Not as bad as Ben Lui (also winter is better)

[Wee-Caroline]

I had been putting this walk off and off and off. My rationale was as follows: Beinn Dubhchraig and Ben Oss are next to Ben Lui, and Ben Lui was the most hellish bog fest in my life. I remember falling in the bog knee deep and pulling myself out of it with pine branches! Ben Lui scores a level three bog, Beninn Dubhchraig and Ben Os a level four.

On the paper it could only be worse and the mornings when l wake up and think "F*ck yeah, let's have the boggiest hike ever" get rarer by the day.

It was my birthday and for once, the weather was going to be great, so l woke up at 4am, drove to the carpark from Glasgow, and started with my head torch on.

I left the car with -5°C and the road, path and bog were frozen. Even if they hadn't been, the boggy sections are WAY smaller and WAY more manageable than the hopeless slog up and down Ben Lui. Also, the forest is much more open so it feels less confined.

Bring your crampons if you do it in winter as the ground and path are frozen.

Extra pictures:

I hope this provides some useful information for those who, just like me, got traumatised by Ben Lui!

[dogplodder]

We called the approach to Ben Lui the forest of gloop (fun in a masochistic kind of way!) but the approach to the other two was a walk in the park by comparison. May have had something to do with us going after a dry spell but much better than expected!