Ben Ledi & Benvane

[GillC]

Fine start to the day after some dodgy forecasts.

Headed off from the car park to climb Ben Ledi, first time Ive done it but Margarets 3rd or 4th time. Only finished the West Highland Way last weekend so wary of pins being a bit tired but got off to a good start. Car park was pretty busy, so didnt expect to have the hill to ourselves, and initially we were right. a few groups on the way up and one or two coming down when we were on the upper 3rd of the hill.

This hill starts almost immediately, climbing up through a forest track then leaving the shelter of the wooded area and doubling back on by heading south then turning up on to the shoulder and to the summit. Had a few spits of rain at this point,,enough to get the waterproofs out but by the time they were on,,rain was off, only saw a few more spits a bit later but the waterproofs did well as windcheaters. The wind was VERY strong at points throughout the walk, making talking tricky,,,now that WAS an issue with two women on the hills!!

windswept and interesting

Wonderful distant views on the way up

The so called false peaks arent too much of a problem, if you are aware of them and have viewed the hill from the road,,you get a good idea of the layout and the true top comes pretty quickly. We made the top in 2 hrs.

Me and my pal Trig!

The views on the way up were fantastic and at the top, to have a clear 360 degree scene was amazing.

2 Happy Hikers

Ben Lomond was being a bit shy at first, hiding its top in the cloud but the mountains to the West, South and North were clear and extended for miles.

Helloooo Hellooooo Helloooooooooo!

View from a hill, heading to Bealach nan Corp

The East and South East landscape rolled a bit more with less high tops, but we could see over to the Forth, Longannet Power Station, Grangemouth etc. We were planning to come off on the Bealach nan Corp so headed off the peak after some pics to sit in a sheltered spot for lunch. Lots of groups coming and going on the summit.

Had a wee look at the map and the written report on the hill, seems to pay special attention to not overshooting the Bealach nan Corp descent or you were at "risk of ending up on Benvane" so, still being early at only 12:45 or so,,we thought,,what the heck,,lets give it a go.

Off we wandered. There is a very obvious old fence line that seems to follow a regional boundary so had no difficulty following it across country.

Ben Ledi from the Lochan nan Corp

The path would sometimes disappear into peaty bogs but more often than not, these were pretty dry so no major issues. The path winds up over Stuc Dhubh and along the top of the crags at Creag Chaoruinnheach(?) before bearing left to the top of Meal a'Choire Dhuibh and banking round to the right to ascend the shoulder of Benvane (Beinn Bhan) at 821mtrs.

Me and Ben Ledi from the Benvane cairn

Margaret and Ben Ledi, on Benvane

We had a brief stop here,,wind was fairly scudding across the top so after a wee energy refill and a few more pics.
We then retraced our steps back to the Bealach non Corp before taking our originally intended descent down to Stank Glen.

There was a pretty well defined path which turned into a broader gravel path with criss crossed the burn on the way down. We eventually entered a wooded area and the burn had been gathering momentum, in the forest, we had views of a "splendid" waterfall,,which was a lot more impressive than we had anticipated. It would be a fabulous site after heavy rain or snow melt!!

a "splendid" waterfall

Carrying on down through the woods which was dry and very pleasant, crossing a few forestry tracks but continuing on good forest paths to the road which leads up to the chalets. 3/4 to 1 mile on the road and back to the car.

A long 8 hours on the hills,,only a few short stops but just took our time. Great!

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[Graeme D]

Nice combo. Welcome to the world of the Corbetts!

[ChrisW]

Nice report GillC - looks hellish windy on top but does look like a great walk though, nice one

[GillC]

Thanks guys. Wind kept the cloud cover moving and was great watching wee patches of rainfall moving up the valleys and passing below us. Really glad we decided to head over to vane, much more open and remote.