Back in 1891 when Sir Hugh Munro catalogued all the mountains in Scotland over 3,000 feet, little did he think that in years to come so many people would take up the challenge of climbing them all. He did not manage to complete them, the first person to do so being the Revd. A. E. Robertson in 1901. The number has varied a little from the original list, as mountains have been re-surveyed, but the current total is 282.

A few people have completed them in a continuous expedition, the first to do so being Hamish Brown in 1974, but most, like us, have climbed them gradually over the years. We never set out to ‘do the Munros’ originally. In our ‘younger days’, mostly spent rock climbing we had both done a few, including the famous Cuillin Ridge on Skye, which we had both completed in a day in the same summer, two weeks apart, before we knew each other. There are 10 Munros on the ridge and include the only Munros which require some real rock climbing skills. I wouldn’t particularly want to be doing those now! When we started our family, climbing gave way to walking but the opportunities for big expeditions to Scotland became fewer. During this period we bought the Scottish Mountaineering Club book with details and pictures of all the Munros for the coffee table and dreamed of doing more. We thought we had it made when all three children were in the two County Youth orchestras and their residential Easter and Summer courses gave us the opportunity to kick-start the trips to Scotland again, continuing as time became our own again without children and finally as retirement started. Then in the last few years we have realised that time will not wait and the twinges in ankles, knees and hips will not be going away! So we have been making a determined effort and in the last two years have climbed around 50 of them, so that the end is definitely in sight, probably for next year.

We have climbed some in winter and some in summer, but latterly our crampons and ice axes have not often had an outing. We never set out in very bad weather, but in Scotland you have to be prepared for anything, and anything is what you often get! Because many of our earlier trips to Scotland were quick trips, we tended to do the more accessible hills first, which has meant some fairly strenuous expeditions in the last few years to access the more remote hills - of which there are many. The expeditions tend to be longer now anyway as we have become slower! We have taken bikes with us for several trips as it is possible to cycle along estate roads to get closer into the mountains. On the way down it is great to have the bikes to do the last stretch. We have backpacked in to a few places to either wild camp or stay in a bothy, before climbing the peak(s) the next day. This year saw our only expedition that started by boat - to take us along Loch Mullardoch to do two peaks at the far end. After an extremely hot day, the boat came back to fetch us in the evening and as we sped back down the loch, we could see rain clouds starting to release their water on the hills and the thunder and lightning arrived a bit later.

Why bother you may ask - well ‘because they are there’ is as good an answer as any, but also they have taken us to some fantastic places in Scotland which few people visit and which I wouldn’t have missed for the world. We have seen incredible views and experienced magical days in God’s truly beautiful world. Have we always enjoyed it - well no! There have been some atrocious days in terms of weather, there have been days when we have seen nothing all day, there have been days when the legs did not want to move, or worse when the mind would not focus. We have retreated without reaching summits on at least two occasions, once in a white-out and once because of high winds, and had to return in better weather. But without those days would we really appreciate those extra special days.

Ones that stand out in my mind include one of our few trips with the children when we did the whole of the Ben Lawers ridge above Loch Tay. It was Steve’s 50th birthday and we carried a cake to the main top of Ben Lawers. Then, because it was his birthday, the girls could actually be persuaded to continue and complete the ridge of five Munros. It was a fabulous day in August and we had a great meal at the Ben Lawers hotel when we got down. I remember a golden summer’s day as a single girl doing the most northerly Munro, Ben Hope, with a friend and another golden day in May or June with the gorse a vibrant yellow as we climbed The Slioch above Loch Maree just after we were married. In recent years we made it by boat over to Knoydart - a peninsula only accessible by boat from Mallaig (or by a long walk in) and which feels like an island, with no traffic. Based in Inverie, where the local people have bought out the previously unpopular landlord and run the estate as a community venture, we had two long days doing the three Munros there. Just this year we cycled in to the base of Ben Alder to wild camp and do Ben Alder and its partner peak the next day. The weather was fantastic and the walking impressive. In the middle of the night I stumbled out of the tent to find a herd of deer grazing nearby and looking up could see the stars we rarely see in our overlit cities. In June we were in Glen Affric to do three peaks including probably the most remote - Ben Fhionnlaidh. We spent the first four hours in thick cloud walking in along a boggy stream and then up a boggy coire to a col. It was only when we eventually reached the col that we emerged into brilliant sunshine and continued a fantastic ridge walk with cloud on either side below us, which only cleared much later in the day. I could go on.

Some peaks are isolated, others are usually climbed in twos or threes, or occasionally fours. Some, like Ben Nevis, we have climbed several times by different routes. They are all different, though some are more memorable than others. Over the years we have seen interesting rock and snow & ice formations, myriad plants and flowers, many deer, birds of prey, ptarmigan, mountain hare (in both summer and winter coats), otters, and just this last time we saw 2 adders. Some days we have had the hills completely to ourselves and on other days met several people en route to very remote peaks. Whatever the particular experience, I will always treasure the memories of those days in the mountains.