Walkhighlands

Remind me not to buy your book Paul.

When is it published?

OOh - you've hit a sore point there. Next year by the look of it for the Munros one - there will be an Aberdeenshire book soon in case you get bored with the waiting

I'm not sure I actually understood anything of what you said Kinley, but I never used the phrase list-ticking obsessionalism. Very clever words, but not mine. Smacks of journalistic sensationalism (now those are my words). You're not a reporter for the News of the World by any chance? I have read walk reports on this forum where people have had a bad day in the clag and other people have replied with things like 'oh well, at least that's another one ticked off' I spent a week in Glen Shiel with my mate Stu last year and there were days when you couldn't see anything from almost ground level. He still went out on the hills (I didn't bother) to tick something else off his list. He did A' Ghlas-bheinn without actually finding the summit, and had a thoroughly wet and miserable day according to him. His only reason for doing it was that it was one more on the way to his hundredth Munro (which he clocked up on the last day when we did the Five Sisters). Now if that isn't list-ticking then I don't know what is.

All I am saying is that I won't do what Stu did. The Scottish Hills are a long way from Devon and as I am lucky enough to be able to take last minute holidays, I try to make sure I pick a time when there is High Pressure forecast. Two years ago I had a full fortnight in May/June of glorious weather when I was out almost every day. Stu picked the first week in May last year which I was dead against (turned out to be cracking weather at end of the month) and I had two days of walking (South Ridge & Five Sisters). Pretty poor for all that travelling and expense. If I am the odd one out on this forum in not enjoying walking in bad weather, then so be it. That's my choice. I have just had a glorious week in Scotland - seven consecutive days of the very best weather, lots of walking, lots of photographs and many treasured memories. Last May was a total disappointment for me. I never got anywhere near the Cuillins because of the weather and if it wasn't for the fact that I came back later in the year (an unexpected bonus) to do the Saddle and Liathac, I would still be disappointed. I appreciate you may love being out walking regardless of the weather and fair play to you. However, it is not my idea of enjoyment. I love scrambling and in the clag the rock is invariably wet. I am not crazy enough to scramble on wet rock which is one of the reasons I prefer good weather.

As for the boring hills thing. It was meant to be tongue-in-cheek. Chonzie has a reputation for being boring (deserved or otherwise) and I just borrowed from that. I still didn't find anything on the hill itself to get excited about but I don't expect anyone else to have this opinion. What you seem to be saying is that I can expect a backlash from people on here just because I have an opinion that doesn't conform to theirs. How does that work exactly?

houdi wrote:What you seem to be saying is that I can expect a backlash from people on here just because I have an opinion that doesn't conform to theirs. How does that work exactly?

Not quite. Backlash is a wonderfully dramatic word.

You can expect a response.

And the response may be a disagreement.

But that's what you get when you choose to place your opinion in a public place - feedback. If you simply wish to express your opinion without feedback write it on a piece of paper, fold it up and put it under your pillow.

Okay, how about some feedback on this. Here are the all the hills/walks I did on my recent Scotland visit in order of the days I did them.

Lochnagar
Ben Starav 3
Stob Ghabar & Stob A' Choire Odhair
Ben More & Stob Bhinnein
Bidean nam Bian & Sob Coire Sgreamhach
Buachaille Etive Mor via Curved Ridge & Crowberry Tower
Ben Chonzie

I am not asking you to put them in any particular order of preference, and they were all done in good weather so that's not an issue. Taking into account the things which make up a good hill (flora and fauna, wildlife, situation, views, etc. etc.) which one would you say would be at the bottom of my list? Is there any one there which looks like the odd one out? And which one of those would you prefer to do out of them all? It's a hard choice, I must admit.

If you read through my reports you will apreciate they are not really meant to be taken one hundred percent seriously, which is why I try to inject some humour into them. I am not expressing an opinion. It's merely my attempt at hillwalking satire. Apologies if it offends anyone.

houdi wrote:which one would you say would be at the bottom of my list? Is there any one there which looks like the odd one out? And which one of those would you prefer to do out of them all? It's a hard choice, I must admit.

Which approach to Lochnagar?

Which Bidean route?

They'd all fit into a good month's walking for me

Haha! I know you're an opinionated guy, so I'm pretty sure you chose this title because you knew it would generate some response . I've seen a few Ben Chonzie threads before that descend into argument because some people think it's boring.

Personally I like Ben Chonzie - I've been up it from Lednock and Turret and you definitely picked the better route of the two. I'm one of these people who thinks there's no such thing as a boring hill, but I'm perfectly aware that that doesn't apply to everyone. I enjoy seeing the arguments that appear from posts like this

Come on, Kinley. I've posted walk reports on my Lochnagar and Bidean routes. See, I knew I'd get your attention with that Boring Ben Chonzie title.

Opinionated? Me? Don't know where you got that idea from, MC

Don't know if I like arguments, probably because I've never won one yet.

I enjoyed your report so much that I did this walk today !! Must say even although it gets bad press I quite enjoyed it. It was also my wifes first Munro today. It was my lucky number 7 Munro on Friday the 13th !!!!

I'm only too pleased I inspired you to do this one Del and I'm delighted you both enjoyed it. It's an ideal outing for a first Munro. And congrats on your 7th. A sort of milestone and on the 13th as well. Bit of Yin and Yang there.