Glentrek

Buster – Happy 10th Birthday !! This dog must be one of the most photographed Golden Retrievers on the Scottish hills. I started him young at around 6 months old. He’s hauled me up and down, pulled me over and has had his moments especially around anything that moves (Deer, hares and pretty much anything else). He’s a character a very tough character at that and over the years has been on some epic mountain trips. He was with me when I was finishing off my 3rd Munro round and has been with me on my Corbett campaign.
Like my previous Retriever (Sam) I have kept accurate records of all Busters hill totals. Below are his achievements (to date) which stands almost exactly the same as Sam’s totals.

Munros – 169
Munro repeats – 90
Buster Total Munros – 259 (to date)

Corbetts – 107
Corbett repeats – 22
Buster Total Corbetts – 129 (to date)

Buster Total overall Munros / Corbetts – 388 (to date)

I will do a post on Sam in the next while but for now Happy Birthday Mountain Dog No 2....You are some machine !!

Derry Cairngorm 23-08-26 - Back in the swing of things again after our holidays. With the weather pretty settled opted for something not too far away in the Cairngorms. Since we have Buster we don't really have the option to ease the long approach by using bikes, but this is as good as it gets as the track uphill starts from Derry Lodge. The car park today was pretty full and after about an hour and a bit started uphill via a very good path. Brilliant views all round today from the top. Another new Munro for Janey, a repeat for Buster and a 5th time for me.

Beinn a Chlachair - Geal Charn 01-08-26 - The Laggan hills are visible from the main road in particular Beinn a Chlachair. That being said these hills are a bit deceiving as they are set pretty far back and a bit of reascent between them. We had previously done the other Munro in the group (Creag Pitridh) as a shorter day a few years back so only the 2 today. Set off early today taking around 1.25 hours to walk to Lochan na h Earba where there were a few tents on the shore. Headed up the track and then split off towards Beinn a Chlachair's NW ridge. Not much in the way of path and a bit boggy as we headed up. At this point we had a torrential downpour which luckily stopped we neared the coire rim and onto the summit cairn. The visibility wasn't great so a chance to get a bit of navigation practice in and after the final steep descent to the col it eventually cleared. A bit of a pull up to Geal Charn where the weather cleared up at the top as the forecast predicted. Descended back in good weather with a bit of a breeze keeping the midges away. Checking back my records the previous 3 times on these hills I did them in a clockwise direction so good to be different on round 4. Another 2 Munros for Janey and a bit of a landmark for Buster (More to follow) ...

Lochnagar 26-07-26 - The weather forecast wasn't the greatest so we opted for something local(ish) and another day in Janey's hill fitness plan. Arrived at Glen Muick with an idea to do the Corbett Conachcraig as if it was pouring down would be a short day and a new hill for Janey. However on arrival it wasn't too bad with the cloud base hovering around 1000m and only very light rain so opted for a longer day in Lochnagar. If anything it improved as we got higher and for a Sunday was surprisingly quiet. We did meet a couple who were flying the Saltire in celebration for a first ever Munro which was a pleasant sight. It was cloudy on arrival at the summit but on the whole wasn't that bad. The cloud came in and It did pour with rain as we headed back but cleared again as we got near the car park. Checking back Janey hadn't been up here for 11 years so a good day out.

Beinn a Bheithir 24-07-26 - I hadn't been up these 2 Munros for years so when Bob gave me a shout earlier in the week was keen to do them. Our intended route was up "School House ridge" and back via the Col through the forestry. The forecast wasn't that bad cloudy with showers after being picked up early set off from Ballachulish back of 8am. We quickly got up to the base of the ridge and after a bite to eat headed up the rock ridge which is graded an easy scramble. The weather did close in a bit and after going over the Munro top Sgorr Bhan we arrived at the first Munro Sgorr Dhearg. This was a bit of a milestone for Bob his 200th Munro. Didn't hang about too long and headed down to the Col at 757m from there it's a 250m pull up to Munro no 2 Sgorr Dhonuill. From the col there is a well marked track which turns into a pretty decent path going down through the forestry and back to the starting point. No Buster today as we were doing the ridge route and very little in the way of photos as the cloud base was about 600m.

Beinn Lair 15-07-26 - Day 2 in the hills this week and a day of complete contrast to Monamenach. A long drive and a bit of planning to do this remote Corbett. This mountain is located on the NE side of Loch Maree and stands over the great wilderness of Letterewe and Fisherfield. It's a long way to walk from either Kinlochewe or Poolewe so an option was to paddle over Loch Maree to save the long walk. Joined today by Graham Penny (GP) who was away in the West for a few days and had kindly transported the Kayaks. We decided to launch from the forestry car park at Slattadale which gave us easy access to the Loch. Our route over took us around and through the Loch Maree Islands which on a day like this were spectacular. We came ashore on the North side near Letterewe Lodge and once sorted headed up the brilliant stalkers path to Bealach Mheinnidh. From there caught a slight breeze and headed up overlooking the spectacular cliffs on the North Side. The summit is quite flat with a massive cairn and the views were amazing all round from the coast to Slioch,Fisherfield and An Teallach. The going was reasonably easy but today it was very hot so just kept the pace steady but the clegs never gave us a minutes peace all the way up and down. There was hardly a breeze all day but right on cue we had a bit of a headwind to deal with as we paddled 6km back over the Loch to the car park. Another amazing trip and a remote Corbett done !

Monamenach 14-07-26 - Day 1 of a couple of days in hills. This is in complete contrast to day 2 (to follow). Decided in the morning to nip up Glen Isla as was initially cloudy with forecast to clear. Also Buster wasn't coming along on day 2 so wanted a short hill for him. Very warm at top and cooler lower down, a wee paddle in the river for Buster afterwards. Up and down from Auchavan in under 2 hours and back in house before 12.

Beinn nan Oighreag 10-07-26 - Another new 900m+ Corbett for Janey and Buster. With the weather very warm I looked for a short day in which we could save a bit of ascent from a higher (and less warm) starting point. Opted for the route from the Lawers-Glen Lyon road and a hill which I was last up over 25 years ago. There is a decent parking spot and footbridge around 3Km South of Bridge of Balgie, from there we followed a good ATV track uphill which although boggy in places is pretty decent. It was a warm day but higher up caught a bit of a cooler breeze as we headed to the summit. Great views all round to Loch Lyon , Lawers and beyond. Descended back the same way and back to the car in a 4.5 hour round trip. Stopped at the coffee shop in Bridge of Balgie which was very busy on a day like this.

Meall na Leitreach 21-06-26 - A short day out on this Corbett at Drumochter. Janey hadn't been out for a while and this fitted the bill as it was a new hill for her and Buster. Starting at Dalnaspidal there is a very good path system that goes up this hill. Higher up this turns into a definite track which then bears East to the summit. This could be combined with the nearby Sow of Atholl which would give a good double Corbett day out. I hadn't been up here in over 25 years and from memory (or lack of) couldn't remember very much from that day. A few folk out today on the longest day of the year !

Sgurr a Choire-bheithe 15-06-26 - Another trip into the wilds of Knoydart to climb this 900m+ Corbett. It was made much easier by getting a boat (Peter Fletcher) across from Arnisdale coupled with local accommodation and great weather. Joined today by a couple of fellow Angus based Corbett baggers Ian and Brian. The boat trip takes around 10-15mins which shaves off a 4 hour each way walk in/out from Kinloch Hourn. We got dropped off a 9am at Barrisdale Bay jetty and had arranged a 4pm pick up which gave us a bit of a margin to get the hill done. The going is straightforward although pretty pathless, once on the ridge we climbed steadily to the summit. Brilliant views everywhere out to Skye , Rum and East to Lochaber. Descended back down and had a break inside the bothy at Barrisdale which we all last visited over 30 years ago. A bit of a milestone today Corbett number 200 for me and a first Knoydart hill for Buster.