Earlier this year, a friend asked me how I wanted to celebrate my 40th birthday. I said that my ideal birthday celebration would be "drinking champagne on top of a mountain" not for a moment thinking I would ever do such a thing.
Six months later, my friend and I arrived in Scotland with the aim of climbing Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the UK. Ben Nevis lies on the west coast of Scotland and dominates the town of Fort William. Ben Nevis is the highest of 284 mountains collectively known as The Munros, named after Sir Hugh Munro, the man who first catalogued them. The practice of climbing all 284 Munros is known as "Munro-bagging", hence the title of the article. 
On our fourth day in Fort William, we woke up to glorious sunshine and decided that this was about the best chance we were going to get to climb the mountain. An hour later, we parked up at the Glen Nevis Visitor Centre to pick up the start of the so-called "tourist route". The first part of the walk was relatively easy-going on a well-made path. After two hours of steady climbing, we reached Lochan Meall an t'Suidhe, the Half-Way Lochan; a broad plateau containing a small loch. It's a popular resting place and is also the point at which many novice walkers turn back when they realise it's another two-hour climb to the summit.
After a spot of lunch, we embarked on the second half of the ascent. It was much harder going than the first half; a long, arduous slog up a rocky zigzag path. We soon reached cloud level, which obscured the fantastic views of the glen below. It also got noticeably colder at this point and we had to put extra layers on to keep warm.
We reached the summit at 1pm - it had taken us four hours. We celebrated with two miniature bottles of sparkling wine we'd bought from the supermarket the day before. It wasn't champagne, but it was near enough.
After the obligatory photographs and a bite to eat, we started our descent. Coming back down was surprisingly more difficult than going up. The constant jarring against the rocks and stones made our knees and ankles ache. With rest stops, it took us just over another four hours to make it back to the start. We were tired, but exhilarated at the same time.
I can honestly say it was the hardest thing I've ever undertaken. I'm glad I did it, but at the same time, I'm relieved that every other mountain in the country is smaller!
- Total distance walked: 10 miles
- Total time: 8.5 hours
- Total climb: 4406 ft, 1344m