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]So here we are, the end of a journey, one of the biggest journeys of my life
What had started as a childhood dream of climbing Scotland's mountains had eventually became reality
I climbed Meall nan Tarmachan first on 7/6/09 then more than a year passed before I done 2 on Beinn a' Ghlo and Carn a' Chalamain in my second year. I then discovered WalkHighlands and got hooked in a BIG way
I continued to tick of the Munros myself after recently giving up smoking, more to take my mind off it and to keep the weight off I suppose
With the kids all grown up and living on my own I was out most weekends, usually all was well, although I did have a couple of 'where the hell am I' moments but all was good until the BASIL FAULTY incident
Deciding it might be safer walking with others I met up with Monty, Spider and Louise to do the 3 Munros above the ski center at Glenshee
It was a great walk, my first real winter walk, slightly spoiled by the fact that the wind was so strong that we never really had a chance to talk to each other all day
So with this being a successful walk, I decided to organise one myself
always an optimist I decided on the 6 on the east side of Glenshee ski center
The date was set for the 27th Dec 2011 and that was where I first met Fi
Another successful walk done things were on the up
My bagging career was well under way, I kept walking and the balloons kept turning blue
Now I have never been the fittest person, and still don't consider myself that fit
Then came my first WH meet at Kintail. Now I'm not gonna name every one, just in case I miss someone out
And a walk over the Brothers and Sisters ridge was arranged
And the Magnificent Seven were formed
This was the walk where I first met Iain Watson. I had read his walk reports and knew that he liked BIG LONG walks
Little was I to know then, that I would spend some of my longest hardest days walking with Iain
Most of them are on the site, and I'm sure a lot of you will be familiar with them.
That's sort of the benchmark that stuck with me? The walks kept getting bigger and longer. A few biggies With Iain and a few on my own. And my very own take, on the 3 peaks challenge, The 3 Ben's
bigger and harder and a fundraiser for my pals at Braemar MR
to tie in with the Braemar meet
Now I never joined the site looking for a partner or love
but a feisty lady called Fi came to the meet and we arranged a walk together since we hadn't been out for a while, and it all took off from there
Walking buddies to start with etc etc
the walks just kept getting more mental!
Doing the Big Bookil on the 1st Jan this year was amazing, and we decided to leave Stob Dearg as our final Munro and what a great choice
We had 82 hills left and some big walks to get on with, culminating with a walk I had dreamed about and been planning for ages - Fisherfield in a day
(I really don't like camping)
The balloons continued to turn blue and we still had Skye to do
Graham had organised a walk with Mark to do the southern 8 Munros so me and Fi arranged to go with them to do the southern 2 but ended up doing them all
Skye is such a magical place
With confidence building, thoughts turned again to Stob Dearg and we decided to go via Curved Ridge - what a way to finish
Meanwhile away from the hills me and Fi were getting on great guns and she had moved in. She had been hinting away at getting married every now and again, which I kind of side stepped because I already had a plan to propose on our final Munro. And so the day was set - a large crowd turned up for our compleation party. Me with keyring in pocket and with some of the best friends we've met on the hills we set off for curved ridge. Some of us kilted up. I won't go in to detail here but the video should cover most of it.
On a side note, I've got quite in to videoing all of our walks, of which our Facebook friends know all too well
So the time had come. Everybody gathered round on the summit to watch us compleat with only a few very close friends knowing what was going to happen. About 20 feet from the summit cairn I decided to carry Fi to her last summit, where I dropped to one knee (what did you have in that rucksack!)
and I asked her to marry me. Just as well she said yes
So now the hill pressure is off and I doubt that she'll wait til we finish the Corbetts til we tie the knot
So for now we're just going to have fun on the hills we love.. if we can get oot o bed
We have met so many good friends and people on the hills - you all know who you are! We know some of you couldn't make it on our last day and we really did miss you but we will catch up with you all soon
Watch this space...
It's all starting to sink in now
Compleation certificates have arrived
bit of a weird feeling
We haven't given up on Munros we just haven't been up one yet
We seem to be preoccupied with the Corbetts now
but still looking forward to doing the Furths, so trips to England Wales and Ireland on the cards
To all of you great people we've met on Walkhighlands and on the hills, WE thank you for making the journey a very enjoyable one indeed
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