01 Oct Which is the greatest Munro of them all?

In July I was fortunate enough to ‘compleat’ the Munros. It was an objective I’d been working towards for just short of five years, having got into hillwalking while going through a period of depression in 2017.

Each week building towards a weekend of hillwalking was exciting. That feeling of discovering a different part of Scotland and not quite knowing what to expect from it.

There were some days when it absolutely pished it down with rain and there was no visibility at the summit. And others when the sun was shining and you could see for miles and miles. Because of the former, it made you appreciate the latter when it happened.

Since finishing I’ve been asked a few times which one was my favourite, which mountain is the best of all the Munros.

It’s a hard one to answer because there’s genuinely been so many great days on the hills and it’s also hard to describe what makes a Munro the best.

Is it entirely on the views from the summit? Is a Munro better because it involves some fun scrambling to reach the top? What about the look of the look of the mountain – is it aesthetically pleasing to look at?

Well, I’ve tried to combine those questions and looking back there really is just one answer for the best Munro in Scotland.

There are definitely a few that come close…

I could definitely say Ben Nevis would be up there IF it’s tackled by the Càrn Mòr Dearg Arête. What an incredible day that was, not just for the towering views over Lochaber, but the scramble along the CMD arête was so fun, and it really is the best way to appreciate Scotland’s highest mountain – it’s enormous, craggy north face just looks incredible.

An early favourite was Sgòr Gaoith in the Cairngorms. The walk to the top isn’t too extraordinary but the view was something that literally took my breath away. The summit, which is perched over a cliff edge, has a sweeping view down below to Loch Einich and over to the huge mountain of Braeriach, the third highest summit in Scotland. It’s many buttresses and broken crags are stunning but it’s just the sheer scale of the mountain that makes this view so epic.

The classic Munro viewpoint of Bidein a’Ghlas Thuill is up there with the best and it comes with a very enjoyable hands-on day out if doing the full An Teallach mountain ridge. The view is one of the best of any mountain view – Munro or otherwise – that you will come across in Scotland or the UK. Thuill provides the perfect vantage point to appreciate the far more dramatic-looking Sgurr Fiona. When I did these two last Autumn, the summits were covered in mist so I waited in the hope they would open up so I could see in real life what I had seen in photos. I waited around 40 minutes – far longer than I normally would – and I was thankful I did. It was amazing to see the mist rise and disappear to reveal such a view.

The six Torridon Munros deserve a mention. They are all stupendous viewpoints, spread along the three great mountain ridges of Beinn Alligin, Liathach and Beinn Eighe. If I had to pick one I would go for Tom Na Gruagaich on Alligin for its sudden view that falls away to reveal the beautiful ridge that leads round and up to its neighbour, Sgùrr Mòr.

There are many more mountains that deserve recognition as among the best Munros – A’Mhaighdean, The Saddle, Bla Bheinn, Sgurr nan Gillean, Slioch, Sgùrr nan Ceathramhnan and Sgòrr Dhearg are just a handful of them!

But looking back, it can only be one… Ladhar Bheinn.

It is the highest mountain on the extremely remote peninsula of Knoydart. The area is famed as “Britain’s last wilderness” that is only accessible by ferry or by a 16-mile walk from the nearest road.

The thought of travelling to such a remote area was daunting in itself but to climb its highest peak ensured it would be a formidable challenge.

In the Spring of this year, I took the ferry with four friends from Mallaig to Inverie, Knoydart’s largest village early on a Friday morning. We pitched our tents and then headed straight for Ladhar Bheinn.

There are a few different ways it can be approached from Inverie but we decided to take the route via Aonach Sgoilite that connects onto Ladhar’s south-east ridge.

This wasn’t the easiest route to take, accessing it via its north-west ridge would be simpler, but this would be one of the enjoyable ways to summit such a spectacular mountain.

The other route is via Barrisdale Bay, which I look forward to taking on another day!

The initial walk in from Inverie was relatively flat before we turned left and headed straight up to the Aonach Sgoilite ridge, making our way through many pathless sections of long, tussocky grass which were inhabited by unimaginable numbers of ticks.! It was a baking hot day and as climbed higher we looked down to Loch an Dubh-Lochain and saw two deer trying to cool down by going for a swim.

Once the ridge was reached we followed it for a little while before it eventually swung left to head directly for the south-east ridge up the mountain.

It was here when the great craggy face, hidden during the walk so far, was revealed and you could appreciate the enormity and the character of the mountain.

Looking out east were the mountains of Kintail, including some of the summits along the Five Sisters ridge.

There was a bit of scrambling involved to pull ourselves up the face of Ladhar Bheinn before a final push to reach the summit ridge.

Once we reached the cairn we sat on a slope of grass looking westwards and couldn’t believe the view.

We were in the middle of an extremely remote and wild area in one of the most mountainous parts of the country. The views were just terrific.

We could see the islands, including Rum, Eigg and Skye, along the western seaboard. We could see many great lochs, such as Nevis and Morar. And we could see mountain layers upon mountain layers in almost every direction.

Mountains, lochs, islands, and the ocean. It was everything you could ask for in a summit view.

It will live long in the memory.

It had taken many hours of travelling and walking just to reach one summit but it made me appreciate and value Ladhar Bheinn even more. It isn’t an easy mountain to get to the top of but it’s worth it.

As we got up and got ready to head back down to Inverie, we could see the view northwards from the summit to the majestic looking Munro of Beinn Sgritheall (‘The Mountain of Scree’) above Loch Hourn and Arnisdale.

The beginning of the descent – walking off the north-west ridge to make the route a circuit – was also a treat as you are walking in the direction of the Cuillin ridge on the Isle of Skye which looked exquisite, despite being tens of miles away.

At the end of the hike we enjoyed a well-deserved pint of Tennent’s at the Old Forge, the most remote pub on the Scottish mainland.

To Ladhar Bheinn, the greatest of all the Munros! (to me, anyway)