We’ve ticked off nearly 150 Munros and
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.” Like many parents, when their children left home for university Lesley Tobin and Manuel Fuentes, of Stirling, were left with a gap in their lives.
They decided to start hill walking together – and seven years later they have ticked off almost 150 Munros.
Lesley says: “When our children Joel and Gaby were at home we were always busy with their school and sports activities, as well as working full time.
“Then they went off to uni and suddenly we had more time on our hands. We still work hard in the week so it’s our weekends that we use for Munro bagging.”
The couple, who have been married for 27 years, met in Manuel’s home country of Ecuador when Lesley was teaching English. They have lived in Stirling since 1994.
At first it was smaller, local hills they walked including Dumyat and Ben A’an, before tackling their first Munro together, Ben Lomond. To date they have ticked off 147 of Scotland’s highest mountains alongside one another.
Lesley says: “We have always enjoyed being outdoors and walking and camping as a family but our new shared goal of the Munros has given us a great joint focus in recent years.
“We mostly like to walk the Munros on our own, although we do enjoy having Joel and Gabby, who are now 24 and 23, along when they are free. “Our hobby is a good way to get fit and it allows