Wednesday 7 October 2015

First Steps To Becoming A Munroist

After bagging five Munros last year while visiting Fort William for the Downhill World Champs, I started looking into the challenge of becoming a Munroist. This is a dream of many hikers, in the UK at least. For those unfamiliar with the term 'Munroist', this is a title you can claim once you have climbed to the summit of every Scottish mountain over 3000ft high. Reaching each individual summit is referred to as "Munro bagging". It's definitely a massive commitment - my dad has been heading up to Scotland once a year with his pals since I was 12 (that's 15 times so far), and he's bagged 70 of the 282 qualifying peaks. So, only just approaching the quarter-way mark! BUT, I found out that if you complete all of them, you receive a special tie or brooch. Which is obviously frickin' awesome.

Up until then, I had a grand total of ONE Munro, Ben Lomond. So adding those five Munros from last summer (the Ring of Steall and Ben Nevis), I'm at six...

There is a long way to go, and a lot to learn! Thankfully my boyfriend Tom seems equally enthusiastic about getting his tie, so we've spent the last month eagerly planning another trip, catching the Caledonian Sleeper train from London Euston, up to Fort William again. Tom in particular has been reading a lot about Munro bagging, and was excited to find out that many of the Munros cannot be reached (easily) on a day hike. Assuring ourselves that we were serious about our new hobby and ultimate ambition, we invested in A LOT of new lightweight camping kit. So now, regardless of our enjoyment of wild camping, we've agreed that we must continue to go until we have saved back the total cost, that we would otherwise have spent on hotels. Pressure.

So what will we be carrying on our trips?
  • Lightwave t1 ultra xt tent - a lightweight two-man tent with large porch (suitable for people who have spent the entire day walking in the rain and don't want to get their sleeping area wet!)

  • "His and hers" Mountain Hardwear Ratio 15 and Heratio 15 sleeping bags - Tom did a HUGE amount of research and these were the best just-about-affordable light-but-warm sleeping bags he/we could find. Had to order from U.S.

  • Sleeping bag liners
  • Thermarest NeoAir XLite airbeds - much more expensive than we had planned, but totally worth it. Amazingly light and actually comfortable (although very noisy to turn over on!)

  • Primus Eta Spider stove set (stove, lidded pan and bowl) and gas, flasks, sporks
  • Sawyer mini water filter and purification tablets
  • One set of "dry clothes" - light trousers, t-shirt, warm jumper - to be worn in the evening and overnight, strictly kept in a binbag during the day
  • Body warmer, hat, gloves, waterproof jacket and waterproof trousers - worn as necessary... I should most certainly invest in some waterproof gloves too.
  • Enough underwear and MORE than enough socks
  • Head torches, trowel, toilet roll, toothbrush/paste, soap, travel towel, paracetamol, sun cream, INSECT REPELLANT, hayfever tablets (which work as anti-flammatories for the midge bites that I am guaranteed to get regardless of drowning myself in repellant) 
  • FOOD! We got tonnes of good tips from this Heart and Soil blog post to get the most calories from the lightest weight
  • Dry bags and bin bags - not just for storage, but to sit on too.
  • Map, waterproof case, compass
  • Tom had Cotswold Outdoor Explorer UL poles - surprisingly light and much cheaper than other brands
  • And after all that effort to keep the weight down, my SLR camera :D
BRING ON THE FIRST HIKE!!

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