The Munros: Scottish Mountaineering Club Hillwalkers' Guide

Product Information

A straightforward 2 north of Spean Bridge in fairly ropey conditions finished a tour which was a little disjointed but did give a good sense of achievement 1998 North Cluanie and Lunndaidh

Three to go. From the Glenfinnan monument we aimed up Sgurr nan Coireachan. The crossing to Sgurr Thuilm was achieved with little fuss and nothing memorable happened. We camped at the coll between Thuilm and Steap which was a good spot. Day 2 For many years I took two short visits a year to Scotland to supplement the main tour although this did drop to one after the children came along. In addition I ‘made use’ of other visits whether with Helen or with work. We were on a lads golfing trip to St Andrews when myself and JP dragged Mike over six easterly Munros round Glen Doll whilst I took life and limb in hand on a ski trip to Aviemore I set off for Ben Macdui over the snow clad slopes, becoming seriously tired on the return as darkness started to fall. I would surmise that such ample compensation would struggle to exert itself on his Beinn a’ Ghlò traverse of 1891!We hired a guide for Day 2 over the Inaccessible Pinnacle to Sgurr Alasdair. After the midge JP and myself then climbed Blaven Day 1 A very different walk from those in the west. This was a long 2 day walk meeting Reg and Archie at the bothy. A through walk from Blair Atholl to Braemar but the walk out was extremely painful due to blisters which also slowed me up next day on Lochnagar. Having found myself with some spare work time (!) I naturally travelled up for a few days in Scotland, the culmination being a long day on the big hills of Affric. The weather was poor throughout and I did not have a tent so the options I had were a little limited. Affric is a lovely spot but always seems a little midge friendly to stay. The midge are without doubt the hidden menace of Scotland. You have to have suffered at their hands to understand the misery they inflict and it is impossible to explain to others who have not experienced them how evil they are.

The accompanying map has colour-coded routes. A solid red line is the principal (or more frequented0 route and red dashed lines are variations and extension routes. A yellow, or yellow dashed line, shows secondary routes and extensions. It took me 5 years to follow up the Munros with their associated Tops. I decided to start doing Tops roughly half way through the Munros which led me on to longer walks than anticipated. However it was only after completing the Munros that things became more mentally difficult. Attempting a single Top almost inevitably required a second go at the Munro so the walk was often repetitive but with ‘a little bit extra added on’ I did attempt alternative routes but these were often longer – at least I did provide some companionship for Alistair who was still going for his first set of Munros. I parked on the north side of the Linn of Dee and started the long walk in past Derry Lodge to Derry Cairngorm. Even at this stage it was clear that water was going to be important as the weather was sunny and getting hot. The Plateau can be a very dry place. Once on Derry Cairngorm the scale of the walk was evident. I crossed to Beinn Mheadhoin and then spent a further hour circulating to one of the tops. The long climb up to the summit of Ben Macdui also took a while but in reality I did not need to summit it apart from the fact it was on the way to a top I needed. The summit of Ben Macdui is vast but I was really pleased to view it all in good weather – I am a fortunate person! I dawdled on the long descent towards Carn a Mhaim, at this stage the day looked like it was coming to an end with plenty to spare. A high ‘footage’ day north of Cluanie included a real introduction to the Tops. Lunndaidh was not actually a difficult day and not particularly memorable Murdos are Scottish hills over 3,000ft with a minimum drop of 30 metres on all sides - all Munros are Murdos, but not all Munro Tops are Murdos. There are 442 Murdos.

The Munros are generally recognized by the classification set out by Sir Hugh Munro which detailed over 500 separate hills in Scotland over 3,000 foot high. He separated his list in to main and subsidiary summits so in effect there are 2 lists now commonly referred to as the Munros and the Tops. In 2017 over 6,000 people have completed the Munro main summits. The descriptions of the routes are much clearer than I recall from the previous edition and also give the total distance, height gain and estimated time for the full route. The Munros book was previously criticised for giving only the time to the summit and not the return or the whole route. To begin logging your ascents or writing your own account of your experiences on the Munros and other walks, or to also show Munro Tops, Login or Register now - it's free! And those hills, scattered all over Scotland, from Ben Lomond in the South to Ben Hope in the north, and Sgurr na Banachdich in the west to Mount Keen in the east, offer no end of challenging and immensely enjoyable days out, in all seasons. The book was published in 2019 by map-makers Harvey Maps to mark the centenary of the death of Sir High Munro, the founder of the Munros List. It includes an interesting introductory section that informs the reader what to expect in the book, as well as map symbols and scales; details about Harvey Maps; and how the maps are created. Harvey Maps has a great history.

Leaden clouds are now scudding across the sky to reveal acres of blue above sculptured waves of white peaks in all directions. Thankfully, he has already recorded details of the views on a lower summit: A late start ensured a high camp on the Fannichs. The ridge is probably achievable in a day but it was good to split the ridge up and similar to the Cairngorms camp high on the hillside. The longest tour undertaken, 6 days in the hills. Day 1 I too prefer the Cicerone/Steve Kew guides. Concise and informative but timings are lively! I've been 20-25% out on times . But maybe he's younger than me . Too heavy for a day on the hills though. The maps are grouped in areas of Munros, such as Glen Affric and Kintail, Glen Cannich to Glen Carron and Glen Roy to the Monadhliath.I spent hours planning this trip. It was the key to the Cairngorms and needed to be 2 days worth. I very much looked forward to it even though the days planned to be very long. Day 1

A long day over the Grey Corries in cloudy weather. The ridge twisted and turned which I lengthened by taking in the westerley top. We also drove to the 3 near Loch Quoich which involved the only time I returned to the car for lunch and started again. Day 1These days, there is a wealth of information on-line of how to walk the Munros, as well as maps that can be used as GPX files on various map reading apps. Yet, still, I do like an actual map to look at.