More Than a Blog – David’s Munro Compleation
- Chris Low
- 4 hours ago
- 3 min read
Prologue
This weekend had been a long time in the making – in fact just over 52 years!
When I first climbed Ben Nevis in early September 1973 I had never even heard of Sir Hugh Munro, let alone a list of Scottish Mountains over 3000 ft – (we used imperial units in those days). I had hitch-hiked up from Whitley Bay with my Venture Scout mate Trev, with the sole objective of climbing the highest mountain in the UK. Our route north took us across the Ballachulish ferry, as there was no bridge in those days. Sadly we got no view from the top, as the weather that trip was the ubiquitous Scottish clag; I also had my first encounter with the Scottish Midge in the glen. The clag and the midge would be encountered on numerous occasions over the ensuing years!
Whilst I had climbed many mountains in the Lake District, Wales and the Peak District, it would be another 20 years before I climbed another Munro, so my rate of progress was very slow. In the early 1990s I climbed some of the hills in the Deeside area with a few friends, but remained unaware of DHC until 2008.
Over the following 17 years I have been on many DHC weekends, tagging along with others as they pursued their hillwalking goals, and have had the pleasure of celebrating 12 Munro Compleations.
When I started keeping my own record, there were 277 Munros; the number went up to 284 in the 1997 revision of the tables, and then 2 were demoted in 2009 and 2010. I have never considered myself as a Munro Bagger – that suggests a sense of urgency which my 52 year long journey does not really support. It probably wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I thought that I might compleat, and up until then I hadn’t given much thought over the hill to choose, so I was left with a limited choice.
Meall Corranaich emerged as the one which would be relatively easy for the inexperienced family and friends that would be accompanying us, and where there was also good parking for a reasonable number of vehicles.
Meall Corranaich - September 20th 2025
Prior to the main group assembling, Chris and Bob had already been out on the hill to pick up a Corbett in the vicinity.
Some 25 of us gathered in the National Trust for Scotland Ben Lawers Car Park, and headed off along the well-maintained footpath towards Beinn Ghlas and Ben Lawers - in fact there was a volunteer doing some path maintenance as we passed.
The path headed to a gate in the deer fence, and then took a turn North towards the Beallach at the head of the Burn of Edramucky.
At this point the route turned steeply up the final pitch towards the summit, with some tricky underfoot conditions.
I had not been up here before (obviously) so wasn’t able to warn the inexperienced walkers in advance, so huge a thank you to everyone who helped them along.
The final push to the summit was fairly straight-forward, with a welcoming guard of honour complete with an Arch of Walking Poles.
At the top we were able to celebrate with a glass (or mug) of fizz, courtesy of Chris. Jane Elder might recognise my youngest daughter Steph (on the left of photo), who she taught at Drumoak Primary School a year or two ago!
We then had a leisurely lunch on the top, when the cloud cleared for a while and enjoyed a glimpse of the sun.
Following the walk, in the evening we all assembled in one of the lodges we had rented in the Loch Tay Resort where we enjoyed a wonderful Pot Luck supper – thanks to everyone for their beverage and culinary efforts.
Epilogue
I would like to thank everyone who joined me on my Compleation; particularly those who are working their way through the Corbetts, Grahams, Marilyns and Donalds etc and may have been suffering a bit of Altitude Sickness at 1069 metres!
Readers may note that I have not used the term ‘Final Munro’ – this is because I fully intend to keep climbing Munros and hope to undertake a second round, this time with the Tops; I will however, have to do it in less than 52 years!
