The previous day, prior to climbing Beinn Ghlas and Ben Lawers, I had climbed Ben Vorlich and Stúc a’ Chróin in Perthshire. You may wonder why I chose to do these Munros, denying my body a rest, after having done two the previous day. The simple answer is that the weather in Scotland can be highly unpredictable, so when there is a good day, you have to take advantage of it. 

The sun was out this fine April morning, enticingly guaranteeing views at the top. Although my legs were stiff, I wasn’t going to turn the opportunity down to bag another munro. In addition to this, I needed to drive back to Inverness, so it made sense to throw a munro into the works.

I convinced G to get the train from Inverness to Dunkeld to accompany me on my hike. We hadn’t quite decided what hill to do, but decisions can be difficult, so we held off. That morning I ate a wonderful fry-up with my family in Edinburgh (which I wouldn’t encourage prior to doing a Munro but…yum). This meant I didn’t leave Edinburgh until 11am and ended up arriving in Dunked just after 12pm to a mildly angry G who had been waiting at the train station for over half an hour. 

The sun was shining and despite the wait, G was in good spirits, so we picked up an ice cream from The Scottish Deli, still undecided as to which hill we would climb. Sadly, the ARAN Bakery wasn’t open due to it being a Sunday, but it’s definitely worth a visit if you’re in Dunkeld. We headed down to the River Tay, my two munros the day before catching up with me. I lay my head on that silky grass and completely passed out to the lapping sound of the river. 

I awoke frantically, relishing that sadly the day had slipped away and that perhaps a Munro would not be possible. G assured me he was not bothered and that we could return home to Inverness, but I was desperate to add another munro to my list (for some reason I had set my target to get to 100 by the end of the year). Admittedly, I was mildly obsessed with meeting this target. Having always wanted to climb Ben Lawyers and feeling revived from my nap, we ended up heading out towards Loch Tay and Ben Lawers. 

We arrived at the mountain just after three with the sun still shining, casting its light on the people descending the hill’s stunning crags. We easily found a car space in the large car park – in fact, we ended up getting a free parking ticket as a lady kindly gave us her day ticket. Normally I would support the conservation efforts of the car park and pay my fair share but the bank had not been kind that month and I embraced the kindness of this stranger.

Before we began, I lathered myself in suncream, not wanting to get burnt even in this late sun. We set off from the easily found path across from the carpark, and began the beautiful climb to the top of Ben Lawers. The views were unreal, with rolling hills you could see for miles. Seeing the surrounding vast hills, I had the sinking feeling that perhaps we could have bagged more than two munros this afternoon. But I pushed this thought away and we pushed to the next peak.

The climb to Beinn Ghlas was just as lovely and we made good pace. My legs were tired, but the views and the gentle evening heat encouraged me onward. It was slightly more challenging, but this was likely because I’d just climbed the first Munro. At the top of Beinn Ghlas we met a couple who had just completed a 7 munro ridge. Alas, I felt robbed that we had not taken advantage of this multiple route, but then again, we had started late in the day and I was happy enough to have completed two. Having bagged four Munros in a weekend, I wasn’t feeling too hard done by. 

We descended down a returning path that was not as severe, but curved back around both mountains. Catching a glimpse of the many Munros in the distance with their beautiful height, I swore vengeance that I would return to this spot and bag them all. 

The drive back to Inverness was long and I think we got back around 10pm, but I was filled in more ways than one (we filled up on dumplings from Hong Kong Kitchen). Alas, sometimes the best hikes are the unplanned ones and the indecisive are determined in their unsettledness. 

As for the other Munros along that ridge…they have not escaped me and will be conquered one day.