm, I decided to take the longer option and walk up to An Socach rather than traversing its slopes. Some hints of path made the going easier on the fairly long ascent, and the effort was rewarded by more excellent views in all directions, including of Skye and Torridon in the distance.

A large descent and small re-ascent brought me to my final hill of the expedition, An Cruachan, which must be one of the remotest Grahams. It’s a great wild viewpoint over Loch Monar and the bigger hills beyond, particularly in the sunshine I was enjoying that day.

That just left the long walk back out through the valley, gently uphill initially to Loch Mhoicean in the saddle. As I descended to Iron Lodge, I was surprised that another walker dropped onto the path from the slopes of the Corbett, Aonach Buidhe. He had cycled most of the way in and stashed his bike at the lodge. For me, it was an easy but long-feeling 12km of track walking all the way back to Camas-luinie.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1926564

Back at the car, I drove the short distance down the glen to Ardelve, where I set up camp for the night before heading off to nearby Drumbuie to catch up with Amy for an hour or so, as she hadn’t been able to find childcare to enable her to attend my Corbett completion. I picked up a take-away pizza for dinner on my way back to camp on what became a disappointingly damp evening!

Friday was the final day of my trip. I packed up promptly as I wanted to fit in a short walk as well as the long drive home. The beautiful morning merited a short pause at Morvich to take a photograph over the loch.

About 90 minutes later I was back at Fort William, and a few minutes more brought me to Inchree, just near the Corran Ferry. My objective was the Graham, Beinn na Gucaig, which was an easy walk up and down the gentle southwest ridge, surprisingly featuring a small path most of the way! There were more good sunny views over Loch Linnhe and towards Glen Coe.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1927815

The drive home went smoothly, stopping for a break and dinner at Ruth’s house and reaching Hilton by 9pm. All set for a weekend of brass banding to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee!

In conclusion, a super week in the Highlands with lots of the good weather that I associate with Spring Bank Holiday trips but cannot be relied upon! It was great to reach the end of my Corbett project with a dramatic walk up a fitting final hill with a good group of friends, even if most of my formerly-regular hillwalking companions aren’t available for such things at the moment thanks to having young children to entertain! Looking to the future, ticking off six Munro Tops in the week leaves me with only four left (all scrambles: three on Skye and one on Liathach), and four new Grahams takes me to 60 in total. I guess the Grahams will be my main Scottish project for the next ten years or so!

My full photo album can be enjoyed here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/CXbkv6EyRFDwCQzW7

I took a couple of days off work to join Ruth for a six-day long-weekend Easter break in the Highlands, based at the campsite in Roybridge. A prompt finish at work on the Tuesday afternoon and favourable traffic conditions got me into camp at a fairly civilised 10:30pm. I was glad that Ruth had arrived earlier and got the tent set up before it had started raining though!

On Wednesday, the forecast was for a grey start, with the cloud gradually lifting off the higher summits. We decided to start the trip with a walk on the Creag Meagaidh range, the main bagging objective being the far eastern Munro Top, Stob Coire Dubh. We ascended by the main Munro-baggers’ path up Carn Liath, entering the cloud at around 800m, then followed the easy-angled ridge down and back up to the Munro Top, also in the cloud but at least offering some kind of view over its corniced eastern corrie.

We retraced our steps to Carn Liath, crossing a couple of large snowfields, then continued west over various other tops to the second Munro, Stob Poite Coire Ardair. We used our ice axes for security on a couple of the steeper slopes, but did not need crampons on the fairly soft snow. Even down at the bealach known as ‘The Window’, we had not dropped out of the cloud, so we opted to descend via Coire Ardair rather than head up onto Creag Meagaidh itself. A good covering of snow in the head of the corrie made for an enjoyable descent, breaking free of the cloud after a while to reveal impressive views of the celebrated cliffs and gullies to the south. From there, it was easy path walking all the way back to Aberarder.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1877040

We drove to Fort William to pick up supplies for the week at Morrison’s, before returning to camp for the night.

The next day, the forecast cloud level was lower, so we chose a route that would keep us fairly low for much of the day, but still tick off a Munro Top on Beinn Eibhinn. We caught the morning train from Roybridge station in to Corrour, and spent the next couple of hours walking along the south shore of Loch Ossian, with good views over the water to Beinn na Lap, and up the lower parts of Uisge Labhair.

From there it was a fairly steep climb up to the Munro Top, Meall Glas Choire, which was just in the cloud. We continued up the ridge to the summit of Beinn Eibhinn, crossing a few more large snow patches on the way, then retraced our steps and descended via Mullach Coire nan Nead (which I had visited previously). Part way down from there to the minor top of Creagan an Amair, we dropped back out of the cloud, to reveal the best views of the day, over Strath Ossian and Loch Ossian.

Once back at the Lodge, it was just a few miles of easy track walking back along the north side of the loch to the station. We arrived with a little over half an hour to spare before the mid-afternoon northbound train was due, and it turned out to be running about half an hour late anyway. Nevertheless, we were soon back in Roybridge to cook and then head to the pub for an evening drink.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1877046

The weather looked more promising again on Friday, with a 90% chance of cloud free Munros by late morning, so we decided to head up onto the Grey Corries, where I needed to bag another two Munro Tops. Driving up the Lairig Leacach track a mile or so beyond Corriechoille meant the initial track approach wasn’t too long. It seemed a long way up the broad northern slopes to Stob Coire Gaibhre, in the cloud again. From there, the gradient and terrain was much easier up the ridge towards Stob Choire Claurigh. A little short of the summit, we diverted off the main ridge to follow the easterly spur to Stob Coire na Ceannain, the other Top I needed to bag. This ridge offered pleasant easy scrambling and a good feeling of exposure despite the lack of visibility! Luckily there was no snow on the crest to make it tricky.

Having returned to the main ridge, it was only a few minutes’ further climb to the first Munro. Disappointingly, the cloud didn’t show any sign of clearing as we continued west over the various tops to the second Munro, Stob Coire an Laoigh, but the well defined rocky and snowy crest of the ridge made for an enjoyable walk anyway.

The wind was a bit too chilly to linger for a long time in hope of improvement, so we descended north via Beinn na Socaich, intermittently breaking out of the cloud there to give some views over the corniced eastern crags. An easy descent of the northern slopes and a more awkward crossing of the Allt Choimhlidh below the small hydro dam brought us back onto the forestry tracks that led back to the car. Even by then, the cloud hadn’t properly cleared the ridge, with only a couple of the lower saddles appearing below the cloud base. Better luck next time!
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1877049

Saturday was another day with a better forecast in the afternoon. That meant there was plenty of time in the morning for me to take the short trip to Nevis Range for a run at Fort William parkrun. This is an attractive course on the forest tracks and trails, mostly downhill in the first half but inevitably mostly uphill to the finish!

Afterwards, we opted to head to nearby Graham, Cnap Cruinn. We had previously walked half way up one very wet and windy early-January day a few years ago, so hoped for more favourable conditions to motivate us to complete the ascent this time! It turned out to be the clearest afternoon of the trip so far, with most of the surrounding Munro summits clearing at least some of the time. The hill was just high enough for the summit ridge to offer easy walking on short heather, so we made the effort to walk along to the northern end and enjoy the views before descending back to Inverlair.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1877052

On Sunday, we had another leisurely morning in the campsite, reading and relaxing as the weather improved. Around 11am, I set off up the valley for walk over the two attractive Grahams south of Loch Laggan, Binnein Shios and Binnein Shuas. Ruth was suffering with a sore knee so opted for a proper rest day. I was surprised to find that the layby at the foot of the track into Corrour was almost full – popular with mountain bikers I think.

I followed the advice in the Graham guidebook and headed for the further peak first, following the forestry tracks around the back of Loch Laggan before making the very rough ascent through tussocky grass onto the ridge of Binnein Shios. As I got above the bealach, the ground improved a little, but it was still quite hard going all the way to the top, with lots of dispiriting false summits! It was worth it for the views over Loch Laggan to Creag Meagaidh though, as well as over Lochan na h-Earba and along the ridge to Binnein Shuas.

I found slightly better trods on the way down to the col, and the re-ascent the other side was on easier grassy ground. Good visibility made it easy to determine the best route up between the large crags onto the upper terraces of the second hill, which had lots of interesting rocky outcrops to appreciate, and good views back to Binnein Shios. It was only a short descent west to rejoin the track to the car, and the full descent took less than an hour.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1879967

On the final morning of the trip, Ruth again chose to rest while I nipped up another nearby Graham, Creag Dhubh. This was a very short walk of only about 2.5km from the small car park by the chapel of Cille Choirill, and quite fast going as the slopes were fairly gentle and mostly short grass. The mist was swirling around most of the surrounding Munros, but broke for long enough to give decent views of the Grey Corries and Aonach Mor, as well as the Loch Treig Munros. Soon I was back at the car to start the drive back to Ruth’s house in Natland.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1879968

Ruth was back at work on the Tuesday, while Rolls-Royce had a day of fixed holiday, so I stayed the Monday night at her house and spent the Tuesday morning tackling a three-hour MapRun score course on the outlying fells around Staveley, set up by Saunders as a training exercise for their main Mountain Marathon later in the year. Very enjoyable in the sunshine, although pretty exhausting as I haven’t done a three hour run or any run this hilly for several months! I was pleased to finish in second place, out of the 51 people who’ve had a go at the course since it was published in January. Clear flowing motorways made for an easy drive back to Derby after lunch at Ruth’s house.

Overall, not a bad week in the Highlands despite the disappointing cloud levels. It was generally dry and the winds were mostly light, and I ticked off four new Munro Tops (only 10 to go now!) and four new Grahams (taking me past a quarter done), as well as revisiting various Munros and Tops.

My full photo album is available on Google Photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/6Avmj3P6yWLMj4k47

After an enforced break from the standard routine last year, Ruth and I resumed normal service with a Christmas trip to our parents’ house in Minehead, and New Year week in the Highlands. Ruth’s boyfriend Josh joined us for both trips.

We drove down to Somerset after work on Wednesday 22nd, and the next day took a local family walk in the afternoon, starting in Bossington, walking down to the pebble beach of Porlock Bay, up to Hurlstone Point, then back around the slopes of Bossington Hill.

Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1780128

Christmas Eve was damper, so Mum and I just took a quick stroll down to Minehead seafront before listening to the carol service from King’s in the afternoon. Christmas Day was so wet that we didn’t leave the house at all! And finally, on Boxing Day morning Dad and I went for a trail run over Periton Hill. Then after lunch we tackled the long-ish drive north to Ruth’s house via mine, not meeting any significant traffic or delay.

Our New Year destination was about as close as any in the Highlands could be, as we were staying in Callander for the week. It was less than three hours’ drive from Natland to Stirling, where we paused for a walk up to the castle, lunch in an excellent café nearby, and grocery shopping at Sainsbury’s. A further half hour’s drive brought us to our Airbnb flat close to the centre of Callander – not the prettiest property we’ve stayed in for New Year but very convenient, cosy, well-equipped and quiet.

Tuesday’s forecast was relatively promising with light winds and a good chance of cloud-free summits from mid-morning onwards, so we decided to start with the highest nearby hills, Stob Binnein and Ben More. We tackled them from the south, starting at Inverlochlarig, in order to include the two southern Munro Tops of Stob Binnein. The walk began, just before sunrise, with a steep 600m climb directly up the hillside to Stob Invercarnaig, which we were surprised was well-enough walked to have a clear path that significantly aided progress. From there, the angle eased, although we were walking in the mist as we continued up Na Staidhrichean. Above around 700m, there was a reasonable coverage of fairly crisp snow.

On the Munro Top of Stob Coire an Lochain, the cloud parted for a few moments to give glimpses of the Munros to the west, Beinn Tulaichean and Cruach Ardrain, but then closed in again. We continued up to Stob Binnein, where we were pleased that the cloud broke up more convincingly to reveal the westerly half of the view, the higher hills looking beautiful with their sunlit snow caps.

We continued north, dropping down around 300m to the bealach between the two Munros, passing at a distance one person going the other way having ascended Ben More from the north. A steep 300m reascent, passing a few other groups going down, brought us to the summit of Ben More, which was in cloud as we arrived but cleared out as we ate our lunch in the shelter of the summit rocks, giving good views towards Ben Lawers in particular, as well as back to Stob Binnein.

We retraced our steps down and back up to Stob Binnein and Stob Coire an Lochain, with more excellent views south and east, then turned east to follow the ridge to the other Munro Top, Meall na Dige. Nobody had been this way since the snow fell, so I broke the trail for the others. Descending southwards, we reached the snowline around an hour before sunset, and got back to the car just before dark. A great winter day in the hills!

Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1777446

Wednesday was milder, wetter and windier. Josh was working, while Ruth and I opted for an afternoon walk up the popular Trossachs Graham of Ben Venue, hoping that the best of the weather would be late in the day as forecast. We followed the standard route up from Loch Achray via Gleann Riabhach and up the ridge, staying below the cloud except for the final 100m or so, but not really seeing any distant views. The wind seemed to pick up as we approached the twin summits, which were extremely blustery, and was definitely stronger as we headed back down the valley than it had been on the ascent. We passed only one other person, a fellrunner descending.

Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1777448

The wind dropped a little on Thursday, so Ruth and I headed to another Munro, Meall nan Tarmachan. This was Ruth’s choice as she hadn’t previously done the full and much-celebrated ridge. The mild weather meant there was no difficulty driving up to the top of the pass between Ben Lawers and Meall nan Tarmachan to start the walk at around 450m. We went clockwise, starting with the walk west along the traversing tracks below the ridge, in order to have the wind behind us as we returned east along the ridge.

Sadly, once we were up on the ridge, we were persistently in the cloud and couldn’t enjoy any views. Nevertheless, the path was easy to follow with almost all the snow having melted as the summit temperatures were well above freezing. We could still appreciate the pointy summit of Meall Garbh, and the frozen lochan between there and Meall nan Tarmachan. We passed one group of three going the other way along the ridge, and a few others on the lower slopes as we descended by the main path.

Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1777452

New Year’s Eve was a very wet day. Ruth and Josh opted for a quick walk up Ben Ledi, but I wasn’t very motivated by that plan as we’d done it in similar conditions a few years ago. Instead, I walked solo, directly from the flat, heading southwest to the 427m Marilyn summit of Beinn Dearg. Most of the ascent was on good forest tracks, as far as the transmitters on Ben Gullipen. Then the final kilometre or so was on a surprisingly well-walked trod along the ridge. The mist had been right down to the village, so there were again no views to enjoy. I descended past remote Lochan Balloch and along its outflow burn to reach forest tracks above Loch Venachar that led me back to Callander in a loop of around 15km.

Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1777455

New Year’s Day’s forecast in the Trossachs was no better, with storm force winds expected and frequent showers. It looked much better to the south though, so I started the day with a parkrun at Plean Country Park, just south of Stirling, while Ruth and Josh took a stroll around the park. This was a tough, rough and hilly course that made for a good challenge to start my running year! It turned out, in post-finish conversation, that the man who pipped me to 6th place had been the man we passed at a distance on descent from Stob Binnein a few days previously!

Afterwards, we headed a few miles northeast to the Ochil Hills, which we had not previously visited. We parked in Tillicoultry and started by following tracks traversing west to Silver Glen. There we picked up a large track up onto Ben Ever, and a well-trodden path from there up to Ben Cleuch, the highest hill in the range and high enough to be a Graham. For the first time since Tuesday, the cloud was above the summit, and we had good views over the surrounding peaks of the Ochils, and the Forth valley to the south.

We had a bite to eat in the shelter of the summit cairn, then re-emerged into the strong winds to continue along the ridge, after a short detour to The Law, to Andrew Gannel Hill, then down and back up to King’s Seat Hill. A good path led from there back down the ridge to Mill Glen and Tillicoultry.

Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1778035

The final day of the trip looked a bit more promising on the high hills, with the forecast suggesting passing showers and manageable winds. We decided to tackle Ben Vorlich and Stuc a’ Chroin from the south, starting at Braeleny, just a couple of miles up the lane east of Callander. Although our walk started fairly dry, by the time we’d covered the three kilometres along the track to Arivurichardich the rain had become heavy enough to merit waterproof trousers.

It only got wetter as we ascended gradually north onto the ridge, and by that point Ruth and Josh had decided they only wanted to visit Stuc a’ Chroin (although I would still have been up for the full planned circuit). We did get a few views over Gleann an Dubh Choirein towards Ben Vorlich as we ascended, but the rain never paused, and the summit itself was well in the cloud. We didn’t stop for long at the cairn before returning the way we’d come and heading back to the flat to warm up and dry out over tea and cake.

Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1780096

Overall, a disappointing week of weather, with only the one good day in the Highlands proper, plus one in the Ochils. We did well to stay motivated enough to get out in the hills every day despite the rain, wind and low cloud! I can add a couple of new Grahams and a couple of Munro Tops to my tally at least.

My full photo album is available on Google Photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/w7arSqy3cnuQmySbA

I spent a solo week up in the Highlands and was rewarded as usual with mixed October weather. I drove up as far as Stirling SYHA on the Sunday afternoon, having paced Jeff to a PB around Lichfield Half Marathon that morning. A good night’s sleep in a private room for the bargain price of £21!

Monday’s forecast was for the morning to be better than the afternoon, and for conditions to be less bad well inland, so I got a reasonably prompt start to drive up as far as Bridge of Orchy for a walk up the Graham, Meall Tairbh. I parked by the Inveroran Hotel and started off up the West Highland Way to gain the north ridge of Ben Inverveigh, which led easily all the way to its summit, with some views over Loch Tulla and the Munros to the east, surprisingly almost clear of cloud.

A short descent on grass led to the bealach, with unusual glacial drumlins and a small lochan. Then a short, steep reascent led me up to the Graham summit, Meall Tairbh. A lull in the light rain as I crossed the bealach came to an end as I reached the top, confirming my decision to descend directly to the car rather than take the fair-weather option of continuing all the way around to Beinn Suidhe – which looked much murkier!

A few hours more driving took me, via Morrison’s in Fort William, to Kyleakin, just on the far side of the Skye bridge. I had booked into the Backpackers hostel for five nights, thinking it would be a good base for walks either on the island or the mainland according to weather conditions.

On Tuesday it seemed like the best conditions would again be in the morning, and the worst conditions would be on Skye! I therefore picked a half-day walk up a Graham on the mainland: Creag Dhubh Mhor above Strathcarron. A half-hour drive brought me to Achintee where I was able to park at the bottom of the road. My ascent route started off up the path towards Bearnais bothy, with decent views over Glen Carron. It was spotting with rain for a while but happily this soon petered out to give dry conditions for a couple of hours. An easy grassy gully led up from the path onto the ridge of the hill, and from there it was only a short further ascent to the summit, with very good (if hazy) views east towards the Corbetts and Munros south of Glen Carron.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the ridge walk from Creag Dhubh Mhor to its subsidiary neighbour, Carn Geuradainn, was very attractively rocky, with several small lochans improving the views. Once I’d made the twisting and undulating traverse between the two, the west ridge gave an easy descent to pick up the path (from Bendronaig Lodge bothy) back to Achintee.

Rain and lower cloud came back in as I descended, and I finished the walk pretty damp. I ate lunch in the car before driving a couple of miles down the road to Attadale Gardens, which kept me occupied for an hour or so with only intermittent drizzle. The autumn colours were beautiful, and there were various sculptures to find around the woods and gardens too.

Wednesday’s forecast was a bit better, especially in the morning, so I arranged to meet up with Amy Ottway to bag a Corbett with her (a repeat Corbett for me). She lives nearby in Drumbuie but can’t often get out hillwalking due to full-time parenting duties. Fortunately her parents were currently visiting and offered to look after the girls, enabling her to come out for the day! We chose An Ruadh-stac, a very impressive rocky Corbett above Glen Carron, next to the more popular but less dramatic Munro, Maol Chean-dearg. I picked Amy up as I passed en route to Coulags, where we started our walk.

The first few kilometres of the walk are up an easy track into Coire Fionnaraich, to the bothy and a little beyond, before turning left on a steeper path up to the bealach between the Corbett and Munro. We had been sheltered from the northwesterly wind until this point, but were severely buffeted as we crossed the bealach to reach the more-sheltered rocky ridge up An Ruadh-stac! Grippy quartzite slabs make for an enjoyable climb for the final 300 vertical metres to the summit, and this section also coincided with a sunny spell that gave excellent views of all the surrounding peaks.

It was clouding over again by the time we reached the summit, so we only lingered long enough for a snack before starting the descent. The wind had abated quite a bit by the time we reached the exposed section, so progress was pretty quick and easy all the way down to the valley. A couple of rain showers passed over, so we paused in the bothy for a lunch break before continuing the final few kilometres to the car. It was great to spend a few hours catching up with Amy and to walk together again. I stopped at her house for a cup of tea before returning to the hostel.

Advanced weather forecasts for Thursday had looked very showery, but by the last minute it had improved a lot to predict sunny spells on the coast. I therefore chose to stay on Skye for the day’s walk, bagging the two Grahams (and one former Graham) close to the hostel. A short drive took me to the top of the pass over to Kylerhea, which is the easiest access point for these hills. I was surprised to find an intermittent but very useful trod leading up the heathery slopes of the first hill, Sgurr na Coinnich. This made progress relatively easy up to the summit, which gave very good views over the sea to the mainland hills, capped with snow (whereas there was only a very light dusting on the high ground on Skye). Beinn Sgritheall and the Knoydart hills looked particularly fine with shafts of light shining between the clouds.

More traces of path made the descent and reascent to Beinn na Caillich pretty quick and easy, with more great views over Loch Alsh and the Sound of Sleat. I returned to the pass by almost the same route, just contouring around the summit of Sgurr na Coinnich, surprisingly passing a walker and a runner ascending as I descended. Explains why a path is forming!

As the weather was staying pretty fair, I continued straight up the other side of the pass onto Ben Aslak, until recently also a Graham but surveyed and found to be slightly below 2000ft. This was a less dramatic hill, but still gave good views over the sea, and also clearer views towards the Cuillin hills to the west.

Friday, my final walking day, had the best weather of the week. I again walked on Skye, heading a few miles west to the pair of Grahams just beyond Broadford, the easternmost peaks of the Red Cuillin. I parked near the chambered cairn to the east, and followed the track to Coire-chat-achan. From there the ascent soon became very steep, initially over short heather and grass, then boulders, then more grass on the upper slopes. It reminded me of the climb up Glamaig from Sligachan.

Reaching the summit of Beinn na Caillich (same name as one of yesterday’s peaks!) revealed excellent views west towards the rest of the Cuillin hills, Black and Red, as well as south to Rum and north to Raasay. A good path led across the bealach to the second Graham, Beinn Dearg Mhor, which gave slightly close and better views. Bla Bheinn and Belig looked particularly good in the foreground in the sunshine.

A steep scree descent led me down to the bealach with Beinn Dearg Bheag (just a HuMP), where I had lunch before descending the easy east ridge back to Coire-chat-achan and the car. Amy had invited me back around to go to their local beach, so I spent the rest of the afternoon there before returning to the hostel for dinner and an early night ready for the long Saturday drive back to Derby.

No really big walks this time, thanks to poor weather at the start of the week, and the Skye hills not being very far from the road on Thursday and Friday! Nevertheless, a good relaxing break, ticking off six new Grahams and revisiting the Corbett with Amy. That takes my Graham tally neatly to 50 at the end of the trip.

Maps of my walks are available at the following links:
Meall Tairbh: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1725049
Creag Dhubh Mhor: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1726075
An Ruadh-stac: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1726695
Sgurr na Coinnich: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1727366
Beinn na Caillich: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1728487

My full photo album is available on Google Photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ozVTi6G51MV3iANVA