The Final Scottish MunrosDavid and Dolores compleated their final two Scottish Munros on the 11th and 12th September 2011 here is their rather dramatic real life story written by David the next day. Until recently there were 284 official Munros until one was demoted after accurate re measuring. Another Munro is under review for demotion. David and Dolores have now climbed all 284 original Munros. The Penultimate Day.Having completed all but two munros we had planned to climb the final one on 12th September with friends. The local restaurant had been booked for the evening some weeks earlier!We arrived at Killin on Saturday 10th September. The weather was and had been very wet and strong winds were forecast. On Sunday Dolores and I, on our own, climbed our penultimate munro - Beinn a’ Chleibh after crossing the wide river and the railway. We intended to cross a second “stream” after about 1 kilometre but it was so fast and swollen with flood water that it would have been suicide to attempt if a slip occurred, so we had to follow it upstream and ended up over a mile further up than we were supposed to but at least it was narrower and slower flowing. We then had to jump the stream but still got wet socks! We climbed over a 2 metre deer fence and found ourselves on the flanks of the munro Ben Lui. We contoured round to the bealach between Ben Lui and Beinn a’ Chleibh and climbed easily up to the summit. We had further problems walking back down but eventually got back to the car. It had been raining all day! Day 2 - The Final MunroThe next day was of course Monday the 12th and the tail end of hurricane Katia was due to hit Scotland mid afternoon! We were loath to change the timetable for our final Munro – after all we had booked the restaurant!! We set off from the car at about 9am and made our way up the easy slopes. The ground was very wet and every little stream had become a big stream! As we approached the South Top of Ben Challum the wind speed had increased a lot. Because of the wind we found we could not proceed on the normal ridge path so instead went through a ravine below the ridge and eventually in the mist came across a path leading to the lower part of the ridge. The wind was howling! We struggled to the start of the final ridge path leading up to the munro but instead skirted around in the lee of the mountain top. We ascended steep grassy slopes until I spotted the summit cairn through the mist and started to run to it but then stopped to wait for Dolores and we linked arms and strode firmly onto the summit. It was a great feeling to reach the final munro after nearly 9 years of pushing ourselves to the limits in all kinds of weather.
A Scary Descent Awaited Us!Going up to the final munro summit had become testing in the very strong wind but the worst was to come on the return journey. As we back tracked and got nearer to South Top the wind speed had increased enormously and we were knocked over several times. Before we even reached South Top we could no longer stand up!! We had to crawl on all fours to the Top where the constant hurricane force wind was at its worst. It was also raining now and the force of the wind meant we could not turn our heads into the wind as the rain stung our eyes like hailstones. We were now pinned to the ground by the amazingly strong wind and none of us could move. We tried standing up linked together in twos and threes but were immediately knocked to the ground! What were we to do? We all tried linking together and walking but after a couple of metres the wind broke our line and we all were flung to the ground. Being on the end I was flung several feet sideways before hitting the ground. For several minutes we all lay on the ground being battered by the strongest winds we have ever experienced. How long could this last? How could we get home? These questions raced through all our minds. Our situation seemed rather desperate. Ron crawled over to me and asked for the map. It was in my rucksack. He inched behind me and eventually got it out. We took a bearing to confirm where the line of fence posts should be which would show us the way back down. We grouped together on the ground and firmly linked arms. We stood up and moved several metres but the wind knocked us all back down on the ground. Again we linked and walked a few metres but the wind still knocked us down. By now we were near the point where we could slightly descend and so I crawled about hundred metres on hands and knees over a slight edge and then “bummed” down a slope a bit more. The others followed in similar fashion. We could just about make out the first fence post lower down in the distance and we all began crawling on all fours towards it. All the time the incredible wind kept us down on the rocks and grass. Kit was torn on the rocks and jacket zips were forced open by the strength of the blow. We had bruises from falling and anything loose disappeared over the edge of the mountain. My own specially tailored waterproof rucksack cover had been sucked out of the rucksack’s external pocket and was last seen by Dolores disappearing over the edge of the mountain! We all made it to the first fence post and clung to it. All of us then staggered down to the next fence post. The wind there was less and we could at last stand and walk – just about! Relief! We made our way back down and eventually arrived at the cars.
Caravan Ahoy!Thinking that the day’s drama was over we drove into the caravan site at Killin only to see that our caravan was the only one there and surrounded by over 6 inches of water!! The adjacent river was about to break its banks within the hour and the site had been evacuated. The site Warden strongly suggested we shift our caravan! We drove through the flood water and hitched up quickly rescuing our beloved caravan! We moved into our friend's rented cottage for the rest of the week.
The death of my new Laptop!What else could go wrong? The next day I was carrying my laptop down the cottage stairs but slipped on the third stair from the bottom and my new £830 laptop became junk!! A pair of munros and a week we will never forget!
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