Well... We did it!

On Tuesday evening we were pleased to reach the top of Ben Hope in good weather after journey that started 62 days ago on Mount Keen.



It has been quite a journey I’m sure we will never forget, with many high points and low points (not as many as these as we expected.

There are too many high points to name however a few that stand out are:

-The People

Along the way we have been privileged to meet so many great people; the warden at Corrour youth hostel who gave us food after walking a whole day with nothing (after Ben Alder Bothy), Jules in Dalwhinney allowed us to fill our water and use his internet, Graham from the Clachaig Inn welcomed us, when we were staying in their car park, with whiskey.

There were 2 people, in particular, who were truly inspiring.

The first we met was Andrew Johnston, who we met by chance on day 2 in Ballater, He was one of very few people who would truly understand what we were about to do because he had done the same thing. We then quincidently bumped into him again half way through on the hill, so it only felt appropriate to invite him along on our final hill. We were very much enjoyed his company on the last hill.

We also, by chance, met a man named Mike Royal. He was on an adventure of his own. He left his home in Snowdonia completely along on his bike and planned to walk every 3000ft hill in Britain. we were humbled to be able to help on the Inn Pinn with the abseil. It was great to share such an incredible peak with Mike. What a guy!

We must also thank everyone who sent us emails with support and adive. It really does help!

- The places

Just have a look at some of our previous picture and that is just a taster of what we saw, for every picture we took; we got a full panorama. To experience the full effect of the Scottish landscape you really must throw yourself in it.

Yes... it is great to have walked all the Munros, however, we must emphasise that the Munros were merely a by-product of the journey. To true success lies in the fact that we had such an amazing, unforgettable journey that will live with us for a long time.

-The Wildlife

It was inevitable that we would see some interesting wildlife on the trip, but looking back we feel we saw more than we could hope for the list includes, Countless Deer, Hundreds of Ptarmigan, various birds of prey including a stunning Golden Eagle that flew about 3 metres away from us at full spread, a large Adder that gave Joe a shock as he went for a call of nature, Slow worms, Lizard, 3 Pine Martens (one pause for about 10 seconds a few metres in front of us).



-Van life

It took some time to get used to living in a van, but we soon got used to living in the organised mess.  Spending well over 1000 hours within the company of one other person could easily become frustrating, but we are glad to make it through the other end still mates.

What Next?

The next adventure for us both will be our attempt at the Bob Graham Round towards the end of August. The Bob Graham Round is a mega classic fell run in the Lake District, It is around 70 miles with 8800m of vertical height gain the challenge is to complete in under 24 hours. Until then we will try to recover. 

[Insert:Joe and Pete Ran the Bob Graham Round on 15 September 2012 in a time of 21hours 47 mins]