KYQ4: Fifth and Final Round: Tarmachan

Compleat again

Saturday 18 August 2018

Ascent: 620 metres
Distance: 6 kilometres
Time: 3 hours 55 minutes

Meall nan Tarmachan 1045m 1hr 58mins

At last, the fifth round of Munros is compleat. Fourteen of us gathered for the final hill, Meall nan Tarmachan, overlooking Loch Tay. We began from the car park on the Glen Lyon road, which gives a flying start from a height of 460 metres. The party included Aileen and Gregor from the family; John and Keith whom I began the Munro game with twenty-nine years ago; Neil, a school friend whom I climbed and competed in Mountain Marathons with in younger days; Dave, an university friend and cartographer; Jim and Gavin, both outstanding work colleagues; Arthur, a piper from my village; Chris, the builder of our new house; Dave, a climbing friend and Ross with his eight-year-old son, John. Six others, including three women and two young girls, had to give late apologies when it became apparent that the weather was not what we wished for, nor had we become accustomed to during 2018.

The fifth round has taken ten years, the previous four were all done in less than five years with three years and ten months being the fastest. This round took 107 hill days, compared to an average of 93 hill days and a fastest of 80 hill days This time with the benefit of retirement I have been able to select days with good visibility for most of the outings. I sacrificed my annual week's holiday in May/June when we engaged in some serious Munro bashing with John, Keith and/or Mark, usually climbing twenty or more Munros.

I lost 6 months with a back injury in 2010 and could not manage much hill-walking for most of 2011 whilst working in Shetland. I had also decided to climb all the Corbetts (hills that are between 2500 and 3000 feet) along with the Munros and, whilst I am still twenty-odd short of finishing the 224 Corbetts, they have taken up 69 days. They are often more time-consuming hills than the Munros as there is only one opportunity to rattle off 5 or more Corbetts in a day whereas it is possible to do this on at least 15 occasions during a Munro round. I camped out on 28 nights during the round although this allowed quite a few Corbetts to be climbed during these expeditions.

I had intended to finish in 2016 but that year and 2017 provided very few decent days to tackle the Skye ridge, I managed only two days in 2017 to climb 4 peaks with Dave including the most difficult summits, the In Pinn and Am Basteir. The remaining Munros in the far north also became less easy to access with the roads becoming more congested and accommodation and eating places difficult to find owing to the popularity of the North Coast 500. For the first time, I suffered what became a 'Munroists block'. It was not worth the hassle of driving up the A9 to Inverness or A82 to Fort William in slow tourist traffic and then to find that after a day in the hills, all the pubs and hotels were no longer serving food after the tourists had eaten.

2018 arrived with only ten Munros left to climb including eight on Skye, along with Beinn Sgriol and Mam nan Tarmachan, which I had saved as an easy local hill for the finish. The weather has been superb since late April but we were moving house and most of May and June were lost to packing, moving and then recovering with a lazy fortnight in France. I did manage five days on Skye during the balmy days of summer to clear the eight remaining Munros on Skye and Beinn Sgriol so I was ready to finish by mid-July.

It is always problematic deciding on a day to compleat. I could have gone in July but I wanted Gregor, John and Keith to come since during the ascent of just over 1500 Munros since 1989 I had walked over 600 hills with John, over 400 with Gregor and over 200 with Keith. Only Mark of my regular walking partners was unavailable. The result was to schedule a day in August when people had returned from holidays.

It proved to be a typical day in the Scottish hills with a cooling fresh wind and low clouds to prevent any view from the summit. Perhaps this was fitting after the quite exceptional conditions for most of the summer, and the fine days I had chosen for most of the outings during this round with the aid of the excellent Met Office mountain forecasts. There was an ethereal moody atmosphere at the summit with the blustery wind and clammy cold air competing with the haunting chords of Arthur's bagpipe playing.

As always on these occasions there was no rush on the ascent, people strolled up the ever-steepening path with rotating conversations as this eclectic band of friends renewed auld acquaintances or met for the first time. In keeping with tradition, I brought up the rear and as I neared the summit I had fond memories of the past ten years in the Scottish Mountains. I paused awhile with Aileen before the final section heading upwards towards the sound of Arthur's bagpipes echoing from the misty summit. Aileen was with me for the first time in my five compleations and was quite ecstatic and emotional about the moment after the relaxed and enjoyable camaraderie of the ascent. The biting wind meant it was no place for a celebration so we retreated below the ridge to a hollow sheltered from the wind to consume chocolate brownies and empty some bottles of prosecco.

I had a feeling of calm exhilaration. I would no longer need to force myself to make long early morning or late night drives, stagger ever upwards through drenched heather slopes, tiptoe up or down slabs of wet scree, batter into gales on exposed ridges, thaw out my hands after taking photos or adding clothing on icy summits, erect my tent on rain-lashed hills, wade burns or rivers in spate, fight the midges and remove the ticks in summer or route march the last 6 miles down a glen to the car at the end of a long day. But the call of the hills is difficult to resist and I am sure that I will soon be doing some or all of these things again but on my terms.

Although I had hoped that some of us could continue along the fine Tarmachan ridge, the conditions did not favour an extension to the walk so we made a leisurely descent as the wind abated. Arthur piped us back to the car park, where passing motorists had stopped to listen. We retreated to the Bridge of Lochay Hotel for compleation drinks before heading homeward. Yes, I will climb many Munros again but for the pleasure of visiting favourites or helping friends. Hills are where lifelong friendships are made. The discipline of a Munro round drives you on but also generates a pressure that I am happy to live without.