However, south of the Great glen I have always enjoyed the Cairngorm plateau, striding out endlessly being a real pleasure. We largely bypassed the needles before heading back down – it is not a big day but I was glad that we were able to do one of the Torridon giants in good weather. Low cloud and poor weather made this disappointing but off the final summit I did feel better as I led a loss sole out the cloud who frankly was out of his depth. The crossing of’ what we refer to as ‘the Sea’, was straightforward with the views a little better than the previous 2 days. The walk out was very long along the Geldie Burn and I had some cracking blisters which made it seem longer and certainly more painful.

As I have walked up mountains fairly much from the cradle I guess it is not surprising that I ended up doing the Munros.

As unprepared as ever for a full day’s walk neither myself or Barry had looked closely at the route and were confronted with steep cliffs in low cloud and pouring rain. I found myself flicking through the book, stopping at photos that took my fancy and then flicking on again. The guide led us directly up to Beinn Dearg under the Pinnacle and there we stopped to consider the climb. Easy compared to the previous 2 days and we did not continue along the ridge to Clach Glas where there are some considerable difficulties.

Database of British and Irish Hills - not just Munros, Munro Tops and Murdos, but lots of hill-lists throughout the UK and Ireland. The top which was always going to create the most difficulty was the Lurg Mhor one as it was remote and the normal route in from Achnashellach was not a thriller. The day started easily enough but after Sail Charoinn I headed north for 2 further tops and never saw Barry and Alistair again. We left the pack at the bothy and headed off for the Corbett and Gairich having come over from the car.

When I first started walking Munros with my (now) husband, it was Gordie that showed me the routes in his 3rd edition (revised in 2006) of the SMC’s The Munros book. I was up staying at a cottage in Sutherland with the plan of ticking Ben Hope and the two Assynt Munros. In reality the main consideration is how narrow it is and the exposure on the climb , in fact only a couple of foot across. Even at this stage it was clear that water was going to be important as the weather was sunny and getting hot.

We overnighted in Glenfinnan below Streap and after the Corbetts before travelling down to the Kingshouse for the final and 184th Munro. While I am still very likely to continue to use Walk Highlands as a resource, it’s great to be able to refer to The Munros guidebook as well for other ideas or combinations of ideas and routes. Mike Lates was the guide and proved to be an excellent choice; he sussed the 4 of us out on the walk up to the foot of the Pinnacles before strapping us all in to harness and helmet for the remainder of the day. Not only do the north western highlands have the advantage of sea scape but they are also sharper, more dramatic often with a little entertaining scrambling to boot. As many Walkhighlanders know only too well, Munro-bagging can be a headily addictive pursuit, and it’s one gaining more traction than ever in the era of social distancing.

The following day was misty and on the two summits a little wet but really the two lumps of the Fiddleir and Sgarsoch were little missed as hills. The weather was fine, Slioch magnificent and as this was early in my Munro career there was little or no fear of what to come.