
We were lucky with the weather yesterday, especially as our guide Paddy did stress that there was a possibility of thunder later and if that did happen we would be off the hills pronto

Paddy did warn us that Gillean would be the hardest hill and he certainly wasn't wrong

The plan was to meet at the layby in Sligachan at 9am and we were all early and were on our way at 9am. The hills couldn't be seen due to low cloud, there was little or no wind and it was very, very humid. It wasn't long before we were all leaking and Paddy was setting a good pace, the initial part of the walk has a very gradual incline but the humidity made it seem harder















We have now reached the first of the rope ascents, this one is probably the longest but was fairly easy as it was up a chimney with plenty of hand and foot holds. As chief photographer I was snapping away like there was no tomorrow. I won't post all of the "climbing" photo's, hopefully the ones I select will give you a flavour of what to expect

















I went up next sorry Pam & Jimmy, your turn will come







The next manoeuvre was probably the hardest of the day, it involved working your way round a large rock that was in the way, sounds easy but if you look down there is a reminder that you are very exposed






















After a brief rest and a few photo's it was time to move on and head down, we knew it would be even harder descending as it usually is. Great care and concentration were required







































Next photo's are of a very short rope descent, once again I volunteered to be heroic and go first









Now the long descent, we would of course have to climb back up the step using the rope again so get ready for the last few rope photo's
















The descent down was straight forward and we were back at the vehicles by 6pm, Jimmy was heading back home to Alnwick and was anticipating arriving home at about 2am. The rest of us were heading to the Slig (pub) for a well earned drink and a bite to eat

After 2 really tough days on Skye we had achieved our goal of visiting all 12 summits, it had only taken us a year, we were really thankful that the weather finally had been kind to us

A massive thanks must go to Paddy, as without him none of us would have ever achieved our goal


Also thanks to my colleagues for all their support, we really did try and help each other, especially when we were all well out of our comfort zone

For me the journey is now nearing the end and what a journey it has been so far, my final Munro is Ben More on Mull. Unfortunately I have to wait until Saturday 13th August before I can compleat, naturally I want my children to share the special moment with me and that is the earliest date they can all make it

As the WH community have also been fantastic to me since I joined in May 2013 I would like to invite anyone who wishes to join me on Mull? If you fancy joining me, please PM me for the gory details

So this time the 'next' is obvious, but I will of course have to keep fit in between time, so the Borders will be back on the menu.