Day 48 - Western Cairngorms

Today I finished the Cairngorms, and the Eastern Highlands as a whole.

I'd had this day on my mind for a while. Last week, I climbed all the Cairngorm Munros except for the four western ones. I had decided to save them for later and do them as a round from Glen Feshie. I always knew it would be a big one (34km!) and someday I was going to have to just get on with it and get those kilometres done.

Today was that day, but when I looked outside and saw the skies in the morning, I did wonder for a moment whether I'd go for them. The Cairngorms were covered in cloud, but it was forecast to shift. I set off from Glen Feshie at 10.30am, bound for Sgor Gaoithe.

At first, the weather was pretty poor. High winds were blasting mist over the plateau. Still I continued up at a pace, confident it would clear, feeling very strong. If yesterday was a sluggish day, today was the compensation.

I reached the top of Sgor Gaoithe in just short of two hours, as the last shreads of cloud cleared from the plateau. In any other circumstances, the magnitude of this day would probably intimidate me, yet there was some kind of focus that pushed me onward very quickly, without pause, for hours on end. I barely stopped to eat, and when I did, it took a while to claw the focus back together. So I just kept on going, wondering why I wasn't getting fatigued.

The Moine Mhor is a high plateau on the Cairngorms, sat at an altitude of 3000 feet, miles wide and surrounded by Scotland's highest Munros. It's the kind of place that would frighten if you'd never had experience of it before. In the middle, the surrounding mountains might serve to make you feel enclosed and trapped by the immense spaces. But today, I was motoring, and I really enjoyed my crossing.

The outlying Munros of Monadh Mor and Beinn Bhrotain were both done in quick succession. On Beinn Bhrotain, I actually felt closer to Braemar. Glen Feshie seemed a very long way off, and I headed back across the Moine Mhor, hardly stopping, watching cloud scraping off the highest Cairngorm peaks and shafts of sun illuminating the grey landscape.

I wondered if the reason I felt so revitalised was because I was back in the Cairngorms. No hill is a bad hill as they say, but some (like Drumochter/Monadhliath) aren't the most inspiring! The Cairngorms blow my mind, my appreciation deepens with every visit and today was no different.

Mullach Clach a' Bhlair was my last Munro of the day and I followed a landrover track which climbs almost to its summit. From there, I headed down to Glen Feshie and back to a civilisation which only hours before had seemed so far removed.

Glen Feshie is well known for being a stunning glen in its native woodlands. But I also noticed many areas where young trees are sporting up from the heather. You don't see that very often, but regeneration schemes are a heart-warming thing to see in several Scottish glens I've so far passed through.

I was back at the car just short of nine hours out, which is good going for the distance. I even jogged the last mile to the car (thanks Monty!).

My deepest impression of today was my level of fitness. The focus with which I carried out the day was also surprising and made quite easy what could otherwise have been a drag. As ever, I hope this run of fitness continues.

Day 47 - Geal Charn, Monadhliath (and Fiacaill Ridge!)

17 June

The previous night I'd met James and Ailsa in Aviemore, and among the chat, they were talking about going up the Fiacaill Ridge on the Cairngorms.

I'd nearly finished the Cairngorms and was sad not to be going back (apart from the western ones I still have to to). So, with an easy day planned, I decided to join them! I could do with the extra time to sort stuff out, but why not?

We met at Cairn Gorm Ski Centre at 9am, and set off up towards the ridge. With all the heather/grass plodding I've been doing recently, it reminded me how much I miss putting hand to rock, dealing with height, making moves on rock. It was awesome! I was so glad to be there, up on the ridge, cloud swirling through the Northern Corries which are still holding loads of snow.

At the top, I bagged Cairn Lochain (which I haven't done before), said bye to James and Ailsa who were continuing to Ben Macdui, and set off down Fiacaill Ridge for the car park. A brilliant morning out which I probably shouldn't have done - but hey, it was great fun and lasted only a few hours.

Regretfully, I can't say such glowing things about Geal Charn. I guess I'm nearing the end of my tolerance for rounded eastern hills. Don't get me wrong, I love them as much as anything, but Geal Charn felt like one too many. It probably had a lot to do with having done the Fiacaill in the morning.

I went up by Markie Burn, and walked up by Lochan a' Choire. From last year, I remembered the hill being typical Monadhliath-pudding, but the summit views being amazing. It was the same today, and this was one of the highlights of the day. The way to the west is opening out bit by bit: I could see Meagaidh, Alder, Nevis, and then all the way up to the north-west spine of Scotland from Ardgour to Monar. I could see everything, my entire journey laid out, right there. Behind me, I'd climbed everything. In front, there was so much still to go. Wow wow wow.

I headed back down the way I came, and got back to the car early tea-time. I met James and Ailsa back in Aviemore at the Old Bridge Inn where I am now, finally with internet after a few days unable to get a connection.

Tomorrow I'll be on the Cairngorms doing my last 4 (Sgor, Monadh, Bhrotain, Mullach). After that I'm on my way to Fort William. So much hard work to do, so much good stuff still to come...

Day 46 - Drumochter East

16 June

Another three Munros bite the dust; as does Drumocher as a whole! I'd done the western Drumochter hills a couple days ago and I only had these three left, all of which are quite isolated from one another. The solution: do them as two trips in the same day, although I'd considered linking them all in one.

I started up the first two, A' Bhuidheanach Bheag and Carn na Caim. I good summer conditions all in; cloudy and warm, and ideal for walking in. I climbed the path up to the quarry on the plateau and did each hill in turn.

I first climbed these Munros a couple of winters ago, in proper white out stuff. I always remember finding them really hard hills, endless plodding with nothing to see. (Well, it was a whiteout...) Today I was happy to actually find them quite easy, despite the round of two being 17km. These Munros get a lot of stick for being boring hills, or something like that, but being my first time on them in clear weather, I really enjoyed them.

It's true that down by the noisy A9, they aren't the most attractive mountains, but get up onto the plateau and all that sound disappears. All you're left with, are the distant mountains and big skies. I was really glad to have made it here. Good tracks allowed fast progress, and I got around the two in four hours.

I was back down mid-afternoon, and headed off to Meall Chuaich. This is another simple Drumochter hill, and I felt as if I was climbing it for the sake of it. But it must be done, that's the challenge. Last time I climbed it, I used a bike for the bottom, but now I did the hours' walk in before getting onto the hill itself. A monumental shower passed by the hill and I stayed in the clear, which meant I also got my first summit panorama from this hill, I'd done it in the mist the first time. (This is a recurring theme of my Munro Round)

Meall Chuaich rounded off the Drumochter section, and I was glad to make it through this part. It knocks a chunk out of the Central Highlands and puts me a step closer to the Great Glen.

After the hills, I headed up to Aviemore for a drink with James and Ailsa, where we hatched plans for a scramble the next morning... more of that in the next blog post!

Day 45 - Monadhliath trio

15 June

The Monadhliath is an odd range of hills. I've always thought they're the most non-Munro Munros around. They're a range of big grassy lumps spanning an area as great as any Scottish mountain range, yet featureless enough as to be nearly completely forgotten about. I suspect if there were no Munros here, these hills would be borderline forgotten about. There aren't any precipitous drops, immense corries or even lochans. The Monadhliath have weathered into hills without feature. Stand on the Munros and look north and you'll see heathery hills recede almost to the horizon. I mean none of this in a negative way, it's simply a modest mountain range. On the Monadhliath, you've only got the heather, peat hag and the cry of the birds.

I did a round of three Monadhliath Munros; A' Chailleach, Carn Sgulain and Carn Dearg, on a day of good weather when the rest of the country seemed to be stuck under rain. It might have been the late night the night before (or the subsequent lie in), but for no obvious reason, I felt really tired all day. A' Chailleach is easily visible from the car park, but as I plodded on, it never seemed to arrive. There are few paths on the Monadhliath and I seemed to spend an eternity slogging up through endless tugging heather, which goes almost to the Munro summits.

I got to the summit of A' Chailleach, looked to the fresh horizon, and saw pointed peaks. Everything clicked into position very quickly. First I saw the twin paps of Carn Eighe and Mam Sodhail. Then I saw Sgurr a' Chaorachain in Monar. From a tiring slog, I was suddenly inspired. Those hills are just a couple weeks from the end of my journey! They didn't look so far away, either... There's so far to go, but the sense of progress is heart-warming.

Carn Sgulain was Munro #2 and a lot easier than A' Chailleach had been. It's just a rise in the moorland; one of the most non-descript Munros going. Again, I could see those distant North-west Highland peaks - the most inspiring element of the day.

On the way to Carn Dearg, I had yet another funny encounter with birds exploding into action at my presence. The adult Ptarmigan shot off, and her little chicks (balls of fluff on sticks) wobbled away. She played the broken-wing routine, and let me get as close as I've ever been to a Ptarmigan,

Since I couldn't be bothered doing any ascent I didn't need to, I skirted the side of Carn Ban, and came upon it's rocky southern coire. It's a fascinating place unlike anywhere else I've seen. I'd have missed it if I've been bothered to go over the summit. Tilted slabs were rimmed by a broken cliff at the top. The slabs had great scratch marks all down them, running the same direction, some creating grooves in the rock. They must have been generated by some force. Grass tufts among the slabs were disturbed and uprooted, hinting at avalanche activity. But that doesn't explain the grooves which are perhaps glacial. A fascinating place any way.

Carn Dearg arrived soon after, and I did it without a rucksack to save energy. Another summit with a view. It's probably the most impressive Monadhliath peak and has had one side visibly chopped off by glaciation. But all I could think off was the long walk back, so headed down through the heather, back to the track and away back to the car, which by now was some distance away.

After the walk I headed back to Boat of Garten for the night. I went out to get internet (and failed) and by the time I arrived back, Colin had a party in full swing – pretty awesome to walk in on! Unfortunately I had to get to sleep, for another big mileage day over Drumochter.

Day 44 – Drumochter 4

14 June

The first day with my new car.

I picked up the car around about 11am, but with packing, procrastinating and cups of tea, I didn't get away until mid-afternoon. Strangely, I wasn't too bothered. As long as the hills were done at some point that day, I was happy.

I started from Balsporran at 5:20pm, and pushed a hard pace to Geal-charn, the first Munro of four. The weather was fair – quite cloudy but no rain, for the moment. The one disadvantage of starting late had been I would probably get hit by a front around 10pm.

I got to the summit in under an hour and kept up a great pace over the hills. One of the highlights for me was to see Ben Alder across Loch Ericht. This enormous and remote peak is in the heart of the Central Highlands, and it was exciting to see it so close up. For so long, I've been thinking about reaching this point of the walk. It's surreal that I'm finally taking steps towards it, as small as those daily steps may seem.

The weather began to deteriorate on Munro #2, A' Mharconaich. I reached the summit in spitting rain and clag, a couple hundred metres behind another walker who seemed to get to the summit then simply disappear. I sat here with mist blowing by, trying to drum up motivation for the other two hills. To descend back to Balsporran would make a short day out, but it would commit me to making a second to trip to the other two.

I took the non-lazy option and turned south toward Munro #3, Beinn Udlamain. Mist blew in and out and views opened and closed. The lifting clag meant I didn't have to navigate the majority of the distance, which was a minor relief.

I kept a pace going over this hill to the summit - more mist. After ten minutes on top, I descended down the south side. Views opened slightly, down to Loch Rannoch. Except there were no hills there, just a black wall of mist and rain, coming straight in my direction and swallowing everything in its path.

Oh. My. God.

I looked at it, trying to work out it was the dark shores of a loch or something. But no – a wall of rain was heading straight for me. It's amazing how the adrenaline kicks in at these points, even though in reality a wall of rain is no threat at all, simply a minor inconvenience when you've got waterproofs.

The sky around me visibly darkened in moments (despite being around 8pm – still very light). Rain began pelting down as hard as I've had it so far on this trip.

In situations like these, one half of my brain responds emotionally. It's quite pathetic: “It's cold, the summit will be claggy, the rain is hammering down. Come back another time, please?” It somehow perceives danger when there is none. The other half says this: “No, you've got waterproofs, you're not in danger, and you're definitely not coming back again for a reason that amounts to laziness.” I suppose the real art of mountain climbing is listening only to the rational side of the brain, except when the emotional side is communicating true danger. You can go a long way if you switch off the moany side!

The decision was made and Sgairneach Mhor was dispatched with ease. I had some fun navigation with a map and compass. (It's more fun than just walking up in the clear). In general, I've missed the subtleties of working with the compass. It's been a while.

The hammering rain had stopped by the time I got to the summit, and the wind wasn't too high either. Obviously this rain hadn't been the feared front, just passing showers. I was on top of Sgairneach Mhor less than four hours after starting out, at Drumochter you can get away with this! Then I started the long walk back to the car.

There isn't a whole lot to say, except the summits cleared of their mist and I got a dry walk down the glen back to the A9, and then up the main road to the car. I kept in touch with dad who kept me filled in with what the rain was doing. A front was on it's way, and for a while I felt like I was racing it back to the car.

But all was fine: I got back to the car in semi-darkness, just as the first spots of rain fell. I stayed in Boat of Garten, put on a curry (as ever) and got a pretty late bed.

Day 43 - Enforced rest!

13 June

Today, I meant to be up to Drumochter after a day of rest. Instead, I found myself having a second day of rest. Why? Because I bought my first car, with no small thanks to my parents.

You'll probably have noticed that I've been going with a car on the Round, so this seemed as good a time as any to get my first and finally give my mums hers back. ;-) The reason I had to take a rest day was the car wouldn't be ready until the following morning.

I had a full day off, with nothing planned and nothing I could do hill-wise. I felt physically fresh, what to do? It was a novelty, a very welcome one. Even on my conventional rest days, I always feel slightly edgy, because there was so much to do outside of just walking. You'd be amazed. But suddenly I had a day to myself, with none of that other stuff to do.

So I went to Dumbarton Rock, my home from home, and somewhere I've grown to love. It was very odd being back, seeing faces and things that are so removed from current existence. It was nice to go back. I did some climbing, made some progress on Sabotage and went home after tea-time feeling really tired. A complete shift from the continuous walk thing. I really enjoyed myself.

Day 42 - A post-Cairngorm/Grampian Rest

12 June

I've had quite a run recently. The sunny weather saw me make easy (that's relative...) work of the Grampians and the Cairngorms. I've hardly had to navigate with map and compass, and I picked off summits and covered tremendous daily distances. The best part is that I feel great at the same time.

I've been feeling so good that I crammed two of my Central Cairngorm days into one, and today I've had a rest. Unlike previous rest days, I haven't actually felt tired (or the need to recover), which is great news and bolsters confidence for future exertions.

I've been having a read of Dave Macleod's blog tonight (when I should be finishing my own blog!), and I found a brief quote which I thought apt. "With every grade higher you get, it becomes clearer that you are only limited by your desire to see if you can go further."

And it is so true... After spending the first two/three weeks of my Munro trip permanently tired, I seemed to break through a mental and physical barrier. Funnily enough, it seemed to be the day after Beinn Bhuidhe (Day 22), when I wrote a lot about the mental trials. I suddenly found myself with a fitness I didn't realise I could have so readily. Of course it comes at a cost, but the cost is climbing mountains day in, day out and that is of course one of the greatest pleasures in my life. When I was planning the trip, I'd hoped to gain this kind of fitness. The hills are starting to slide by with ease, though the complete lack of rain might have a lot to do with that, too!

Talking to Monty over the Macdui and Braeriach lot only made this clearer: I don't think I've yet completely realised what I'm physicially capable of. The body has adjusted, but it might take the mind a while to follow. But it's true that any time you raise the bar, you get a glimpse into just how far you could go if you want to. (The problem is often probably working out how to shift the bar!) The only thing that seems a shame to me is there will probably be little way to maintain this fitness once I'm finished the Munro Round. How could you substitute endless days full of non-stop exercise? I might have to nip around the Mullardoch one-day round in August, then...

I've had to make the trip home again because I'm picking up my mums car and going properly car-centric. This always raises the short-term enjoyment to effort ratio. It also feels a shame to go back to seeing the hills in a sort of artificial manner. Three days and nights through the Cairngorms has given me something I could never gain out of a car, an experience of depth and intensity that can only be allowed to mature through days on the hills. But I can't complain: the choice to use a car has been long thought out, and the advantages are mostly obvious and numerous! I have no linked up journey to tie me down anymore. I can chop and change and be more tactical in my approach. And anyway, there will be loads of forthcoming opportunities to disappear into the wilds and use the bothies. There is just so much incredible stuff still to come...

For now, I'm at 116 Munros and half-way isn't far off now (#141, somewhere around Ben Alder). Tomorrow, I'll be starting on the Drumochter hills. The weathers looking good for one day only, and I'll see how many I can cram in. I'm on my way to Fort William, slowly, and then I'll cross the Great Glen. Not long after is Skye... before I know it I'll be blasting up the north-west on the way to the finish-line. So cool!