It has taken me around eight months to climb 3 Munros.
I've just done 4 in a week! FOUR!!
Buoyed by my double-bag last weekend, the lack of pain that followed, and the sense of achievement that lasted throughout the week, by the weekend I was keen to boost up a couple more.
Dave and I walked four or so miles by the Water of Leith on Saturday, a 'warm-up' for the challenge ahead. At that point, Saturday night, Ben Lawers and Beinn Ghlas were our intention...until the forecast seemed to get worse very quickly. Our other option was Ben Vorlich, despite the fact Dave had done it before, and Stuc A'Chroin, which he hadn't. The forecast didn't seem great either but we thought it might improve later in the day. We decided to go for it.
We left Edinburgh around 8.15am on Sunday morning, after some porridge. Still not a fan. The drive north was quick and straightforward. After a wee bathroom break in Lochearnhead, we parked on the other side of Loch Earn just before 10am. There were quite a few other cars there, and a number of walkers around.
The first part was flat. It was a good start. It didn't last long. Some handy signs helped us on our way:
The path then began to go upwards, and layers were shed. It was pretty unforgiving - although steady, we were heading up and up. Thankfully the early efforts were rewarded, as the views at this stage were pretty stunning. Like last week, the heather was purple, and I was feeling good.
And so was Dave - for now.
Ben Vorlich was a slog, and certainly tough going. But what I liked about it was the consistency. It goes up. It just goes up. It doesn't plateau and it doesn't pretend you're almost at the top. It just goes up.
Unfortunately, what we were going up into was - cloud.
This was no time to look for views. This was a time to grit your teeth, get your head down, and keep going up. Well, there was nowhere else to go. The terrain was tough going - very rocky. As we got higher, the winds got wilder. Soon it was blowing an absolute hoolie, and our faces hurt.
We had passed quite a few people earlier on - but now it felt like we were all alone in a cloud. All I could see ahead of me was rocks and cloud. Rocks and cloud. Cloud and rocks and wait...? Is that the summit?
"Dave! Is that the summit?!"
It came out of nowhere. Well, not nowhere, after all it had almost been two hours since we started. But I guess I got disorientated - I didn't expect it to be there. Now. What a feeling.
Munro number 6 - Ben Vorlich - conquered!!
I intended to hold up six fingers for Munro number six but the wind was just too strong - it may not look it but I was holding on for dear life!! I'm sure that metal pole was straight at one point...
This was definitely the shortest time I had ever spent on a summit. Literally, it must have been two or three minutes. Time for a drink of water, a photo, a quick look at the map, and then we were off. We swithered about heading back down; given the conditions (and lack of views), was it really worth pushing on for another summit?
We - or maybe I - decided it was. We had met two guys at the summit of Ben Vorlich (who took the photo!) who said they were heading for Stuc A'Chroin, and that it was about half an hour. Then they disappeared into the mist. Dave knew the location of Stuc A'Chroin from his previous trip up to Ben Vorlich. I had no idea where we were or which direction we were heading. Thankfully there were some very helpful metal posts marking the way.
We must have descended slightly, because all of a sudden, the cloud swept aside and there were...views. I could see where we going. And I could almost see the challenge that awaited us...
It was ominous. It was dramatic. There were 2 tiny figures in the distance. It looked hard.
We stopped for some much-needed food, and a wee energy boost. It had been tough work descending through boulders from Ben Vorlich. I knew already that this was a much more difficult challenge than Mayar and Driesh. However, at that moment, I still hadn't appreciated just how much more challenging it would get...
It initially seemed like we would climb up the rocks in the photo above. I just kept looking up thinking "How?" How on earth would we get up there? Thankfully Dave thinks far more clearly than me, and could see from the map that we had to skirt to the left slightly. We could also see fresh footsteps, so we were reassured that man had passed this way before.....although it seemed like we were lost in Middle Earth somewhere...
The next 3 photos are all the evidence I have of the 'up' part of Stuc A'Chroin - or Stuc A'Chronic Pain as it will be forever known to me as. I love these photos. They remind me of the Quiraing on Skye. It was incredibly atmospheric. But then it was just pain pain pain.
I learned lessons here. I learned that when Walk Highlands say 'experienced Munroists' they don't mean 'girls who climb 2 on one day and think they know it all'. I learned that when your instructions say 'may involve a scramble with possible use of hands' you will have to put your faith in your hands and hope that they'll get you up. Even though they are freezing. Oh well, I'd already chipped my nail varnish when I landed on my bum just after leaving Ben Vorlich :)
I cannot underestimate how difficult this part was. At one point, every rock beneath me started to slip. The rocks under my hands and feet began to slide downwards, and I began to panic. I moved with it just slightly before Dave shouted at me to stop panicking and get on with it. Not in those exact words but it was what I needed to snap out of it, and get moving before I was forcibly moved. I was scared. I didn't think it would be like this. I didn't think we'd be scrambling around on our hands and knees, sweat pouring down our faces, rocks moving beneath us.
We had to dig deep - really deep. I don't mean to sound so dramatic - but it really was so hard. Eventually eventually we made it up this awful vertical boulder field. We were not rewarded with views - not yet - and we still had a short walk to the summit.
It was spooky:
But after a long slog - a long long slog (an hour and a half not half an hour!!) - we were finally on the summit of Stuc A'Chronic Pain.
Munro number 7 - Stuc A'Chroin - conquered!!
And then - the weirdest thing I have ever seen up a Munro. Weirder than the guy in shorts in the snow on Schiehallion. Weirder than the girls who carried their bikes up Meall nan Tarmachan. Weirder than weird....SHEEP. I struggled up this bloody mountain, I get to the top, and my welcoming committee - is a bunch of sheep? Who seem to be hanging around up there, smug looks on their faces as if to say "what kept you?"
Unfortunately the weather was not kind to my camera so the photos are a wee bit dotted with moisture.
But then - on a day of surprises - the weather faeries heard our wishes, felt our painful stuggle, and finally rewarded us with views. Views!!
It was great, but we were still hurting. We didn't spend long before beginning our descent. I certainly felt that the hardest part was over - but I was completely wrong. The hardest part of the whole day was about to come. We spent the next THREE hours going back down.
First it was gradual. Then it was extremely steep. Then it was boggy. Then it was boggier. Then Dave went up to his knees in boggyness.
We were on the side of a hill, in a bog, for what felt like - and was - hours. It was cruel - having worked sooooooooo hard to get to the top, now we were trudging, miserable, demoralised, boggy....just please let me magically be back at the car NOW.
I shouldn't say much more about the descent or we will be here for a while. Suffice to say, it was agony, it was awful, it was just horrible. We were grumpy :(
We plodded down until we rejoined the ascent path of Ben Vorlich. We were heading towards the six hour mark and just wanted to get back to Loch Earn. The steep ascent that I had been grateful for on the way up was now killing me - I wanted flat and I wanted it now.
And after nearly six and a half hours, the world was flat again.
We ate all of our food that we'd taken up the mountains but been too cold or knackered to eat there. We congratulated each other on our achievement. We tried to stick to the positives and not focus on our pain and suffering!
It was a beautiful evening and a beautiful drive home.
Once home, we were in a weird state of tiredness, elation and tiredness. My last photo has to be the consequence of all that bog we trudged through:
As I always do, I learnt so much from these Munros. This was a different lesson though - a more humbling one. Stuc A'Chronic Pain became my first Munro not on Steve Fallon's Easiest Munro list, and if this is a sign of things to come then I am not ready for them. I hope I will be, but for now, I have learned that that man knows what he is talking about (he should after 283 x 14 times!) and I will try not to deviate from his list until I am ready.
My quads are telling me today that I am being punished for trying to be an experienced Munroist. I am of course feeling proud that I conquered a mountain that gave me as much trouble as it did.
I have now completed four Munros in one week. And now I will rest...
I've just done 4 in a week! FOUR!!
Buoyed by my double-bag last weekend, the lack of pain that followed, and the sense of achievement that lasted throughout the week, by the weekend I was keen to boost up a couple more.
Dave and I walked four or so miles by the Water of Leith on Saturday, a 'warm-up' for the challenge ahead. At that point, Saturday night, Ben Lawers and Beinn Ghlas were our intention...until the forecast seemed to get worse very quickly. Our other option was Ben Vorlich, despite the fact Dave had done it before, and Stuc A'Chroin, which he hadn't. The forecast didn't seem great either but we thought it might improve later in the day. We decided to go for it.
We left Edinburgh around 8.15am on Sunday morning, after some porridge. Still not a fan. The drive north was quick and straightforward. After a wee bathroom break in Lochearnhead, we parked on the other side of Loch Earn just before 10am. There were quite a few other cars there, and a number of walkers around.
The first part was flat. It was a good start. It didn't last long. Some handy signs helped us on our way:
 |
| Ardvorlich House |
Ben Vorlich was a slog, and certainly tough going. But what I liked about it was the consistency. It goes up. It just goes up. It doesn't plateau and it doesn't pretend you're almost at the top. It just goes up.
 |
| looking back towards Loch Earn |
We had passed quite a few people earlier on - but now it felt like we were all alone in a cloud. All I could see ahead of me was rocks and cloud. Rocks and cloud. Cloud and rocks and wait...? Is that the summit?
"Dave! Is that the summit?!"
It came out of nowhere. Well, not nowhere, after all it had almost been two hours since we started. But I guess I got disorientated - I didn't expect it to be there. Now. What a feeling.
I intended to hold up six fingers for Munro number six but the wind was just too strong - it may not look it but I was holding on for dear life!! I'm sure that metal pole was straight at one point...
 |
| Our 2nd Munro together! |
We - or maybe I - decided it was. We had met two guys at the summit of Ben Vorlich (who took the photo!) who said they were heading for Stuc A'Chroin, and that it was about half an hour. Then they disappeared into the mist. Dave knew the location of Stuc A'Chroin from his previous trip up to Ben Vorlich. I had no idea where we were or which direction we were heading. Thankfully there were some very helpful metal posts marking the way.
We must have descended slightly, because all of a sudden, the cloud swept aside and there were...views. I could see where we going. And I could almost see the challenge that awaited us...
 |
| the prow of Stuc A'Chroin almost appears... |
We stopped for some much-needed food, and a wee energy boost. It had been tough work descending through boulders from Ben Vorlich. I knew already that this was a much more difficult challenge than Mayar and Driesh. However, at that moment, I still hadn't appreciated just how much more challenging it would get...
It initially seemed like we would climb up the rocks in the photo above. I just kept looking up thinking "How?" How on earth would we get up there? Thankfully Dave thinks far more clearly than me, and could see from the map that we had to skirt to the left slightly. We could also see fresh footsteps, so we were reassured that man had passed this way before.....although it seemed like we were lost in Middle Earth somewhere...
The next 3 photos are all the evidence I have of the 'up' part of Stuc A'Chroin - or Stuc A'Chronic Pain as it will be forever known to me as. I love these photos. They remind me of the Quiraing on Skye. It was incredibly atmospheric. But then it was just pain pain pain.
I learned lessons here. I learned that when Walk Highlands say 'experienced Munroists' they don't mean 'girls who climb 2 on one day and think they know it all'. I learned that when your instructions say 'may involve a scramble with possible use of hands' you will have to put your faith in your hands and hope that they'll get you up. Even though they are freezing. Oh well, I'd already chipped my nail varnish when I landed on my bum just after leaving Ben Vorlich :)
I cannot underestimate how difficult this part was. At one point, every rock beneath me started to slip. The rocks under my hands and feet began to slide downwards, and I began to panic. I moved with it just slightly before Dave shouted at me to stop panicking and get on with it. Not in those exact words but it was what I needed to snap out of it, and get moving before I was forcibly moved. I was scared. I didn't think it would be like this. I didn't think we'd be scrambling around on our hands and knees, sweat pouring down our faces, rocks moving beneath us.
We had to dig deep - really deep. I don't mean to sound so dramatic - but it really was so hard. Eventually eventually we made it up this awful vertical boulder field. We were not rewarded with views - not yet - and we still had a short walk to the summit.
It was spooky:
But after a long slog - a long long slog (an hour and a half not half an hour!!) - we were finally on the summit of Stuc A'Chronic Pain.
 |
| Our 3rd Munro together! |
 |
| SHEEP |
But then - on a day of surprises - the weather faeries heard our wishes, felt our painful stuggle, and finally rewarded us with views. Views!!
 |
| Views! Blue sky! Over there! |
 |
| My first view of Ben Vorlich |
First it was gradual. Then it was extremely steep. Then it was boggy. Then it was boggier. Then Dave went up to his knees in boggyness.
 |
| more sheepies....then we learned that Stuc A'Chroin means 'hill of the sheep fold' - so that's why they are there... |
 |
| looking back to the prow of Stuc A'Chroin |
We plodded down until we rejoined the ascent path of Ben Vorlich. We were heading towards the six hour mark and just wanted to get back to Loch Earn. The steep ascent that I had been grateful for on the way up was now killing me - I wanted flat and I wanted it now.
And after nearly six and a half hours, the world was flat again.
 |
| Ardvorlich House |
 |
| beautiful Loch Earn |
Once home, we were in a weird state of tiredness, elation and tiredness. My last photo has to be the consequence of all that bog we trudged through:
As I always do, I learnt so much from these Munros. This was a different lesson though - a more humbling one. Stuc A'Chronic Pain became my first Munro not on Steve Fallon's Easiest Munro list, and if this is a sign of things to come then I am not ready for them. I hope I will be, but for now, I have learned that that man knows what he is talking about (he should after 283 x 14 times!) and I will try not to deviate from his list until I am ready.
My quads are telling me today that I am being punished for trying to be an experienced Munroist. I am of course feeling proud that I conquered a mountain that gave me as much trouble as it did.
I have now completed four Munros in one week. And now I will rest...
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