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With time on my hands, and a copy of Ralph Storer's
50 Classic Routes on Scottish Mountains I decided it was time to climb the outstanding Munro on my list of Arrochar Alps, Ben Vorlich. The route described in Ralph’s book takes the eastern approach from Ardlui into Corie Creagach before making for the belach between the 931m spot height and Ston nan Coinnich Bhacain. From there it was south along the ridge to the trig point before turning east to descend over the Little Hills, but as Burn's said "
the best laid plans of mice and men, gang aft agley", and as with everything in Scotland the weather gets a say!
Getting to Ardlui station early saw me setting off south, along the A82 at 08:30. Cutting under the railway line I began the steep climb up the side of the burn, following a quad track where I could, and making my own path when necessary. After 45mins, despite the steep terrain and increasing rain, I'd gained a good bit of height. The top was still clouded over, with little hope of it clearing, so it seemed a view was not to base. Luckily I could still make out the belach I wanted to aim for so navigation wasn’t too tricky. As I came in the coire I spotted some movement which turned out to be four red deer though as I came over the crest they had vanished – I’ve no idea how they do that, but still amazing to see. After that I soon made the belach and a well earned rest.
The next stage was going to be in low visibility (about 50m) so some careful navigation was involved, plotting a bearing for the spot height and slowly making my way up through the crags. After a few nav checks and some careful compass bearings I found myself on the flatter ground near the spot height summit, in strong wind and thick cloud. I picked up the path and it didn't take long to get to the trig point via the summit cairn. After quickly getting the obligatory summit selfie, less scenery, I decided to reconsider my route back down.
- Summit Selfie
Having looked at the Small Hills on the way up I didn't fancy trying to find the way down to the Small Hills in this clag, so I opted to go back the way I came. Despite the foul weather there was still signs of life, four ptarmigans scuttling across the hillside before taking flight into the clag. As I was descending to the belach it became clear (literally and figuratively) that the cloud was drifting away and more of the summit was coming into view – frustrating - but at least I could see some more of the surrounding hills on the way down.
- View from above Coire Creagach
When I got back to the belach I decided that I still had time to walk across and find a route up Stob nan Coinnich Bhacain, and why not, I’d already climbed this far. After following some deer and sheep tracks to the steeper sections I eventually found a slightly easier slope on the north side that led to the summit. Once on the top I spent some time checking out the southern edge and taking in the view as the weather continued to improve. By this time Ben Vorlich was in full view and easy to see - I'll need to come back another time to see what it's like! I descended from Coinnich Bhacain on the south side, carefully picking my way down a gully to some flatter ground. From there I bashed through some long grass and tussocks, with only a few stumbles, to pick up the quad track I'd climbed up by and followed this back down to the A82 and back under the railway line.
This was an interesting route that I’d recommend. A steep climb at first and some route navigation involved, but overall it was a rewarding day out on the hills with only the deer and the ptarmigans to share it with. Now to flick through this little gem of a book and find my next route.