Devil’s Point 10 Aug 2020

A superb day accessing the Cairngorms from the south, a long approach ended by Corrour, then an ascent of the steep slopes behind the bothy onto the ridge of Devil's Point and the summit cairn poised over a steep drop at 3,294'. Views north to Braeriach and Cairn Toul, and east across the Lairig to Cairngorm. he still conditions meant that midges were troublesome even by the cairn. On the walk out the cloud lifted and the sun increasingly illuminated the heather slopes along the glen and the shapely peak just conquered. Munro #249.

Ben Avon 9 Aug 2020

A beautiful cloudless sunny day at the start of my week at Braemar with Jennifer and Matthew. A long but superbly scenic ascent of Ben Avon from Keiloch, a gradual but steady ascent through Glen Quoich and past the ruins Slugain Lodge. then up the wide, gently sloping glen with Beinn a' Bhuird rearing massively to the west and the whole landscape a riot of heathery colour. On reaching The Sneck, a steeper gravelly climb brought us to the massive summit plateau of Ben Avon, with the summit tor at 3,842'. A superb viewpoint especially of the other Cairngorm giants to the north and west. An equally long descent, but mostly heathery ground so fairly easy on the feet - a total distance for the day of 23 miles. Munro #248.

Beinn Dubhchraig and Ben Oss 21 July 2020

A fine day in the southwest Highlands and a chance to bag these two Munros, which I’d wanted to climb for a long time. The approach from Dalrigh is on good though boggy paths all the way, initially through a patch of remnant Caledonian forest, then alongside a stream and waterfalls. The path rises steadily up the flank of Beinn Dubhchraig from the east, and then an easy climb south leads to the summit at 3,205’ with a panoramic view of Loch Lomond and the Arrochar Alps. Then back down to the bealach and a more strenuous ascent up the flanks of Ben Oss, which from its 3,373’ summit has a close up view of Ben Lui in the foreground, with an array of peaks stretching north across Glencoe and the Black Mount as far as the Ben Nevis, clear of cloud for once. The descent requires a reascent of the bealach before the boggy path back to Dalrigh. A day of sunshine and white clouds before high cloud rolled in ahead of an approaching front. Munros #247.

An Socach (Deeside) 20 July 2020

At last ! Back in the mountains, and the spacious horizons of the eastern hills, in fine, breezy and showery conditions interspersed with sunny glimpses. A pleasant walk in from the Invercauld entrance on the A93 lead to heathery slopes up to the 2km-long summit plateau of An Socach, with the summit at 3,097’ being at the western end of a very gradual stony incline. Views north to a rather dreich and showery Cairngorm massif. Munro #245.

No hillwalking yet .........

10 June - So this is the week that we should have been in Ullapool - the weather today up in the Northwest is typically dreich, but there have been a couple of good days, so it's possible that we would have been able to tackle Fisherfield. Let's hope that the mountains open again as Nicola S gradually eases the lockdown, and we can salvage part of the Munro season...….however, the mountains will still be there when things return to normal ……..

Spring 2020..........

As of early May 2020, we have now been on coronavirus lockdown for 6 weeks. This has unfortunately coincided with an amazing, warm, dry spring in the Highlands, and as I write the sun continues to blaze down. My Cuillin completion trip for later this month has already been cancelled, and our June trip to the Northwest has a large question mark hanging over it... desperately hoping that the lockdown is eased sufficiently to allow some hillwalking, bearing in mind that it doesn't involve large crowds, it allows social distancing, and we can go self catering! In the meantime, I am consoling myself with the amazing photos that are currently being posted on Twitter, and dreaming of future times when Scotland is accessible once again. Here's to future Munros...….

Sgurr Thuilm and Sgurr nan Coireachan (Glenfinnan) 25 Jan 2020

An early start to the 2020 season..... an unseasonably mild week, with melting of most of the lying snow preceded my day with a Steven Fallon group. Daylight being at a bit of a premium in January, we started from Glenfinnan shortly after first light, with broken cloud and a southerly wind as we headed up the glen, subdued but striking winter colours in evidence, and meeting some very tame Red Deer stags for company. We walked anticlockwise to take advantage of the prevailing wind, most of the exposure being on the ridge as we descended. We ascended into cloud at around 650m and we stayed in cloud for the rest of the day, so no views. Sgurr Thuilm was the first Munro of the day at 3,159', and a few snow patches lingered near the summit. The walk to the second Munro is preceded by several significant "bumps" or false summits, but eventually we climbed up fairly steep rocky slopes which levelled out to the trig point and shelter on Sgurr nan Coireachan, fractionally lower at 3,136'. Unfortunately the views of Loch Arkaig and the West was obscured, but the wind was less than forecast. The descent was steady, and walking out we just beat the darkness back to the car park. Munros #244.