Schiehallion comes in at number 6 on this handy page of “easy” munros. A bit of Googling got us a more complete description of the walk than that site provides, and crucially, satnav coords (Lat 56°40’32.88″, Long -4°2’9.6″) to the car park at the start of the walk. As previous posts have shown we’re both really good at getting lost, so precise satnav directions are always a boon. I know these gizmos can sometimes let you down, but since replacing  the standard female voice with that of Mr T I’ve been even happier to entrust all navigation to the power of satnav. Can you imagine Mr T ever getting lost? No way fool!

All the write-ups I could find for this walk enthuse about the quality of the recently upgraded path. Some note that the path doesn’t go all the way to the summit, but still rate the walk as pretty unchallenging. This created a vision of an easy 4-5 hour stroll in our heads, and the first hour or so of walking matched our expectations. The path was just great – some sections were steep and kind of monotonous, but it was shaping up to be the easiest munro we’ve done.

A while further on we hit a little plateau with a cairn on it:

That cairn effectively marked the end of the clear path we’d been on so far. From here on in you mostly had to pick your own way through an increasingly boulder-strewn landscape.

Some of the time a trail of rubble indicated the way forward, and after a while we had the reassurance of another cairn, this time with a short wall extending out from it. I have no idea what the wall was for, but apparently it smelled quite nice.

From this point there was never any doubt about which way to go – we just had to follow the ridge up to the top. I was very glad we both had substantial walking boots though; some of the rocks were loose and it would’ve been quite easy to end up with a sprained ankle.

The best way to make good progress was to dodge the rubble and aim to step on only the more substantial rocks. Easier said than done when you’ve got a couple of eager Beagles trying to pull you in different directions! In the end I decided to stop trying to lead the way and pretty much followed Biggles. He seemed to favor the bigger stones, whereas Beanie seemed determined to weave her way through every little nook and cranny.

Biggles – the ultimate Sherpa Beagle

I must admit I started to really enjoy walking over all those rocks. Having to pick and choose every step took my mind off the effort of the climb, turning it almost into a game. At one point we saw another cairn above us and for a second we wondered if it marked the summit, but it was just an impostor. A little further on we found another, though this one was obviously a fake. I was very doubtful when I saw yet another, but this time there was nowhere to go beyond it and I realized we’d finally hit the top.

Not too far now!

The last cairn!

Made it!

Obviously it was time for treats and some bold exploration:

Some more shots from the top:

The way down was straightforward if a little hard on the knees, and back at the bottom I was tired but my leg muscles didn’t feel burned in the usual way – I think walking over all those boulders was more of a challenge for the stabilizers than the main driving muscles, so to speak. It’s close, but overall I reckon Schiehallion was our most enjoyable munro to date!