The Munros and Tops: A Record-Setting Walk in the Scottish Highlands

When Chris Townsend reached the summit of Ben Hope in Sutherland, he walked his way into the record books. After 118 days in which he had covered more than 1,700 miles and climbed over 575,000 feet, he had completed the first single continuous journey of all 277 Munros and 240 Tops in the Scottish Highlands. This is the story of that remarkable walk from the start on Ben More on the Isle of Mull through to the finish, the equivalent of climbing Mount Everest 18 times. For the author, the real enjoyment of the walk was not in counting up the summits or the miles but in spending week after week in the hills and living in the wilds. In The Munros and Tops, Chris recalls the joys of observing the birds and animals, the trees and flowers, the changing shapes of the hills and the play of light on their slopes. He writes about the complexities of route-finding and the challenge of rugged terrain, and of coping with often atrocious weather conditions.