Congratulations on your first solo Munro, and to Keira too for looking after you
. It must be a source of amazement to dogs that humans do such silly things as wearing strange hats, or (in Biggles' case) using umbrellas
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The hydro track makes a very sensible approach to this hill, which we did from Glen Etive too, but I wouldn't recommend our route - it was the long scenic route which didn't avoid the scramble (which was made worse by black ice) and our attempt to find a better route back got us into an overgrown rhododendron patch which we thought we'd never get out of. On the basis of your report I'd say hydro tracks definitely have their good points