FIONA & STUART’S STORY
A chance meeting in Glenshee on a walk of six Munros led to a love match for Fiona and Stuart Clark, of Dunkeld, Perthshire.
The pair quickly became friends and then fell in love. Less than two years later, they had finished their first round of Munros together, on Buachaille Etive Mor in Glencoe.
On the same day, in September 2013, Stuart proposed and Fiona said: “Yes.”
The couple, who have seven grown-up children between them from previous relationships, married the following year.
They have since gone on to walk another full round of Munros, finishing that on Christmas Day 2017, and they have only a handful of the 222 smaller sister mountains, the Corbetts, to complete. Stuart, 54, a driver, says: “We both like the lists of mountains as a focus for our walking.”
Fiona, 47, says:
“We are probably a bit obsessed but walking mountains is something we both enjoy doing.
“We’ve both had previous relationships and raised our families so now it’s just us and there is a lot of time to head for the hills.
“The housework does suffer a bit, I guess, although Stuart does what he can because he’s home from his work first through the week.”
Fiona reports that the couple rarely fall out. She says: “We get on well on the hills and we complement each other by giving and receiving support in equal measures.
“For example, I am better at map reading and calculating times for walking the Munros, while Stuart is stronger at interpreting the landscape in front of us.
“We’re on the same wavelength. Stuart likes to push himself faster than me, too, but then he can end up burning out. Meanwhile, I plod along and often take over the encouraging leader role, especially on longer walks.” Stuart and Fiona on Carn Eige in Glen Affric
We’ve both had other relationships. Now it’s just us and the hills