Hiking with the free bus pass

[BeinnStob]

This blog is a reflection on my two year period of bagging munros via the public bus, and perhaps might provide some useful tips for someone or another. A few weeks ago I lost my under 22 free bus pass. By this point, I had climbed 51 munros with the support of public buses (Beinn Ìme I climbed twice by bus). At the time of my 22nd birthday, that was over a third of my munro count, and these range from quick days out to multi-day hikes involving bothies or wild camping.

Me on the Citylink

It's something I highly recommend to other young people exploring on a budget. It's super cheap and sustainable! Even beyond munros there's so many other cool things to find in the Highlands. I made multiple bus journeys just to Glen Coe and Fort William for either low level hikes or to stay at village halls with the Glasgow University Mountaineering Club (GUMC).

From First Bus to Citylink
This grand pipeline began on 7th January 2023, when me and Theo took a local bus to Kilpatrick to climb the Slacks, a viewpoint above Glasgow part of the Kilpatrick Hills range. It was a very simple but fun day out, and it inspired us to go further. Within the next few weeks we wandered up Dumgoyne and Earl's Seat and explored the less hilly region around Whitelee Windfarm.

Earl's Seat

Our first leap into munro bagging by bus came in mid February, when the two of us ventured to Arrochar and climbed Beinn Narnain and Beinn Ìme. We fought through damp and windy conditions, but came back fulfilled with our achievement nonetheless. Just over a month later, we made another great leap up north to Bridge of Orchy, doing Beinn Dòrain and Beinn an Dòthaidh in the snow on a nice and sunny day. This really built up psyche to keep covering more hills with the free bus pass, Theo going out literally the day after to take on Meall a' Bhùiridh and Creise solo.

Beinn an Dòthaidh, with Beinn Dòrain in the background

Bagging intensifies
After the easter break, me and Theo came back together and to bag more munros over the next couple months. The two of us did five munros around Loch Lomond and Crianlarich via the Citylink, and I also ventured up Meall a' Bhùiridh and Creise with Sam. It was in June when me and Theo set our eyes above the Great Glen for a Citylink adventure for the first time. With only a 6h 15m hiking time window to work with, we bagged A' Chralaig and Mullach Fraoch-choire from the Cluanie Inn, leaving Buchanan Bus Station at 06:40 and returning around 22:15. The fantastic hills and weather truly paid off for the almost 10 hour round trip on the bus.

Mullach Froach-choire

While Theo was unfortunately sustained an injury for a few months, I kept venturing out of Glasgow over the rest of summer with keen friends. During that time I dabbled in some bigger walk-ins for routes. On my first solo trip to Meall Chuaich, I vastly underestimated the distance from Dalwhinnie junction to the main path and barely caught the bus back 5 hours later after a day of speed walking. Later on, me and Magnus walked an hour and a half down the A85 from Crianlarich just to do Meall Glas and Sgiath Chùil. It was a questionable method of bagging, despite the fun hill walk and lovely weather.

Approaching Sgiath Chùil from Meall Glas

Big plans and big mishaps
Theo joined me again for a punt up Beinn Bhuidhe from the Loch Fyne Oyster Bar in October. Thanks to the organisation of bus stop booking (elaborated in comments), we did not end up booking coach seats for this one and paid the price when the first bus we tried back was full. Three hours later we were two pints deep in Cairndow with a booking back from the bus stop there.

Lovely views off the side of Beinn Bhuidhe

2024 came around and I took the bus up to Tyndrum twice to do some nice winter walks with Magnus, Theo, and friends. I also made some more solo adventures over three walks around spring time. On one of those, I attempted to reach Aonach Mòr and Aonach Beag by the Nevis Ski centre bus stop, which turned out to no longer exist. That day ended with me bagging Beinn Dubhchraig and Ben Oss.

Beinn Mhanach

Me and Theo did some slightly more complex commutes in May and June that year, doing Stob Ban and Mullach nan Coirean as well as Ben Macdui and Cairn Gorm via local buses from Fort William and Aviemore respectively. We also Citylinked to Morvich and wild camped for A' Ghlas-bheinn and Beinn Fhada on the way to the Skye trip with GUMC.

Camping in Morvich

Ending off big
That August and September came my last munro adventures by bus, but also some of my most ambitious. It began when I did Beinn Dearg from Blair Atholl and stayed in the Allt Scheicheachan bothy to do Càrn a' Chlamain. I also returned to the Gorms and knocked off Beinn Mheadhoin and Derry Cairngorm from the ski centre before dropping my stuff at the Hutchison Memorial Bothy to do Beinn Bhreac and Beinn a' Chaorainn in the evening. It was a truly massive day, and my ambitions of Beinn a' Bhùird and Ben Avon the next day were squandered by a thunder storm (I lacked enough food to wait an extra day for them).

The Hutchison Memorial Bothy

My final adventure saw me completing Glen Shiel with the easternmost three. While the day was a straight forward punt through the clouds, I was blessed with a fantastic sunset as I camped by Loch Cluanie, with a double rainbow coming out. Since losing the free bus, the prospect of hiking by public transport is impossible to justify. However, I would be keen to try and cover some of the Corrour area by train at some point. But we shall see...

Sunset over Loch Cluanie

Comments
Thought I'd make a section for some side comments. The first mishap I want to mention is that I trusted that the Nevis Ski Centre bus stop still existed based on Google Maps despite it disappearing on the Citylink site. Funnily enough another traveller had the exact same issue when I travelled up to do Ciste Dhubh so it's worth mentioning here I reckon.

The one day I remember not enjoying is when I did Càrn a' Chlamain from the bothy (just the second day, Beinn Dearg was fine). It was a very long and annoying slog and the walk-in misses arguably the best part of Glen Tilt, which I spotted only briefly before entering the clouds. That munro remains my least favourite to this day thanks to that and the conditions I had (fair to say I returned to Glasgow pretty soggy). Besides that, I would recommend waiting for a dry (or icy) day to do Ben Challum if you don't want minimise the bog fest I had.

Don't be fooled by the smile I hated this hill

Also would like to briefly cover how the Campbeltown/Oban via Arrochar route specifically has been very annoying for me. First one is that twice the bus has appeared quite early to stops only to not bother waiting for its scheduled time. Because of this I almost missed the bus back from my second Beinn Ìme ascent and most definitely did after Beinn a' Chochuil and Beinn Eunaich with Kirsten, when it passed by the pub we were sat at ten minutes before the time. As I briefly mentioned above, the Citylink site counts multiple stops along this route under a single name, which led to me and Theo mistakenly not booking a bus to and from Loch Fyne Oyster Bar, which could actually be booked under Cairndow.

Cairndow sidequest with Theo

Full munro timeline
Some munros I did in friends' cars but could've easily bussed to include Ben More & Stob Binnein, Beinn Achaladair & Beinn a' Chreachain, east of Drumochter pass, Beinn Chabhair, and Ben Cruachan (I failed to reach Stob Daimh rip). Bussable ones that I didn't get round to before this post include Bynack More and Aonach Eagach, and there was good potential to tick off more Gorms over multiple days. Besides those, I've listed everything that I did do bus supported here in chronological order

Beinn Narnain & Beinn Ìme, w. Theo
Beinn Dòrain & Beinn an Dòthaidh, w. Theo
An Caisteal & Beinn a' Chròin, w. Theo
Ben Vane, w. Theo
Cruach Àrdrain & Beinn Tulaichean, w. Theo
Meall a' Bhùiridh & Creise, w. Sam and Gregor
A' Chralaig & Mullach Fraoch-choire, w. Theo
Ben Vorlich, w. Gabriele
Meall Chuaich, solo
Ben Challum, w. Kirsten
Beinn a' Bheithir, w. Sam
Loch Lochy munros, w. Magnus
Meall Glas & Sgiath Chùil, w. Magnus
Beinn Bhuidhe, w. Theo
Beinn Ìme (again!), w. Emily, Tinka, Lewis, and Pippa
Beinn Mhanach, w. Magnus
Ben Lui & Beinn a' Chlèibh, w. Theo, Magnus, Jamie, Laila, Ben, and Conor
Beinn Dubhchraig & Ben Oss, solo
Sgòr na h-Ulaidh, solo
West Drumochter 4, solo
Stob Ban & Mullach nan Coirean, w. Theo
A' Ghlas-bheinn & Beinn Fhada, w. Theo
Ben Macdui & Cairngorm, w. Theo
Beinn a' Chochuil & Beinn Eunaich, w. Kirsten
Beinn Dearg & Càrn a' Chlamain, solo
Ciste Dhubh, solo
Beinn Mheadhoin, Derry Cairngorm, Beinn Bhreac, & Beinn a' Chaorainn, solo
Càrn Ghluasaid, Sgùrr nan Conbhairean, & Sàil Chaorainn, solo

[_theoclarke]

many good times! and loch fyne oyster bar

[Kenny_G]

Great write-up and inspiration to take a different approach to getting into the hills. Though I'm trying not the think about the fact that I'm closer than I thought to the age for free bus travel (over 60 in Scotland ... but I would need to move back north to qualify). Train to Corrour is great ... and probably less likely to miss the train due to being in the pub (there's a great cafe/bar there) / it running early!

[pfingy]

I’m 99% sure Theo was on the same winter skills course as me in April 2023. I remember him talking about doing as many as possible via public transport. Awesome to see! Great report.

[gmayle82]

Excellent stuff! There's definitely a lot to be said for getting to the hills via public transport. It does require a lot of extra planning, and often an anxious wait to see if the bus will actually arrive where / when you thought it would! But it does sometimes allow for more creative and interesting routes, by starting and finishing in two entirely different locations. It's a shame about bus not running to the Nevis ski centre. I did the Lochaber 4000s starting by bus to the ski centre in 2022. A great day out!

[1964]

That's a brilliant achievement and inspirational, well done 👏👏👏

[Anne C]

Excellent and what dedication! At first, with the title, I thought it was going to be a report from an over 60 (like myself) using their free bus pass.Didn’t realise there was one for under 22s!

[penelope1]

Well done & huge applause for you & your friends eco-friendly approach to your hill-walking adventures!

[Peter57]

Great article - thanks! I've also done many hills by bus (and train) - often by taking my tent and camping gear. Back in the day I used to take the bus all the way to Sligachan (from Edinburgh) and use that as a base for many great hill days in the Cuillins - with loads of other places for doing hills along that route too. There even used to be a bus into Glen Brittle - but that's now stopped (presumably due to lack of passengers) which is a little ironic seeing as so many people drive into Glen Brittle. There are also more options for end-to-end routes by using buses rather than cars. Nowadays I'm on my last few Corbetts and I've found them to be much less accessible by bus (unfortunately as I now have my free over 60's bus pass)! But I do think that more walking guides should emphasise the potential for using public transport and provide web-links for checking timetables etc. That might relieve some pressure on the 'Munro car-parking spots' and generally reduce car use across the highlands.