Date: 09/07/2023	Age: 13
Height: 808m	Time:
Distance:	Location: Assynt
Geology: Lewisian gneiss	People: Me, Dad

We started the walk at around half past ten. We had looked at the mountain forecast and thought it would be a good day.  We saw clouds surrounding quite a few of the other hills but Quinag was still clear so we were hopeful for a clear day.  We started along a well constructed path before turning off to walk up a rocky hill.  There were lots of beastly slugs and every time I saw one I shouted “ ugh slug.” and pointed at the slug.  It had rained  the day before so there was lots of water running down the path,  making it quite slippery.  The walk to the first peak was quite smooth although the path kept petering out and was quite hard to follow.  We reached the top of the first peak in nearly two hours.  It was quite hard going and I was puffing and out of breath.  When we reached the top,  there was quite a bit of mist  blocking our view.  Next, we climbed down a steep, rocky slope onto the ridge and then upwards ridge to the next bump.   We had a slightly foggy view. We made our way down to the bealach. We met a guy who had walked up another way and he chatted to my dad.  He said “hmm I don’t like the look of that black cloud.” We ate our lunch on the bealach watching  the clouds creeping in to completely surrounded us. While we ate our lunch a tiny little toad sat at our feet,  it was adorable. The climb up to the next ridge was very hard as I was quite tired. We decided that we were only going to do two of the three Corbetts. We walked along the ridge to the peak of the second with mist still shrouding our vision. The mist was quite moist, wet enough that my hair was soaked.  It looked almost as if I had gone swimming. We reached the peak but didn’t stay long as there was no visibility and all there was to see, was the rocky top of the hill. We walked down off the ridge wet, soggy and tired, having seen half a dozen toads and way too many slugs. Sadly as we were quite tired we only did 2 of the 3 Munroes.

Date: 26/2/23	Age: 13
Height: 931m	Location: Perthshire
Distance: 15.5km	Time: 5 hours
Geology:	people: Me, Dad

We started walking around 9.00 am and headed past the dam and along a track round the loch. It was a fairly scenic view and we stayed on the track for about an hour until the track turned into bog and we decided to take our luck through the Heather. It was still very boggy and I got some water in my boot. I stopped to get my water bottle out when I noticed something slither in front of me. I called my dad over to have a look but he didn’t see anything and walked away again. Not even a second after he left a next 2-3 inches long scuttled out of the clump of grass and slithered off. We then started the ascent up Ben Chronzie and reached the top within an hour. It was really crowded on the top which was surprising because we only saw 3 people on the way up. Most people had come up from Glen Turret. We then headed along the ridge to do a horse shoe shape walk, easily topping Meall Na Seide. Then we headed back into more bog before coming to the rocky peak of Càrn Chois. Heading down we started along a path before my Dad decided we were heading in the wrong direction and made us turn off and walk down through the heather and grass but luckily there wasn’t any bog. After finishing the walk we had to head along the dam where we got a spectacular view up the loch to Ben Chronzie.

Date: 12/2/23	Age: 13
Height: 950m	Location: Cumbria
Distance: 13km	Time: 6 hours
Geology: silica- rich magma	people: Me, Dad

We started walking at around 9:30 quickly leaving Patterdale behind. We trekked up a small surprisingly steep grassy slope that left both of us out of breath before making it onto the track leading up to the hole in the wall. Upon reaching the hole in the wall I took one look at striding edge and decided that we weren’t going that way so instead we walked past the little lake and up onto the other ridge. After scrambling up the ridge we were thoroughly disappointed to find that mist shrouded any possibility of a nice view. Heading along the ridge in hope of shelter to eat lunch we found the shelter full with no other place to eat lunch we continued on our walk. Eventually after what seemed like hours we reached the top of dollywaggon where I continued to complain about being hungry and my dad told me for the umpteenth time that it was too cold and windy to stop. After making us stop half way down dollywaggon and being dramatic about how much I needed food we stopped for lunch. After that we walked down the valley following the stream back down towards Patterdale. We finished the walk at half three with sore feet and cold hands.

Date: 27 August 2022	Age: 12
Height:1,044m	Location: Perthshire
Distance:13km	Time: 5 1/2 hours
Geology: Metamorphic schist formations	People: Me, Dad

we started at the car park around 9:30 – 10 after a massive palava with trying to get parked. As we started along a path before quickly turning off onto a track, there was a guy strimming. We had no idea what he was doing but passed him quickly. Reaching the top of Maell nan Tarmachan in just an hour and a half. Having a quick break on the top we continued on passing a small lochan before reaching the next peak Meall Garbh. We continued walking to find a small scramble I was excited for this but my dad went first and said absolutely not we are going round so I glumly followed. I was completely over this by the time we reached the bottom. On further inspection the scramble was alright to do but you pick your moments, I was over mine. continuing on to the final peak after this it was time to descent. Through the mud and bog and peat we went. I was only minorly upset when my legs being too short to go over, ended up landing directly in a bogy puddle rather than besides one. After the treacherous journey down the hill, we arrived on the path that would lead us back to the car park, me with still slightly squelchy boots. It took longer than expected to walk along the path, stopping by a small stream to dip our feet in. arriving back at the car at a round three – another Munro successfully bagged.

Date: 18/7/22	Age: 12
Height: 1,345	Location: Fort William
Distance: 17km	Time: 6 hours
geology: granite	People: Me, Dad

We started at the assent from the car park at 8am. At this point the hill was still relatively quite by this I mean there were only about 4 big groups of people also starting off on the hill. A massive change from the mountain we did only a couple days before, where we only met 3 people for the entire walk. So as we started along up the hill we quickly over took most people. We met a runner coming down the hill at 8:30 in the morning, I was amazed at how early they would of had to wake up. By the time we got half way up the hill I was amazed 1 by the view and 2 that Dad hadn’t exploded with the price of the car park and the amount of people on the hill. We Jumped over a river coming down the hill and I realised that the path was properly paved with nice sized steps all the way up. As we reached near the top I saw what looked like a steady stream of ants marching up the the path, more people than path. We reached the top at 11:30 and I got a photo on the trig point after elbowing everyone else out of the way. We spent 30mins on the top and I was getting super bored all there was were people, rocks, people and you guessed it more people. Nothing much happened on the descent apart from people halfway up asking if they were near the top and some guys selling coke from the river. One minor detail I forgot to include is it was the hottest day of the year. I think it was around 27 degrees and we were boiling and some people who had just started the walk and had probably been walking for around an hour looked like they were regretting their life choices. We finished the walk around 3 and dipped our feet in the river at the bottom.

Date: 16/7/22	Age: 12
Height: Tom = 1112m, Toll = 1053	Location: Glen Affric
Distance: 17.1km	time: 6 hours
Geology:	People: me, dad

We started our walk on a small path leading up from the car park through a Caledonian pine wood. We then turned on to a track that led us up to a hydro station, when we were subsequently eaten alive by clegs. Then we left the track behind and into a bog we went – I’m not sure if it counts as a path when your nearly up to your shins in peaty water. Luckily we soon were out of the path and onto the ascent of Tom a Choinich. It was an easy climb to the top were we weren’t greeted with a view as we had hoped but the inside of a cloud. We had lunch on the top but left quickly due to how cold it is to sit in a cloud. We climbed of the top, nearly walking of the wrong direction but we got back on track. We reached the bealach in minuets. Toll creagach is shaped a bit like a whales back so that when you are climbing it you feel more like your doing a long walk than climbing a mountain. When we finally reached the top we were treated to a pretty nice view. There was no path of the top of toll meaning we had to walk through very lumpy heather nearly twisting my ankle many times. There were some big birds and we then realised that they were eagles. We came back onto the path at the hydro station and were eaten alive by clegs again. Finally we arived back at the car park with very sore feet.

Date: 11/07/22	Age: 12
Height: 743m	Location: Wester Ross
Distance:10,5km	Time: 2 1/2 hours
Geology: Torridonion Old Red Sandstone	People: Me,Dad

We left the car park at 10:30 am on a warm morning. We started to climb a track but quickly came upon a deer fence so we had to clamber across country without a track.  it was hard going because we were walking over bracken, heather and boggy ground.  It was quite exhausting.  We saw a very hairy caterpillar with orange and black stripes.  I glanced down and saw a toad hopping over my foot, I screamed loudly!  After an hour and a half we made it up onto the narrow ridge.  We scrambled over Torridonian red sandstone crags.   It was really good fun.  Next we walked along the narrow ridge.   It was really steep on both sides. From the summit there were lovely views down to Ullapool and beyond.  We could see Suilven, Stac Pollaidh and Quinnag. I made it down almost to the bottom before I fell – twice. I was quite exhausted by this time and not so steady on my feet.

Date: 13/4/22	Age: 12
Height: 843m	Location: Galloway
Distance: 13.25km	Time: 4 hours
Geology: ordorvician greywacke	People: me, Dad

We started the walk from the car park. The weather was very cloudy, misty and overcast. The path followed a stream leading up to a series of waterfalls. There had been a lot of rain and the waterfalls were beautiful but the soggy path gave me wet feet. The first 45 minutes was quite an easy climb. Then we came to a bothy. It was dirty, grimy, wet and mouldy. I wouldn’t fancy spending a night in there. Next we entered a forest which had a carpet of moss. It looked like something out of a fantasy novel. The path became very steep here. As we came out of the top of the forest, the weather worsened and the mist descended. I had to wipe my glasses to see where I was going. My hair and clothes were damp and my feet were in a peat bog. Visibility was poor, we could only see a few metres ahead. The white had engulfed us. Continuing up onto the ridge we ascended our first hill – Ben Yellary. Dad had to get out his compass to ensure that we didn’t drift off the ridge. We had some celebratory fruit pastilles on the first peak; we ate quite a lot of the fruit pastilles throughout the walk, steadily munching through them. We kept climbing but could not see the peak. We were hungry and stopped for lunch. Little did we know that we were only five minutes from the peak. The wind whipped up on our descent allowing us to see the golden brown landscape of the surrounding hills. Typically, as we neared the end of the walk, the sun broke through the mist and the clouds disappeared. We were able to see a vast expanse of hills rolling as far as the eye could see. My knees hurt a little on the descent, particulary the forest section which was very steep and slippery. I fell on my butt in this section. I returned to the car with wet soggy feet.

Date: 11/07/2021	Age: 11
Height: 987m	Location: Assynt
Distance: 15km	Time: 6 1/2 hours
Geology: quartzite	people: me, Dad

At the start of the walk the weather was really sunny and a bit too hot. The Track up to the mountain was very long. We followed the burn up the track to the start of the steep climb up the mountain. The ascent was very hard and very steep we had to scramble up some of it. At about 750 m we made it onto the ridge. We turned right and continued up the path to the peak. Underfoot the rock was very slippery because it was shattered. This is called scree. The heat made me thirsty so I drank most of the water. Dad had to ration it. On the peak it was misty and there was barely any view. On the top we ate our packed lunch in a small stone shelter. The scree made the descent very tricky, I twisted my ankle.

We saw lots of wildlife on our walk including two splodgy brown toads and a common blue butterfly. We also saw a golden ringed dragonfly it is one of the largest in Scotland and need temperatures to reach 30° before its wings will fly.

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Date: 24/04/2021	Age: 11
Height: 1083m	Location: Perthshire
Distance: 10km	Time: 4 1/2 hours
Geology: quartzite	People: me,Dad

When we arrived at Schiehallion the car park was full. Luckily mum dropped Dad and I off at the car park. There were loads of people coming down from the hill and it was only 10.00 am. They must have got up really early!

The first half hour climb passed really quickly. I set off at pace and had to keep stopping for Dad to catch up. It was a misty cloudy day and we were shrouded in mist for all of the uphill climb. The mist was swirling and blowing around us – just like a scene from a horror movie. It was surreal and a bit creepy. Eventually we got onto the top, the mist lifted and the sun came out. There was cloud on one side of the mountain and no cloud on the other. It was warm and awesome to look down on the cloud. There was an amazing view down the valley to Kinloch Rannoch.

Going down was tricky because there wasn’t a proper path; it was just rocks and boulders made out of quartzite. We had to jump from rock to rock for quite a long way. My boots started to rub and my pinky toe was killing me. I dipped my foot into a stream to ease the pain. I wasn’t prepared for the icy cold water and shrieked. However, it did soothe my sore toe.

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