About 160,000 people climb Ben Nevis every year, a quarter of them of them charity walkers. Obviously, their charitable intentions are to be praised. But those 40,000 people – many of them arriving, leaving and scaling the Ben at the same time – left an almighty mess. The car park was strewn with litter and the toilets used…
Category: Munros
Meall Gorm
Pigs. Or were they boars? I encountered this lot at Fannich Lodge after walking a loop of the two southernmost Fannich Munros, Meall Gorm and An Coileachan, today. I was eating the last of my food when I was startled by a grunt, which sounded like a rutting stag, although this was disconcertingly close. Moments later, I was surrounded…
Carn Mor Dearg
Thankfully, there is another way, a better way, to climb Ben Nevis. This is it. Instead of continuing to trundle up the soulless tourist track to the summit, on reaching the fork in the path above Lochan Meall an t-Suidhe, I turned north, leaving the hordes wearing wellies and carrying umbrellas to their ascent. The path…
Carn Eige
Without doubt, one of the hardest days I’ve ever had. A 12-hour epic, starting and finishing in the dark: 80 miles of cycling, 17 miles of walking, three Munros. Stage one was a 40-mile ride between Inverness and Glen Affric, via Drumnadrochit. I left my cycle at Affric Lodge and followed the easy path into…
Beinn Mheadhoin
I felt like Ed Wardle in the Alaskan wilderness. I was standing at the top of the Fiacaill ridge looking south across the Cairngorm plateau, Cairn Gorm on my left, Coire an t-Sneachda on my right, when I felt a presence behind me. Standing there was a reindeer, less than five yards away, looking dolefully at…
Braeriach
The greatest days have inauspicious starts. As we crossed the Slochd, mist was low and thick, obscuring any view of the Cairngorms to the south. A wasted trip, was my first thought, as I frantically began to think of alternatives to the mountains of the high Cairngorms. Yet, as we approached Aviemore, a queer thing…
Sgurr nan Ceannaichean
Sgurr nan Ceannaichean is no longer a 3,000ft hill, the Munro Society revealed today, meaning there are now only 283 Munros to bag. Beinn Teallach and Ben Vane remain as Munros, with Sgurr a’Choire-bheithe staying as a Corbett following a new survey by society members John Barnard and Graham Jackson. I know many people will say ‘who cares?’ but…
Heights of Madness
My book, Heights of Madness, is officially published on Thursday (August 27), but is available to purchase now. Here’s a link – http://www.amazon.co.uk/Heights-Madness-Jonny-Muir/dp/1844546640/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1250600943&sr=8-1
Beinn Eighe
Beinn Eighe, Liathach’s next door neighbour, boasts seven summits above 3000ft. I had no intention of visiting them all, not today at least. The two Munros – Ruadh-stac Mor and Spidean Coire nan Clach – would suffice. I ran, which was fine, if not wearisome, until I reached Loch Coire Mhic Fhearchair. A trot became a…
Ben More
Ever since I cycled past Ben More en route to Killin three years ago, I wanted to climb this soaring, gargantuan mountain. I imagined Ben More, along with its neighbour Stob Binnein, would be honeytop summits because of their proximity to Crianlarich, the West Highland Way and major roads. Apparently not. In five hours – on a…
Ben Wyvis
Ben Wyvis, again. Blowing a hooley, again. Eight of us left the car park: five men, one woman and two scrapping dogs, running along the track above Allt a’ Bhealaich Mhoir, before grinding straight up to Wyvis’s south top, An Cabar, ignoring much of the newly-laid path that winds a gentler way up the mountainside. It…
Heights of Madness 