Sgurr Thuilm and Sgurr nan Coireachan

Glenfinnan Viaduct from Sgurr nan Coireachan's lower slopes

Victor Meldrew and I had a brilliant day in the hills yesterday - driving up to Glenfinnan and doing a couple of Munros which are reached by walking up the glen underneath the arches of the famous railway viaduct. Our expectations of the weather were very low, we were promised rain, cold and no-views so by 9:30 we set off on a steady trudge through the early morning gloom the three miles to Corryhully and the foot of the hill.

Thankfully the weather forecast was unduly pessimistic, we had a couple of very light showers, and it did get a bit cold on the tops; but the clouds broke from time-to-time, the sun shone through the gaps and we enjoyed wonderful views until the fog engulfed us again.

The conversation, as ever with Victor, roamed seamlessly from the sublime to the ridiculous, the thoughtful to the farcical. We had some good chats about the church housegroup stuff on one hand - yet on the other we were both somewhat bewildered by his flatulent productivity which was at quite frightening levels. If the Montgolfier brothers had known Victor they could have circumnavigated the globe.

The round of Sgurr Thuilm and Sgurr nan Coireachan is quite a long walk, it took us eight-and-a-half hours to complete the 22.7km and 1,600m of ascent. The ridge between the two Munro summits, over a series of tops is easy to navigate thanks to the presence of a line of old fence posts. However what look on the map like a series of undulations feel like quote big climbs in practice, making the day hard work; this coupled with the six mile round trip walking from the car-park to the foot of the hill-proper.

The only real rain we faced started when we were a mile-or-so from the car, and we were glad to get changed out of our very wet hill-gear and head to the Monadliath Hotel for a good pub meal to end a fine and splendid hill day. Special thanks are also due to Lord Lucan, Mrs Boom and HH, for helping look after the kids so that I could escape for the day!