50 Munros in a week for Craig Porter

It's decided - week of 7th-14th. 50 Munros from An Teallach to Braeriach. Let's hope I can raise some serious dosh for him and tick off a few Munros for me.

Beinn a Chaorainn and Beinn an Teallach

I had recently acquired an iPhone with technology designed to enhance my life - so seductive. Not only did it have an iPod built in but it had memory map so I could see where I was on the hill. As a total technophobe, this was all new to me. I had taken the Thursday off work (always a nice day) and after leaving the fog of Central Scotland, I emerged into a beautiful world in Glen Spean. This wee walk looked very promising and I felt nice and relaxed as I made good height. Beinn a Chaorainn lay ahead - the route was obvious, hugging the rocks rather than going up the uniform coire face. A good two hours in and I was at the South summit, looking over towards outstanding views of Creag Meagaidh and the massive cornices of my own hill. I was careful not to stray too near though something did draw me near. As I walked on, I just felt a sense of tranquility settle over me. There was nobody else on the hill, it was mine for the day. I headed down towards the bealach and found the cairn to sit beside for a moment. At this point, I played Davyan Cowboy and Smokes Quantity from Boards of Canada, while the wind blew. It was a lovely moment. I then began the ascent on to Beinn Teallach - while lower in stature than its neighbour, I enjoyed the amble up towards the summit. Then, a funny thing happened. As I walked towards the summit cairn, a crow flew down and nestled on it, eyeing me with interest. I said "hello bird" and it crawed back at me. I then took a photo of it just as it took off and bade it goodbye. I had my lunch, left a wee bit for it and returned to the car. This is what it's about.

Sron a Choire Garbh

Initially, I had planned to couple this with Meall na Teanga but with the huge amount of snow that had fallen, I had to be more realistic. And as Monty had cramp fairly early on in this walk, it was only ever going to be one tick. Which he couldn't complete. The ascent up from the valley was tough but afforded a quickish ascent on to a nice ridge. From there, Monty descended and I took a reading on my iPhone app to ensure I was not going in the wrong direction - also checked with my watch too. The summit was bleak and not a place to hang about in. I took a photo, had a waz and then shot off. Our walk back out was quite quick considering was racked with cramp in both thighs. Another tick but a hard one claimed.

Carn Mor Dearg - stunning

3 days off! As I left Glasgow and the swine flu factory, the forecast was supposed to be excellent for the Fort William area. I knew my destination, I just had to get there but the car wasn't beating as fast as my heart. My excitement was palpable as I headed across Rannoch Moor, digesting the completely white, serene beauty. Fit a fair amount o sna had fallen. As I zoomed through Fort Bill and headed down to the North Face car park, I was positively champing at the bit. I had been saving CMD for such a day as this - views across to the North Face of Nevis, Aonach Mor's plunging cliffs - could it all live up to its billing? Oh yes. The path which leads up to the Allt a Mhuilin is excellent and though steep, it does lend itself to a quick ascent. As I emerged from the trees, I had my first sight of the Ben in all its Winter glory. You beauty! I cracked along the hard and icy path, which was surprisingly easy to walk on - just enough give that it wasn't slippy. As I headed along the Allt a Mhuilin, I could see a couple of walkers further ahead but their objective lay on the North Face. I would have CMD all to myself - yeay! I began to ascend via the South-West slope which looked benign - my intention to take in the whole ridge to the summit. After leaving the path however, I was wading in thigh deep snow - this was going to be a real test of endurance for me. As I climbed higher, the views over to Ben Nevis were truly majestic. It took me some time to make it to the 1010m top but once i got there, I stopped for a breather and to take in the vista. It was incredibly quiet - so much so that I could hear the excitable chatter over on Aonach Mor of the skiers, and the low thrum of the generator. The plunging cliffs of Aonach Mor were remarkable and I wallowed in the moment. y now, I was really beginning to struggle and found myself wondering if I'd make the actual summit of CMD. It was 1300 so a walk along the arete was out of the question. It had taken me 3.5 hours to get to this point. I kept going and once on to Meadhonach, my heart sank as I realised there was a still a bit to go in both height and distance. However, how could one not be inspired by the jagged tooth sticking into the air and the ever more impressive North Face of Nevis? I plodded on through the snow and eventually sat on my arse on the exposed summit. Is there a better place to be in Winter on the mainland - it was literally breath-taking.

Beinn Bhreac and Beinn a Chaorainn

The dodgy knee had been playing up again but a long walk was needed to clear the rustiness of the body since its excessive calorie intake from the honeymoon. These two Munros appear to be non-descript judging by recent reports on WalkHighlands so I waited for a clear day and hoped that they would be kind. I love the walk into Glen Derry and the path from Derry Lodge wends its way into Glen Lui offering lovely views up to Beinn Mheadhoin and its summit tors. The path up on to Beinn Bhreac was boggy but I was surprised how quickly I was at the summit. I met an older chap up there who was obviously glad of the company and proceeded to tell me about his 3-day supply of food and his needs (at 55) to use an old empty milk bottle to pee into at night. Aye, eh, thanks for that. See ya! The 4km trek across the Moine Bealadh to my 2nd objective of the day and the cloud had lifted so that it never seemed to get any closer as I walked towards it. Beinn Mheadhoin looked cracking and at the summit, the impressive cloud banks over Strathdon provided a nice contrast to the wonderfully clear conditions I was experiencing. Just an amazing day being out again. The descent down to Glen Lui was quick and offered a nice view over to Coire Etchachan and the Hutchison memorial hut. I must stay there some day. The sun was shining, the stags roaring and my 10 mile trip back to the car was a joy. Okay, the last few kilometres were murder on the feet but pain is temporary and memories are forever!

Ben Avon and Beinn a Bhuird

Utterly stunning day out. Wild camped at 180009 beside the river Gairn and the walk up on to Ben Avon was tough but worth it for these babies. I was utterly blown away by Clach Choustaich, the massive tor - something quite magical about it and rarely visited by those who just bag Ben Avon and return. Ben Avon itself was fantastic and a wee scramble on to the highest point was fun. The Sneck is pretty tasty as are the views across to the Garbh Coire and then on to Beinn a Bhuird, it's quite a nice hill too. The descent back to Keiloch was looooooong though. Ben Avon has to be my favourite hill.

Wild camp by Sgurr Eilde Mor with Curlywurly

With some trepidation, Darren and I left the car at Kinlochleven and headed for this Munro, 7km east of our point of departure. Trepidation for me because I hadn't slept a wink last time out. However, on a balmy evening, we began the ascent taking a wrong turn or two initially but eventually finding the excellent stalkers path which took us up to the land rover track at 300m. Views back to Loch Leven were beautiful but it was bloody warm and the sweat was lashing down. Midges were biting too, the vampiric basas. Once we saw the excellent path wend up and over the shoulder of Sgurr Eilde Beag, we really began to enjoy the walk as it got cooler and while it wasn't quite an amazing sunset, it was good visibility which afforded views over to the Buachaille. Within 2 hours of leaving the car, we arrived at the loch below Sgurr Eilde Mor and found a suitable place to camp. Tents up, dinner down and the Ardbeg was proferred. It was a great spot, which had a nice view over to Binnein Beag as well as the vast space of Rannoch Moor opening up below us. We discussed many matters and I even got reception to phone Pumpy. I headed to bed at 2305 and got some SLEEP! Awoke at 0605, had a good breakfast and we began our Munro tally, heading up the steep shoulder of SEM by 0800. A small rock prow jutted off the summit and afforded a nice photo down to the loch. From here, we fairly pinged it down to the path which ultimately took us on to Binnein Beag. At 946m, it's almost 200m smaller than its bigger brother but its conical shape did confirm that small is beautiful. By 0930, we descended back down the path (Darren taking a small fall but no harm done) and picked up the heavy packs before the ascent of Binnein Mor. Had some bugger put rocks in our bags - they felt much heavier than before? As we climbed, we got stronger and we had this bad boy in the bag by 1110. With Na Gruigaichean on the homeward journey, we included this one too. However, the descent off this back to the car felt long and sustained and weary legs finally arrived back to the car, in sweltering conditions. Another fine trip ably sponsored by the wonderful Ardbeg.