So I've set my sights on bagging all 284 "Munro's". I would like to say I'll get there by the time I'm 30, but I would have to climb over 30 of them a year for the next eight years, which is no easy feat given that most of the time I live in Cambridge. Still there is only one way to achieve it, and that's to start chipping away. So this summer while I've been at home (200+ miles nearer to the mountains than Cambridge) I've enjoyed the opportunity to go up a few more with my dad. Back at the end of July, we picked off Ben Vorlich and Stuc a' chroin; then a fortnight later a weekend saw us summit Ben More, Stob Binnien and Ben Chonzie. The latter is supposedly the easiest Munro (or so a chap on the summit told me), and certainly it was a very gentle day out and would probably be a quite unremarkable and untrodden summit were it not for its entry on Munro's Tables. I've been suffering a bit with knee pain while hillwalking this year, particularly on descents, so I've taken to carrying a knee support and poles should it come on. Thankfully these two trips were pretty much pain free, and I can only hope they have done somewhat to strengthen the muscles around my knees, reducing the instability that I'm sure causes the pain. Enough about me, photos:
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| Looking back down towards Aardvorlich and Loch Earn from the slopes of Ben Vorlich |
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| Ben Vorlich's summit |
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| Looking across the bealach towards the scramble and Stuc a chroin |
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| The surprisingly steep scramble up onto Stuc a Chroin |
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| The scramble buttress |
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| The track towards Ben More |
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| Ben More is almost literally straight unrelenting up to the summit |
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| The very handy gully behind the summit provided a perfect spot for lunch out of the ferocious wind |
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| The cloud covered ridge of Ben Chonzie |
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| A member of the sinister heard of cattle which were patrolling the lower reaches of Ben Chonzie |
