Mountain wee man who’s taking Munros in his stride
While most kids his age are glued to their games consoles or playing on the beach, Finn, five, has spent his summer witnessing Scotland’s glorious landscape from 20 of our loftiest peaks
While some kids have spent their holidays abroad or on their iPads, five- year- old Finn has seen his home country at its most glorious.
Over eight days of walking this month, the youngster has reached the summits of 16 Munros.
He has walked a total of 50 miles and climbed 17,650ft, which is two-thirds the height of Everest.
And this week Finn, who is accompanied by mum Stacey and dad Keith, plans to tick off another four Munros.
The schoolboy, who has just finished primary one, said: “I am enjoying walking lots of Munros with my mum and dad.
“I like seeing nature and all the frogs and lizards. I don’t like boulders because it is hard work for me to climb over those.
“I do like seeing mum crossing a river and getting wet. That’s funny.”
The Perthshire family set a summer holiday goal to bag 20 Munros in just four weeks. But it looks like they will reach their total in less than three weeks.
Stacey, 36, said: “When the school holidays started, we decided to do more things outdoors with Finn. The Munros are a great list of Scotland’s 282 tallest mountains and at least 3000ft each so we picked 20 of these to climb.”
Whi le the summer adventure is physically challenging, Stacey and Keith reveal it has been mentally tough too as July was to be the birth month of their second child, who sadly miscarried.
Stacey said: “We miscarried a child, Beanie, late last year and, the closer we got to the due date, the more we thought about what could have been.
“We can’t change that it happened and miscarriage is horrible but we wanted something positive to come out of this summer. We are carrying Beanie in our thoughts every day.”
As part of the challenge, the family are raising money for Tommy’s, a charity funding research into miscarriage, stillbirth and premature births.
Good weather on the first day of their challenge on July 8 allowed the Wilcox family to make a good start.
Over f ive mi les, they hiked in the Glenshee area to the summits of the Munros Creag Leacach at 3238ft and Glas
Maol at 3503ft. Keith, 37, said: “We started with a walk that was not too tough, although we still reached the top of two Munros.”
Over the following two days, the trio completed a two- day bike- and- hike adventure.
Stacey said: “We chose a circuit walk in Lochnagar in the Cairngorms and planned an overnight camp.
“If we include a wild camp, Finn is more enthusiastic about the adventure.
“The weather was not so kind this time and it was non-stop rain from lunchtime to the next morning but we were all kitted out in the right clothing.”
The couple revealed that Finn renamed the walk “Frog-nagar” because there were so many frogs in the wet mountains.
Over the two days, the family cycled six miles and walked 12 miles to bag five Munros.
A rest day was followed by another 12-mile two- day hike to bag four more Munros in Drumochter in the Highlands.
Stacey said: “These Munros have got a reputation for being a bit boring but the views were incredible thanks to lovely weather. Finn also loved the wildlife.
“He has been absolutely amazing and just seems so happy to be outdoors with us.” Finn, who carries his own rucksack with emergency supplies, has been walking Munros since he was just two.
Keith said: “Stacey and I have always enjoyed walking and, when we had Finn, we were determined we wouldn’t stop.
“As a baby, we took him up hills and mountains in a back- carrier. Then he wanted to walk with us. We began with easier Munros – the ones that start higher so they do not take so long.
“We are fortunate because Finn really does appear to enjoy being outdoors. For him, it’s about stopping to look at frogs, seeing tadpoles in a puddle, playing in snow and looking for a cave to sleep in.
“Although you can see that Finn is proud to reach the top of mountains, it’s more about the journey for him.”
Finn’s determination to hike the Munros continued over another two days last week, including the two Perthshire summits of Meall Corranaich and Meall a Choire Leith.
Stacey said: “These Munros are closer to home and a good choice for our tired legs.”
This outing included a wetter- thanexpected river crossing.
Finn said: “Mum slipped into the water, right up to her knees, and that was funny to watch. She had very wet feet all the way back to the car.” Then came two more summits on Buachaille Etive Beag in Glencoe. The ascent path includes a series of large stone steps.
Keith said: “The steps are tall and they are hard enough for an adult but with Finn’s small legs they were a challenge.
“He was almost scrambling his way up those but he never moans. He just laughs and finds his own way to keep going.”
Mount Keen, the most easterly of the Scotland’s 282 Munros, was next on the agenda with a bike and a hike to the 3080ft ft summit.
Stacey said: “We can’t believe how wellll we are doing and we are ticking off Munrosos much faster than we thought we would.
“We are now slowing down a bit becausee we are feeling tired and don’t want to leave ve Finn feeling discouraged.
“We might make it to 20 Munros byy midweek, which is what we set out to do o in the first place, only faster.
“The chances are, if Finn is keen, we will ll continue walking until the four weeksks are up.
“We are doing this for fun, adventure and for a charity close to our hearts.” Follow An Outdoors Family on Facebook or visit www.anoutdoorsfamily.com.