By John Penny – September 2003

Last Munro

The Last Munro. Ben Lomond – 25th May 2003

Sunday 25th May 2003 signalled the end to an eleven year journey (Ben
Vorlich in the Arrochar Alps being the first Munro I recorded on 26th
May 1992) to climb all 284 of the Scottish Munros. Initially I had
no real desire or intention to climb all of the Munros but being a
very keen hill-walker and a great lover of Scotland the idea to try to
do them all gradually evolved. My first experiences of Scotland were
20 or more years ago through expedition society trips to Glencoe as a
teacher, but after that I had about ten years when I didn’t visit
north of the border. The trip to the Arrochar Alps in 1992 was in my
half-term break and I was blessed with absolutely superb weather – the
seed was sown.

I have climbed the Munros in all weathers (as anyone who knows
Scotland will realise), sometimes all of them in the same day. Good
memories include sunbathing on Spidean Mialach (Loch Quoich) and a
truly wonderful day on Sgurr na Ciche with stunning views to Knoydart
and Skye. I was also blessed with excellent weather on my second
trip to Skye when I climbed nearly all the Skye Cuillin Munros (I
later went back with a climbing guide to do the Inaccessible Pinnacle
– I have never had pretensions as a rock-climber!). Climbing the west
ridge of Sgurr nan Gillean and standing on the top, picking out and
naming the mountains on the mainland, in perfect visibility will be a
memory that will never fade!

Less good memories include a truly horrible day on Stob Coire
Sgriodain and Chno Dearg when the weather forecasters (not for the
first time) lied. It would clear up later in the day (they said), so
I started late (after midday). Well it did clear up (for about 20
minutes) but nearing the top of the first Munro, the heavens opened
and didn’t stop until I returned to the car. It was a good job
no-one else was around as I performed a very damp striptease in the
car park. Others I have no wish to repeat are Gulvain (steep and
boring – blowing a hoolie on top and I was in the process of going
down with a cold). A’Ghlas-bheinn next to Beinn Fhada in Kintail –
which has more false summits than you can shake a stick at, especially
when there are no views, it’s raining and you are knackered after a
long day. It didn’t help getting the compass bearing off- beam on
the descent either!

Favourite hills – well there so many! The aforementioned Skye
Cuillins and Sgurr na Ciche certainly are right up there, plus the
obvious ones like An Teallach, Liathach and Ben Alligin, but there
were others too. The remote ones in Fisherfield for instance. I
remember a memorable day to reach A’Mhaighdean and Ruadh stac Mor from
Poolewe – a round trip of 25 miles, which took eleven hours. I was
rewarded, however, with perfect solitude and a clear day. From the
top, no sign of human habitation or roads are visible – a special
moment. I was also fortunate with the other four Munros of the
Fisherfield ‘six’. A nine hour walk from north to south from Corrie
Hallie to Kinlochewe, thanks to my brother-in-law Peter, who took me
to the start, having left my car at the southern end on the previous
evening! I saw no one, until the walk out, all day and was blessed
by the clouds staying high until I was descending from the last top.
There are a few remote lochans up there that are magical. Ben More
on Mull is a cracking hill too, with a fine airy ridge. From the top
all the islands are spread out before you, from Jura to Rhum, even
including Staffa of Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture fame. I was
fortunate to share the summit with four other people who were there to
scatter the ashes of a relative and to toast him with 25 year old
whisky! The hills of Knoydart are special as well. I was fortunate
to have good views on Ladhar Bheinn, as the clouds obligingly parted
for the length of the time we were on the summit ridge. Luinne
Bheinn and Meall Buidhe were also done in splendid weather (Luinne
Bheinn on the second visit as the first had not been a good day).

Many Munros I have climbed solo and it is a wonderful feeling to have
that space, solitude and silence, so alien to much of modern life.
It has come to mean more and more to me as a means of escape and of
putting everyday cares and work into a much needed perspective.
Nothing seems as bad or as important from a fabulous viewpoint on the
top of a mountain. I would hate people though to think I am totally
anti-social. Over 70 Munros have been climbed with my good friend
Ian and his two dogs Cuillin and Aonach and much ribald and surreal
banter has been heard on the way. One of the most worrying events
also happened with Ian, when, on Ladhar Bheinn the first time I
attempted it, Cuillin fell several hundred feet and Ian had to carry
him off the hill. A truly impressive feat by Ian as Cuillin is a
large Labrador! In the early days I also used to walk with Andy
Bluefield’s North-West Frontiers and it was through them that I
engaged Winky O’Neil to coax me up the Inaccessible Pinnacle and other
Skye Munros. Pete Krug also experienced the JP hill-walking style on a
trip based around Crianlarich. I hope I haven’t put Pete off
Scotland (or me!). We haven’t been able to repeat the trip since!

So to the final Munro – Ben Lomond – a nice straightforward hill that
even my non-regular hill walking friends wouldn’t mind tackling. We
were 16 – Ian, Brian, Morag, Julie, Jenny, Sal, Janet, David, Sundera,
Robin, Celia, Leonie, Christine (my sister), Peter, Sally (my niece)
and me (plus four dogs!). We were lucky with the weather (the
previous day had been littered with heavy storms) and we even had some
good views from the top. What made the day truly memorable, however,
were the two other groups on top. Firstly there was a Scottish lady
completing her Munros with the same hill on the same day as me.
Secondly we witnessed a marriage ceremony take place at the trig
point. The bride didn’t wear white, needless to say, but the priest
took the service in the normal way and we all sang Amazing Grace to
the pipes. Amazingly the groom was from Colchester and other guests
were from Ipswich and Hadleigh! As they say – you couldn’t make it
up!

What has this odyssey taught me? Well I could talk about things like
self-reliance, determination, planning ahead, all of which are
relevant of course, but the thing that keeps coming back is what a
wonderful place Scotland is (even on the grim weather days). How lucky
we are to have it so relatively accessible and how lucky I am to have
been fit enough to do all this. Where and what now, I have been
frequently asked since completing? Well that is not really a problem.
I’d like to go back and re-climb many hills from which I saw nothing
(I’m an expert on the insides of clouds!) and also many hills which I
thoroughly enjoyed. I’d like to visit many of the islands (Harris,
Jura and particularly Rhum) which do not have Munros on them. Hill
walking and mountaineering has never been only about Scotland and
Munros and during the eleven year period I have also visited and
climbed in the Alps, Russia, Romania, Nepal, Ecuador, Bolivia, Morocco
and Corsica. This summer I’m off to Mongolia. As long as there are
hills, I expect I’ll want to walk in and climb them!