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Managed to get a pretty decent day to get up Ben Venue , As someone who was frequently taken to Loch Katrine as a kid it was always such an imposing sight to see Ben Venue almost cradle the side of the loch. And the day before was an utter scorching day and went up Ben A'an that day and when up there i thought id need to return and do Ben Venue the next day ... so i did , and this is the story of that.
I started off at Ledard Farm, which by 10am was empty which was a good sight to me meaning i had ample room to get parked and set off. The walk starts up and through a forest with lovely little waterfalls right beside it which on a warm day i can imagine they would have looked thoroughly tempting but there was enough signs warning against this .
This section was easy enough going pretty boggy in places but what do you expect in scotland eh? soon after this the valley started to open up and an area of replanted trees soon scars the valley , which by this point is nice and wide and offers up a good view back to Loch Ard.
Still at this point the sumit of Ben Venue is not in sight as its hidden by everything else thats around which made me that bit more determined to see it , and sumit it .
Then you come across my new favourite bridge a feat of pure engineering skill! Though i didn't actually use it i just walked across the river but none the less..
The climb then gets really boggy in places as the path meanders up the side of the valley at times almost unrecognisable but it soon ends and you are greated with a stile at the top of this and soon after the stile you get your first glimpse of the top of Ben Venue. Which looks just as imposing from the top as it does on the shores of Loch Katrine as a kid.
After that the path gets nice and narrow, and the drops get a little more steep looking. Soon afterwards theres a large cairn and then a scramble to the top plateau and the view was utterly breath taking .
And my obligitory feet off the edge picture
The walk back down was fantastic as the views from the top more than made up for the amount of times i nearly fell over on the way back down.
As someone who was born with talipes equinovarus(club feet) I'm always insanely proud of every walk, hike or climb ive done and this was by no means any different , It was even worth the inability to walk for the next two days after this . And id do it again in a heartbeat. And i hope you enjoyed this synopsis of my walk , And thank you for reading.
