
Our blog - 40 Munros, Oct'17
A blog of our mountain adventures in Scotland, hiking, biking, rock-scrambling and more !
40 Munros and Tops14-19 October 2017Helping on a 5 day Munro bagging challenge to raise funds for charity. Kevin was leading.... Through the middle of October, Chris Auld was with us for a week looking to climb as many Munros as possible and all in name of cancer research, for which he raised a considerable sum of money. Chris was doing this for a friend and colleague, Albert, who lost his battle with Sarcoma last year. Day 1 ![]() Gaining the top of Beinn a' Chroin brought a return to good erosion tracks, but not for long; another long, boggy section awaits toward Beinn Tulaichean! But the weather was also breaking to calmness and a weak autumnal sun. It would transpire to be some of the best conditions of our trip. With Beinn Tulaichean gained, we crossed to Cruach Ardrain and it's misted summit cairn. We finally dropped down the NW arm, Meall Dhamh, to meet the track at last light and a dry walk out to the car park. Day 2 ![]() Day 3 A rest day ! Day 4 ![]() Day 5 ![]() In spite of the mist, we saw off each summit of the Lawers range one by one, and at the end of the day we dropped toward Lawers to find some warmth and dryness beneath the cloud – it was a different world down here. As with the previous day, we'd knocked off seven Munros in one efficient sitting. Day 6 Our final day, and we met in the early morning drizzle at Glen Shee Ski Centre. Outside, a gusty wind rocked the car. The forecast wasn't to deviate far from this all day, and I knew it! This was also Chris' final day, an opportunity to pick up a grand total of nine Munros and the culmination of his fundraising goals. We started on Creag Leacach, once again gusty, damp and cold. A familiar feeling on this trip! It's very 'Scottish', but more views would have been appeciated. We crossed Glas Maol to Cairn of Claise, then went east to the twin paps of Tom Buidhe and Tolmount. Another interesting navigational exercise awaits to cross to Carn an Tuirc, and all the while we walked through this thick, clinging mist. It was only on the descent of this hill that conditions cleared up a bit. We took a break at the A93, knowing that we'd just be able to do the final three summits before dark. Carn Aosda fell in good time, but on Carn a' Gheoidh we could feel the encroaching night coming on. From here our last summit, The Cairnwell was on the way back to the car. In last light we crossed to it's summit buildings and mast, then made our descent on good tracks by headtorch. For Chris that was his last summit and fundraising target of the Munros. For a first Scottish mountain trip it was an awesome effort, and in some challenging conditions as well. Best of luck Chris with the new life in New York, and congrats on the fundraising. If you fancy donating to Chris's fundraising for Sarcoma UK, then can you do so by clicking here. More photos by Kevin are here on Flickr. Share this page « next | previous » |

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