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After catching the Munro bug with my first walk up Schiehallion, I treated myself to a 'proper' pair of hillwalking boots. I naively wore steel toe-capped boots for my first walk!
I'm writing this report two years after the event and it's funny thinking back to how ill-informed and unprepared I was then. Like Schiehallion, I even used google maps the night before I set out to work out where I was going!
Anyways, I was looking forward to my next walk and set out nice and early. I did have a bit of trouble finding out where I was going (could be down to the fact I used google maps and took a photo of the laptop screen onto my mobile phone!) but eventually I found the start point and found a place to park the car. The weather couldn't have been better, perhaps a tad too hot though.
I took this pic of Loch Earn while on route, stunning!
- Glorious view of Loch Earn
Due to my mountain fitness being non-existent at this point and the temperature and the fact I was still a smoker then I'm embarrassed to say I struggled at first but looking back, the paths were well trod and easy.
- The well beaten path to Ben Vorlich
Eventually I caught up with some German tourists and passed the time of day with them before plodding on. Don't bother wasting your time looking for them in this pic as they were behind me at this point!
- Further up Ben Vorlich
The final push took me by surprise as I found it quite steep and with my lack of experience found it a bit intimidating (jeez, I'd probably run up it nowadays!) After I settled myself and had a spot of grub the tourists and their guide finally appeared and they kindly let me join in their celebrations with a small nip!
I also met another lone walker at the summit and I noticed he had a handy pocket sized munro book. Within a week I bought myself two such books - Walking The Munro's Vol 1 & 2 and they have been indispensible.
- A wee nip with the tourists and their guide
I contemplated Stuc a' Chroin, but I'm embarrassed to admit that it looked too scary to me at that time and I decided to head back to the car. As I said, I thought the final approach to Ben Vorlich's summit was steep so I decided to take an alternative descent NW, joining the path a little further down.
- Save this for another day
Once I got back to the car it was still early and I was buzzing, so I decided to head over to Ben Lawers and continue my enjoyment for the day!
- Ben Lawers from Ben Vorlich