The spine - south to north.
I’ve always wanted to do Foinaven as a full spine, but never got round to it. 2022 saw me injured and not able to walk until October, and I made sure I very gradually increased my hill walking. By April 2023, i was allowing myself up to 14km of walking and up to 1000m of ascent. Not quite enough time to do the whole ridge, but i hatched a cunning plan with my husband. I would cycle from Achfary, while he would run, up to the bealach. There we’d lock the bike, walk the ridge, he’d run back from the summit so he got his running in, and I’d wonder on north to Gualin House. The time and distance was the walking time. The cycling (in blue on the map) is additional.

The plan worked perfectly, just at the end of a fantastic weather week going up northern Corbetts. Overnight in our van at Achfary, listening to the haunting drumming of the snipe. I set off leisurely on my ebike, thinking I’d soon catch my husband up on his run, but he was worryingly fast! Entering the small forestry after the bothy felt like the gates to another land.


Quite a steep cycle up the forestry then into the channel between Arkle and Meall Horn to leave my bike a bit short of the bealach. Sun beating down it took longer than expected to get to the bright reflective rocks, but what a sight.


Arkle sparkling invitingly where we’d been up at the beginning of our week, and the Foinaven ridge looking incredible. In bright sunshine the navigation was straightforward, diverting left to avoid any slabs on the downclimb.



Pure heaven along the ridge, eventually reaching the summit of Ganu Mor.


This was briefly classified as a Munro. But who cares about classifications? It’s all about the joy of walking to me.


Time for my husband to turn back and put in his running miles, and me to reflect how lucky i was to be able to hill walk again, and have a partner enabling me to do this as a linear walk. Luckily I am used to walking by myself in remote places, else I might have felt abandoned when he turned round


Then onto the descent for me, being guided closely by Walkhighlands masterpiece gpx track through the wet boglands, giving me the confidence of a route through the maize, not always a certainty in these boglands!

Just as I was getting close to the road, i saw what I had feared. My husband beating me to our meeting point!


He also thought he’d had the best route, doing the ridge twice and hammering down the track on a bike.
Definitely a highlight in my hill adventures. So although a bit late in writing up, I thought it was worth sharing.