04 Oct The last Munro

After just over four years walking in the hills most weekends, I’m finally in the closing stages of completing (‘compleating’) my Munro bagging journey.

The Munros are the 282 highest mountains in Scotland and many people who climb at least one of those summits will harbour an ambition to one day climb them all, perhaps over a lifetime.

I started my journey just over four years ago whilst going up Ben Lawers with my friend, Megan, when I was struggling with depression and but was willing to try a day in the hills to help clear my head a little.

I didn’t actually feel any better after that first hill day but the following weekend I decided to take on another Munro, Ben Chonzie, then the following weekend another, Meall nan Tarmachan.

Before I knew it I had stumbled into a routine of going into the hills most weekends.

The more hills I did the more I realised hillwalking was having a positive effect on my mental health. Getting up the Munros gave me a focus, something that would get the endorphins pumping through me, and was an ideal place to open up about how I was feeling with friends I would walk with.

I always took my wee dog, Dex with me. He’s a West Highland White Terrier, definitely not the typical dog you would imagine as a great mountain climber! But he’s agile, tenacious, and loves joining me on walks.

There were times early on when I didn’t have other friends to go with up the hills, at that point I hardly knew anyone who was into hillwalking. But Dex was always up for an adventure and it was always better to have some company.

Dex always leads by the front and it’s me who has to keep up with him! Although sometimes I would be called upon to lift him up as I waded through rivers, scrambled up some rock, or stepped over some deep bogs!

I remember it was during my tenth Munro, Ben Vane, as we walked high above Loch Lomond in the sunshine when I started to ponder whether I would be able to do all the Munros.

While ten was still a long way from 282, ticking off so many summits in succession made me start to dream it would be possible.

When I got home that night, after spending a good bit of time thinking about the 272 I hadn’t yet conquered, I remember looking through WalkHighlands and reading more about some of the more difficult Munros that were out there.

There were a few I had reservations about – particularly the infamous Aonach Eagach “famed as the narrowest ridge on the British mainland” – but I was confident that if I had completed the rest of the Munros and left that until late I would be able to force myself to do it.

But then I came across one which made me think “I’ll never be able to do that!”. It was one described as the “most difficult of the Munros, requiring a rock-climb and an abseil”. It was of course the Isle of Skye’s Innaccessibe Pinnacle.

I have a wee fear of heights – the kind where if I ever walk along the pedestrian path across the Forth Road Bridge, I always stay on the opposite side to the railings. It’s almost like an inbuilt alarm warning that goes off whenever I’m close to a big drop like that which makes me avoid it. The idea of even looking down from such a height makes me shudder.

So the idea of doing a Munro which involved rock climbing described in one report as “a knife-edged ridge, with an overhanging and infinite drop on one side” was just fantasy. I couldn’t possibly do it.

But the knowledge then that I wouldn’t be able to do them all didn’t deter me as I was enjoying them for their own sake more than anything.

There’s no place quite like a mountain to enjoy the spectacle of Scotland’s landscape. It gives you a beautifully unique perspective, far greater than any road side views will provide.

Two and a half years after I’d hiked Ben Lawers in the midst of grappling with my mental health, the pandemic began. By that point (March 2020) I had fair made my way through the Munros, reaching a total of 150 that winter.

As the weeks of lockdown ticked by and the longing to be up in the high mountains grew stronger and stronger, I wanted to plan a post-lockdown hike that would make up for all the great Munro days with friends we had missed out on due to the lockdown.

So I text my hillwalking pals and said “let’s do In Pinn”.

I remember the feeling of regret as soon as I sent it but before I could delete or backtrack they came back saying they wanted to do it.

Thankfully restrictions started to life in the middle of the summer and we were allowed to travel and stay overnight outside our local authorities again. So in early August we headed to Skye to take on the biggest mountaineering challenge the six of us – Debbie, Katie, David, Jamie, Grace and me – had ever attempted.

In the days before I prepped as much as I could, reading different guides and walking reports of the route and watching videos on YouTube of the ascent. I did as much as I could to prepare myself for what it would be like and to calm my anxiety about it.

My heart was racing the whole time but I kept focussing on just putting one hand and foot in front of the other and did my absolute best (as hard as it was) not to look down.

I was in a pair with Grace, who was just behind me while I led our way up to the guide we’d hired. Grace was enjoying every second while I was doing my best to keep my mind focussed on the climb so it didn’t give in to panic.

The route was even harder than I had imagined it to be. There was one point where it seemed to narrow dramatically and the drop on both sides, as much as I tried to ignore it, was obviously very high.

But I made it to the top! And even found the courage to negotiate my footing up a huge rock to tap the true summit of the mountain.

The abseil down from the top was excruciating to begin with because I just couldn’t calm my mind enough to allow me to lean back. It was hard to tell myself to relax and walk backwards off a 65 foot drop!

But I – somehow – did it and that feeling of reaching the ground was the most exhilarating of my life.

There was the understandable buzz of adrenaline coursing through my body after such an experience but the feeling of doing something I didn’t think I would be able to do was even better.

Despite the winter lockdown earlier this year, I made the most of this year’s summer and currently sit on 235 Munros with just 47 remaining.

I have now pondered that question that all Munro ‘compleatists’, going back to Rev. Archibald “Archie” Eneas Robertson in 1901, must make as they get closer to the end of the journey – ‘which Munro will I finish on?’

Rev. Robertson was the first person believed to ‘compleat’ the Munros, which he finished on Aonach Eagach, where he famously kissed the summit cairn and then kissed his wife. Although there are some doubts he actually did them all, including the In Pinn!

But what do you weigh up when deciding how such a special journey will end? After all, compleating the Munros for the first time is a once in a lifetime achievement.

In May 2019 I went along to my friend Gus’s last Munro, which he reached eight years after his first. He decided to leave Stob Bàn in the Grey Corries for last. It’s a small but well-defined conical peak in the heart of Lochaber, just a little east of the great Nevin Range.

This is what he told me about leaving it for last:

“It was the closest single Munro I had left close to my house in Coupar Angus. I decided on it probably about halfway through my Munros.

“I felt it needed to be one Munro that was easy-ish for others to get to and to climb. The classic hills are part of the journey and I thought it would be nice to finish on an easier Munro.

“I’ve been to compleations on more challenging Munros and I always feel it’s more of a struggle for some of the people attending who maybe don’t climb mountains regularly.

“For me it’s a monumental achievement and the last Munro is one that should be shared with your friends and family.”

I spoke to three other people who compleated the Munros this year on the reasons why they chose the final summit they did:

Gus’s son, Marc said:

“I chose Ciste Dhubh because my dad said it was one of the better walks and the fact it was only single Munro I had left, apart from Ladhar Bheinn (on the remote peninsula of Knoydart), I had to do towards the end.”

Jamie Neill, who compleated his round on the Stob Dearg summit on Glencoe’s iconic Buachaille Etive Mòr mountain ridge said:

“The idea came around 2019 when Stob Dearg was one of the few remaining Munros I had left south of Fort William. Being from Hamilton, my gran asked me to pick one that she could get to, and being fairly iconic, it stood out straight away.

“My gran is less mobile now, but waited at the bottom for us to finish with my mum and daughter. It was a big personal incentive to compleat while she could come along.”

While, Neil Paterson decided to finish on Scotland’s most easterly Munro last month:

“I picked Mount Keen because I heard how easy the path was to the summit. It would make a short and enjoyable day for anyone who hadn’t done a Munro before.

“After all the hard work of the 281 before it, it meant I could enjoy the final one without having to concentrate too much because of all the celebrations!

“It still feels weird and I pinch myself, I can’t believe it. It won’t sink in for a while – it’s like a dream come true.”

The final account is from the legendary Hazel Strachan who has not just finished one round of the Munros but ten! Hazel finished her first round in 2005 and last in 2018.

Speaking about the kind of mountain she usually likes to leave for the finale, she said:

“The last Munro on my first round was Stob Dearg on Buachaille Etive Mor. It was planned to be the last from very early on in my Munro round. It’s stunning – the view when you are driving into Glen Coe gives you a big wow. Why wouldn’t you want to finish climbing the Munros on anything less remarkable?

“My first party was probably one of the quietest first ‘compleation’ parties with Andrew – my twin sister’s boyfriend. The fizz wasn’t opened. My parents and twin sister, Heather, and husband, Ian, were waiting down in the Lagangarbh car park which was lovely. We all headed off to the Kings House Hotel afterwards for a non-alcoholic drink.

“Last Munros have always been planned as it helps as a focus. Usually on a ‘compleation’ day I’ll make up my mind where the next ‘compleation’ will be.”

Hazel has finished on Ben Hope (2nd round), Sgurr Fiona, (3rd), Ben Wyvis (4th), Glas Maol (5th), Cairngorm (6th), Geal Charn at Dalwhinnie (7th), Ben Wyvis again (8th), Ben Challum (9th), and Cairn an Tuirc (10).

She continued:

“You will have noticed that the summits I’ve ‘compleated’ on are both on easy hills and relatively far east. I don’t plan to finish on a west coast hill as the weather is more unpredictable and I’m not really up for getting stressed out worrying about parties. Even my best plans have gone awry in the east – my 10th round on Carn an Tuirc was moved a day because of very bad weather.

“‘Compleation’ hills have one big thing in common and it’s got to be near to a really good chippy or cafe and not particularly difficult to climb. Usually on a Munro round now I’m accompanied on less than five Munros.

“What I want to gain from a Munro round physically and in my head is finished before the last Munro. The last Munro is rather like graduating from University – You have all your friends there to celebrate your journey. It’s a grand day to reflect on that journey and it doesn’t have to be on a remote hill.”

The common theme from speaking to other hillwalkers was finding a hill that’s relatively easy and straight forward – possibly being close to a chippy! – that friends and family are able to enjoy as well.

This time last year, shortly after reaching the milestone of just 100 to go on Beinn Sgritheall in Glen Elg, I had narrowed down my final contenders – Ben More on Mull, Beinn a Lap at Corrour, or Moruisg in the West Highlands. All single Munros that are relatively straight forward in ascent.

With 47 remaining now and after going back and forward a few times I’ve made the decision to finish on Moruisg.

It’s less than two miles from the car park to the summit of Moruisg so it’s the easiest of the Munros I have remaining, although it’s meant to be fairly boggy in places! But if I’m lucky with visibility that day, the reward will be expansive views over the great glen of Torridon, my favourite part of Scotland other than Fife.

Torridon is an incredibly beautiful place with hilltops covered in quartzite that are unlike most other hills in Scotland. The area’s Beinn Alligin and Liathach rank as my two favourite mountains so far. The view from Moruisg should be incredible.

While it has been tempting to finish on one of the iconic mountains I have left such as An Teallach, described as arguably the greatest mountain in Scotland, or Knoydart’s magnificent Ladhar Bhein, like others I want friends and family to be there as I make the final steps towards that summit cairn.

But I also want Dex to be there at the end of that journey doing a Munro one last time. We did 62 together when I first got into the hills – I even timed my 100th with his 50th on a day we went up A’Bhuidheanach Bheag near the Drumochter pass. But as he’s aged – he’s now ten – I phased him off the Munros and I just take him up the Fife hills, which are obviously far smaller.

Moruisg is by no stretch of the imagination a classic Munro, but a great journey isn’t always about the destination but who, whether they have feet or paws, you travel with along the way.