The Munros of the Lawers range in Perthshire are a good example of a route that allows walkers and runners to bag multiple summits in one outing. I ran-walked to seven Munros in the Lawers range on Friday with my friend Stewart.
Classic routes of multiple Munros
There are many great routes that allow you to bag multiple Munros in one walk or run.
A few weeks ago, I completed a route in the Cairngorms to six of the highest UK mountains.
Several years ago (gosh, it was 2014!), I walked the South Glen Shiel Ridge, ticking off seven Munros in one outing.
The Ring of Steall with four Munros summits was another great outing.
In the Fisherfield Forest in north-west Scotland, there are five Munros and a Corbett than can be reached on one day
There are tougher routes, such as the Mamores, with 10 Munros, and a traverse of the 11 Munros of the Cuillin Ridge on the Island of Skye.
Three friends recently completed the 12 Munros around Loch Mullardoch.
Of course, there are always people who take things a bit further, such as a Tranter’s Round – see the new record set by Finlay Wild – and the Ramsay Round. See Donnie sets winter Ramsay Round record.
This summer, Ian Stewart ran to 58 summits of the Cairngorms National Park.
A good resource for multiple Munro routes is Steven Fallon’s website.
Seven Munros of the Lawers range
Thanks to two vehicles, Stewart and I were able to complete an A-to-B route of the seven Munros of the Lawers range. We left a car at the start, on the singletrack road past the end of Lochan na Lairige, and another at the Ben Lawers Hotel (day charge £5).
This was the order of the Munros:
- Munros Meall a’Choire Leith (926m)
- Meall Corranaich (1069m)
- Beinn Ghlas (1103m)
- Ben Lawers (1214m) – 10th highest in the UK
- An Stuc (1117m)
- Meall Garbh (1123m)
- Meall Greigh (1001m).
These are not new Munros to me and I have completed them at least once twice before, including six of them as part of the Artemis Great Kindrochit Quadrathlon.
This was the first time I had completed the route in this order and taking in all seven Munros.
In poor weather, route finding can be tricky so Stew and I chose a fine day with good visibility. It was mainly warm, although windy on some of the ridges and summits.
We were on the hills for about five-and-a-half hours, although we took our time and stopped for food and to chat to people.
The paths are generally well-trodden and because the route starts at about 600m, there is a reduced elevation to climb compared to some other Munro walks.
Details:
- Distance: 21km
- Total ascent: 1708m.
- See OS Maps route.
Stew and I aimed to fast walk the ups and run as much of the flats and downs as we could. Where the terrain became too rocky, we would slow to a fast walk.
It’s a superb location and the views are fantastic.
See video overview and photos:
Munro running kit
It’s important to have the right experience and confidence to run in the mountains. It’s also vital that you carry enough kit to be safe, especially if you have the bad luck to fall and hurt yourself.
In my Salomon ADV Skin 3 5-litre running vest, I carried:
- OMM waterpoof jacket
- OMM waterproof trousers
- Lightweight insulated jacket
- Gloves
- Foil emergency blanket
- Small medical kit (eg pain killers and Compeed blister plasters)
- Food and water.
- We also had a map, compass and route downloaded on to the OS Map phone app.