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In January like many others, I made some new years resolutions...Not very often do I actually remember the resolutions ...even less likely in September, but one of them was to walk a route with a backpack and camp wild somewhere. It does sound very easy and I have read many trip reports about it...but to pick a nearly 40k route over pathless terrain, with a heavy backpack to carry was maybe slightly pushing it…

Enough to keep sane people in their cosy living rooms... but a few mad ones had to get out . After a renovation project on Saturday, I had made a late decision to head to the hills on Sunday and after reading that Tomsie would be in the area and was also looking for company in the hills, we arranged to meet up to walk the Tarmachan Ridge.

Rising from the east shore of Loch Lomond to a height of 974m (3,193ft), Ben Lomond offers exhilarating walking and spectacular views across Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park.

A magnificent stretch of West Highland scenery - the estate includes the Falls of Glomach and the Five Sisters of Kintail. There is a countryside centre at Morvich Farm, off the A87, which is the best access point to the mountains. Red deer, eagles and other wildlife can be seen in abundance.

With too many things do do at the weekend, I had to ignore the hills up north , but had to go for a wee walk on Saturday as I could not ignore the beautiful day. I decided to go for a wee walk up my 'local ' hill which is literally just a few minutes walk away from my front door.

Route: Beinn Dearg: the Four Munros circuit
Munros: Beinn Dearg (Ullapool), Cona' Mheall, Eididh nan Clach Geala, Meall nan Ceapraichean
Date walked: 23/03/2012
Time taken: 10 hours
Distance: 25km
Ascent: 1827m
Sitting in my car we just passed Inverness about half an hour ago and were on the way to a place called Badrallach. We passed the last car about 15 min ago and the night was clear as a night could be in the northern Highlands of Scotland. Millions of stars were above us and we frequently had to stop for deer which was either standing next to the road or on it. Nature at its best! Taking the turn to Badrallach old trees framed the sides of the road and annoyed sheep stared at us, when they realized they have to give up their sleeping place in the middle of the road to let us past. Driving along a tiny single track road were signs warned that CTTV cameras were in action due to sheep rustling :shock: , it became clear that we were in the middle of no mans land. :D :D :D

A Munro is a mountain in Scotland with a height over 3,000 ft (914.4 m). They are named after Sir Hugh Munro, 4th Baronet (1856–1919), who produced the first list of such hills, known as Munros Tables, in 1891. A Munro top is a summit over 3,000 ft which is not regarded as a separate mountain. As of the 2009 revision of the tables, published by the Scottish Mountaineering Club, there are 283 Munros and 227 further subsidiary tops. The most well known Munro is Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the British Isles, with an altitude of 1,344 metres (4,409 ft).

In the British Isles, especially in Scotland, the terms hillwalking or fellwalking are commonly used to describe the recreational outdoor activity of walking on hills and mountains, often with the intention of visiting their summits. This can include activities which might be referred to as hiking, backpacking or mountaineering elsewhere, covering terrain which can include terrain such as mountains, high moorland, remote passes and coastal walks.

Scotland offers a wide variety of ascents, from gentle rolling lowland hills to some very exposed routes in the moorlands and mountains. The term climbing is used for the activity of tackling the more technically difficult ways of getting up hills involving rock climbing while "hillwalking" refers to the easier routes.