Stùc a’Chròin

I’ve always fancied doing the Stùc a’Chròin Hill Race but never had the opportunity. I sort of walked the course today from Strathyre up and over the Meall Mór ridge into Glen Ample before the climb up the 184th highest Munro¹Wikipedia Contributors (2022). List of Munro mountains. [online] Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Munro_mountains#:~:text=137-,Stuc%20a%27%20Chroin,-1891 [Accessed 21 May 2022].

Wikipedia says the name Stùc a’Chròin means the peak of harm or danger²Wikipedia Contributors (2022). Stùc a’ Chroin. [online] Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St%C3%B9c_a%27_Chroin [Accessed 21 May 2022]., but another source gives an alternative translation as the hill of the little sheepfold³Howie, Robin. “Walk of the week: Stuc a’Chroin”. The Scotsman. 26th January 2014. Available online: https://www.scotsman.com/whats-on/things-to-do/walk-week-stuc-achroin-1546812 [Accessed 21 May 2022]. A bit of a difference.

The Rev. Archibald “Archie” Eneas Robertson, is credited as the first person to climb all the Munros. He did Stùc a’Chròin in 1891 — along with its twin Ben Vorlich — on a day trip from Edinburgh. His diary records he caught the first train to Lochearnhead and returned from Callander — an impossible trip nowadays as the railway has been dismantled. His diary also states that he climbed well up the ridge of Stùc a’Chròin, but not quite to the top.

So he cheated?

Although looking at the map it’s hard to work out how he missed the summit without going back on himself.

• 1
  Wikipedia Contributors (2022). List of Munro mountains. [online] Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Munro_mountains#:~:text=137-,Stuc%20a%27%20Chroin,-1891 [Accessed 21 May 2022].
• 2
  Wikipedia Contributors (2022). Stùc a’ Chroin. [online] Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St%C3%B9c_a%27_Chroin [Accessed 21 May 2022].
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  Howie, Robin. “Walk of the week: Stuc a’Chroin”. The Scotsman. 26th January 2014. Available online: https://www.scotsman.com/whats-on/things-to-do/walk-week-stuc-achroin-1546812 [Accessed 21 May 2022]