thirty five down, 247 to go!

I think Mount Keen has to be one of my favourite Munro days ever. The weather was incredible, the views were amazing, the hill was straightforward but challenging too, and best of all it was my first Munro with my husband. This must mean that Dave has forgiven me for dragging him up both Stuc a'Chroin and Ben Vane. We haven't done a Munro together since October 2012, so it was absolutely wonderful to be back out there with him.

But I can't forget to mention the 3rd member of our wee family. My 35th Munro was Tig's 8th Munro, and our first as the three of us. It was lovely.

Mount Keen is the most easterly Munro of them all. Like Ben Chonzie, it seems to suffer from being described as 'boring' or 'dull' by some in the hill walking fraternity. I have to say I don't really understand this - a day in the hills is what you make it. Sure, a great path to the top might not be as exciting as a scramble across a narrow ridge, but does that make it boring? To me it actually makes things more interesting - if I don't have to think about navigation or where I am putting my feet, then I can enjoy the sights, scenery and company even more.

We had a long hot day to enjoy it too. We left the Borders at 9.20am and made it to the car park at Invermark shortly after 12, having stopped for toilets in the charming village of Edzell. It felt like a long drive up, and the car park was almost full by the time we got there. However I had to remind myself that we had the whole day ahead of us, there was no rush and we could just take our time. We were stopping over in Kinross that night, so thankfully had a shorter drive at the end of the day.

We got the suncream on - except we missed the backs of our arms, oops - and started walking at 12.20pm.

The church at Invermark

Mount Keen has a long walk in and out - 11 miles in total on the route we took from Glen Esk. We couldn't see the Munro initially but after a couple of miles it came into view. The walking was very straightforward on a great track, and thankfully there were many burns and streams that Tig could have a dip in on the way.

The Queen's Well, built on the site of a spring were Queen Victoria stopped on a pony trek in the Angus Glens, soon came into view, and made for some nice pictures.

The Queen's Well just visible in the distance

After passing a wee cottage, we were finally on the way up. It had been an hour since we left the car, and our legs were certainly warmed up - and so was the rest of us!

The summit now visible in the distance

Tig was drinking from every water source she could find - I was a bit worried she was too hot but as always she didn't complain. At one point we passed a wee spring coming off the hills, and filled our water bottles back up with the most delicious cold water - triple hill filtered it was.

Soon we were powering our way towards the summit - it looked tantalisingly close. Although like most Munros, the summit was further beyond the point we could actually see. So when I kept saying 'nearly there' I wasn't lying - but it was just that bit further away than I thought, sorry Dave.

I was feeling good, although I had to remind myself that Dave was carrying the heavy bag with all the water, and I was bag-less, a rare treat. I did do the decent thing and carry the bag on our return journey, once we'd eaten most of the food inside of course.

The summit in sight

We reached the summit of Mount Keen just before 3pm, and met some lovely people that had come up from Glen Tanar, who offered to take our picture. We spent 15-20 minutes on the summit, enjoying the extensive views and eating our lunch.

Mount Keen - Munro number 35/8!

 

Then we retraced our steps - taking our time, trying not to think about how far we had to go back, and enjoying the most stunning Scottish day.

When we got back to our hill spring, Tig lay down in the water, which was very amusing! We both wanted to do the same!

As the day marched on so did we, and soon we were back where we started. We had a lovely chat with a birdwatcher about Patterdale Terriers, before heading down the water and dipping our feet in. It was the perfect end to this most enjoyable walk.

Five hours, eleven miles, one Munro, a happy hot dog, tired feet, plenty of vitamin D, and just a wee bit of sunburn. You can't get better than that.

Mount Keen is definitely one of my favourite and most memorable Munros - for its simplicity, beauty, challenge, views, but most of all, for the company shared on this stunning May day.