thirty two down, 250 to go!

I've had my eyes on three Munros in the Ben Lawers range recently, Meall Greigh, Meall Garbh and An Stuc, and was hoping that this would be my next bagging adventure. Ross and I had earmarked Sunday 30th April for a potential trip, however the forecast in the run up to Sunday wasn't looking brilliant, with only 30% chance of cloud-free Munros.

It was looking a bit better out west, with 70% in Loch Lomond National Park, although hazy and windy. I suggested Ben Vorlich, and Ross was keen.

We met at Hillend at 8am, and made it to Inveruglas - the start of the walk - just after 9.30am. I'm not a big fan of the M8, but I have to say it was a very straightforward drive and we were underway just before 10am. It was indeed quite hazy, and quite warm, with not a breath of wind at this point.

We were following quite a few other walkers, although some were heading for Ben Vane, which was looking as steep and intimidating as it was when Dave and I climbed it back in 2012!

Ben Vane ahead

We followed the tarmac path and after an hour, we reached the small cairn marking the start of the upward path to Ben Vorlich. We took a wee breather here, and some jelly babies, knowing the next couple of hours were going to be a challenge! Even Tig looked apprehensive!
  

 We took it in short bursts from then on. We'd pick a sight in the distance, like a small tree or a big rock, and name that as our next rest stop. It was quite an effective way of breaking up this rather steep unrelenting slog.

Looking back to A'Chrois

  

It was a joy when the path started to even out slightly, followed by a rocky section that required some concentration. It certainly felt like we were making good progress. We met some walkers coming down at this point, who warned us about how windy it was at the summit. Jackets, hats and gloves went on, and we marched onwards.

The summit was still tantalisingly out of reach, but we got there, around 12.35pm. Boy was it windy!! We managed to get a couple of pictures before seeking shelter for some chocolate before the descent. We did spot some people just heading up to the trig point and back down again; thankfully I’d read on Walk Highlands that the cairn is the true summit not the trig point – I imagine this could catch a few people out!

Munro number 32 - Ben Vorlich!

 

The views were hazy but nice – looking down Loch Lomond was a real treat.

Windy!

We began the descent, heading back down the way we had come up. It was a bit of a struggle for the knees, as well as the brain, but at 2pm we made it back to cairn. I never thought I'd be so happy to be on a tarmac road! It was nice to know we had a relatively short walk back to the car. I phoned Dave, who was at Hermitage Castle, to let him know we were safe and well.

We got back to the car at 2.45pm, just shy of the 5 hour mark, which I was pleased about it. My feet and knees were sore, but thankfully not too bad.

Ben/Loch Lomond looking braw in the afternoon sunshine

We had a delicious bowl of soup and a couple of Scotch pies from the cafe at Inveruglas – so handy having this – before setting off southwards at 3.30pm. We just managed to avoid long tailbacks on the M8 by detouring on the M80 – it turned out to be a smooth drive home, and after dropping Ross back off at Hillend, I was home by 6pm!

A brilliant day out. I'm really glad to have ticked Ben Vorlich off the list – whilst I did enjoy it, it was a bit of a shock to the system after the recent higher starting points!

It was great to bag this hill with Ross. Our last Munros together were Beinn Narnain and Beinn Ime, which I also found tough going! We seem to have a habit of heading west for the steep ones. Hopefully we'll get to the Ben Lawers three soon, which I imagine could be just as tough!

Munro number 32 for me, and finally I have overtaken my age with Munros bagged! A great day out, and thankfully I didn't suffer too much in the days following – either I'm getting fitter, or it was a fluke!