Following the enforced 2 day break we have got back on track. The latest venture was a 2 day walk covering 14 munros with brief sleep in a bothy (Ben Alder cottage). Morale is still positive even if we have spent the most of the last 2 days walking in cloud or being under constant attack from the local midge population. Easier day tomorrow withonly 4 munros to knock off.

Possibly the best long mountain day in the UK!

I can't think of anything that would rival the route we walked yesterday as the 'Best long mountain day in the UK' (maybe the Welsh 3000'ers or the Cullin ridge traverse) this definitely deserves classic status! The route is roughly 34 miles long and takes in 10 clasic Munro's including 5 of the 6 highest mountains in the UK! It has everything from some mild scrambling to interesting river crossings in some very impressive scenery. On a clear day you will awed by panoramic views of the whole Cairngorm National park and further. Here's a topo of the route. Starting on Cairngorm and finishing on Braeriach. We would definitely recommend this route to anybody wanting a challenging and very rewarding day in the mountains. Go and do it, You won't regret it, if it's too long or poor weather, you can always break the route into 2 days by staying in Corrour Bothy by the Devils Point.

As you can probably guess we had a great day yesterday. After descending 'Bynack More' we found the river by Loch Avon was in spate, making the crossing more challenging. We both opted for different methods, I (Pete)decided to strip off, throw my stuff across the river and swim. Meanwhile Joe decided just to plod through it and sacrifice his feet to wet boots. (see picture)

As a result of having wet feet so early in the day, Joe suffered from some pretty severe blisters forcing us to take an unplanned rest day today. This will give us a chance to plan the routes for later in the trip and maybe even go for a big slap up Sunday lunch in Aviemore. Over the last 2 days we have walked about 65mile and topped out on 16 Munro's, meaning we have walked up 54 Munro's so far on the trip. Munro's climbed yesterday -Cairn Gorm 1244m(6th highest) -Bynack More 1090m -Beinn Mheadhoin 1182m -Derry Cairngorm 1155m -Ben Macdui 1309 (2nd highest) -Carn a' Mhaim 1037m -The Devils Point 1004m -Cairn Toul 1291m (4th highest) -Sgor an Lochain Uaine 1258m (5th highest) -Breariach 1296m (3rd highest)

1st Long Cairngorms day- 13hours

Yesterday, we got back off the hill early so we traveled to Aveimore to fix our bikes, (Puncture and a bent wheel from descending a hill) and to buy more food and some more of our most important bit of kit... some Vaseline. Today was the first of two big days in the Cairngorms. When planning this route it looked like a bit of a slog and, well... it was!, but it was a nice slog; taking us to places we would never go to otherwise. Im not too sure on the distance we travelled but it felt like the longest day yet, I say 'yet' because tomorrow is even longer! We set off at about 7am this morning in very hot and humid conditions, luckily as we ascended we were hit with a light breeze, perfect walking conditions! Although today we had to cover a lot of miles; we still managed to find time to mess around in a river. (mainly to have our first wash since we have been here)

Fun River Crossing

Hot and humid conditions at 8am! Munro' Climbed today: Sgor Gaoith, Monadh Mor, Mullach Clach a' Bhlair, An Sgarsoch, Carn an Fhidhleir

2 easy days before 2 difficult days

Wednesday and Thursday are planned to relax in preparation for 2 more strenuous days around the Cairngorm area. Today we took in 5 out of the Munros around the Dalwhinnie area. the first 4 are on a 9 mile undulating ridge. We quickly traveled the route in running shoes, shorts and a 12 litre rucksack between us. We arrived back to the van to meet a friend who was passing by (Ian Winterburn}. We enjoyed the afternoon drinking tea; A welcome break from the blistering sun. This evening we cycled up a 6 km track and had a nice stroll up and down another Munro. We were back in time to air our the 'old rusty orange transit van' that is starting to pong!

Long may this good weather continue!!

DAY 6 complete. It feels like we are making some progress now with 31 completed. We had loads of fun today swimming in a river and meeting some interesting people, (one guy who was living off the land, 'In to the wild' style and a very kind chap called Jules who allowed us to use his Mac to update the blog. check out his website- www.akel.co.uk. We are currently sat in his converted church in Dalwhinnie sampling some of his fine cask strength whiskeys , Mortlach, Dalwhinnie. Today we took in 5 summits, (Carn Liath, Briagh Coire Cruinn-bhalgain, Carn nan Gabhar, Carn a' Chlamian, Beinn Dearg, ). For anyone wanting a very good day out walking we strongly recommend the Beinn a Ghlo ridge.

During the whiteout

Day 4

We pulled open the van shutter this morning to find the sun shining and perfectly clear skies. It was a good job because today was a biggy. Taking in 8 Munro's and covering close to 30 miles and lots of ascent and descent compared to the last few days. At times we felt pretty rough but after a good stretch and some food when we got back we felt good again. Tomorrow is an easier day only taking in 4 summits. We are trying to upload pictures but the internet is really slow. We will try our best.

Day 3. Yesterday saw good visibility allowing us to have a longer day. It's been our longest day so far covering about 39km and 9 Munro's. Those been: - Lochnager - Carn a'Choire Boidheach - Cairn of Claise - Carn an t-Sagairt Mo - Carn an Turic - Cairn Bannoch - Broad Cairn - Tolmount - Tom Buidhe. We have both managed to burn our faces from the spindrift on day 2 and now look like Umpa lumpa's, therefore there will be no photo's of our faces appearing on the blog until we have our normal faces back. :-)

Day 1 and 2 We decided to start with an easy day up Mount Keen to prepare our bodies. We woke to find snow covering our van but the the still wind made for an easy journey to the top and back. In the afternoon we went to 'bikestation' shop in Ballater to buy some spares. Its turns out the guy who served us (Andy Johnston) used to hold the Munro record, he offered some great advice and really inspired us; he even gave us a free coffee! He also offered to join us on our final day so we look forward to catching up with Andy at some stage. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Akxcmh7BFYI. Today (day 2) wasn't quite as easy as day 1. We were stuck in a whiteout all day, making navigation difficult. We had to walk on a bearing for the whole day through knee deep snow in places, this made progress slow, but we had a good day in the hills regardless. (22 miles) Munro's climbed - Mount Keen - Ben Avon - Beinn a'Bhuird - Beinn a'Chaorainn - Beinn Bhreac

Welcome to Scotland

After 4 months of planning were finally in Scotland on our way to the Aucholzie to spend the first of many nights in the van, not before our final supper in the Bridge of Cally Hotel.

THE START!!

So, Most of the planning is complete and we are due to set off tomorrow on the slow drive up north. If our van doesn't break down; we aim to cycle to the summit of Mount Keen in the East to start the Munro round at 7.30am. We will try to update as often as possible, (internet and phone signal may be difficult to find)