Munro Reminiscences: Sunny weather 25 years ago on my Munros & Tops walk - but not 40 years ago on my Ben Lomond to Ben Hope walk

Picture from my book The Munros and Tops

July 16, 1996, was the second day of the longest period of dry weather - five days - I had on my walk over all the Munros and Tops. On that day I walked from Culra Bothy over six summits, including Ben Alder, and camped above Loch Ossian.I wore sandals, shorts and sunhat all day. 

I'd now been out 56 days and had climbed 266 summits. That left 251. I'd passed the half way point the day before on Geal Charn and Diollaird a' Chairn when I'd climbed the Aonach Beag hills on a day trip from Culra Bothy.

In the next four days I climbed the Loch Treig, Grey Corries, Aonachs, Ben Nevis and Mamores summits - 47 in all - in glorious sunshine. Then the weather broke and I cycled to Skye - but that's the next bit of the story.

Fifteen years earlier in 1981 I'd had a tough day over the Monadh Liath Munros walking into a strong cold NW wind that brought heavy showers.This was on a walk from Ben Lomond to Ben Hope over Munros I hadn't climbed before so this was my first time in the Monadh Liath. "Very wild and lonely", I wrote in my journal. 

These walks took place before the 1997 revision of Munro's Tables. There were 517 summits listed in 1996 - it's 508 now. In 1981 there were six Munros in the Monadh Liath - two have since been demoted. 

I wrote about the early part of the Munros and Tops walk here and the start of my Lomond to Hope walk here.