After the great weather i had for the walk up Ben Cruachan & Stob Diamh the previous day,the forecast for Tuesday had something totally different in store. My base for the week was the Welcome By The Way campsite in Tyndrum & as i rolled out of my tent at 9am i was greeted by low cloud shrouding all the surrounding tops,but at least it was dry,for now. By the time i'd had breakfast the rain had started but i still headed off to Ben Lawers car park,in the vain hope the weather would improve. It didn't improve & there i sat in my car for 3 hours or so watching the rain hammering against the windscreen & the cloud hanging about 100 metres above the car park. At least it gave me the opportunity to get engrossed in my book!
Wednesday morning arrived & after nearly 24 hours of rain the forecast promised a better day,so yet again i headed off for Ben Lawers. As i travelled east the higher tops were still well covered by cloud & i resigned myself to a day of no views. Today was to be a no frills out & back by the 'tourist route' affair from the Ben Lawers car park,which with it starting at a height of 450 metres sort of feels like you're cheating a little but what the hell,it's very handy. Leaving the car at 12.35pm,i headed off up the obvious & well made path/boardwalk to soon reach the gate in the fence at the point of the start of the nature trail. I decided against taking the trail & continued onwards along the main path making a steady ascent.
As the climb steepened the top of Beinn Ghlas was in & out of view as the clouds drifted across it but as i gained the ridge just below the summit the clag decided to stick & the views were gone. Arriving at the cairn at the top of Beinn Ghlas,i was met by quite a large group of people who,taking one look at me,scurried off into the mist,without even the briefest of hello's(have i got two heads? i asked myself.) Still surrounded by the clag,i decided to have my lunch break here & take a few photos of the summit with Ben Lawers lurking behind the mist.
As i was putting my camera away the clag suddenly lifted & there was my first clear view of Ben Lawers towering majestically in front of me. What a sight!
Finishing my first lunch break i headed off along the gentle ridge leading to the foot of the ascent to Ben Lawers which from here looked very steep & slightly brutal. I was pleasantly suprised to find the ascent was nowhere near as bad as it looked at first & i found it pretty straightforward as i climbed up into the clag which had now set in to last. The trigpoint at the summit was soon reached & the poor visibility combined with the lack of other people at the summit made for a rather eerie stillness which was a worthy compensation for the obscured views.
Finishing the rest of my food while sat next to the trig i again had it all to myself apart from one brief moment when a solitary figure appeared out of the mist from behind the viewing point. Greeting him with a "Hello" he responded with a noise along the lines of "Hhhmmm" & quickly disappeared into the gloom without even stepping up onto the high point(i've definately got two heads i tell myself & maybe i smell?)
Eventually after spending 50 minutes or so without the cloud lifting,i headed back down the same route as the outward leg reaching my car at 1751. 5 hours 16 minutes start to finish & very enjoyable.
On my way back to Tyndrum i made a stop off at Killin & took in the Falls of Dochart. Lovely stuff.
Warning
Please note that hillwalking when there is snow lying requires an ice-axe, crampons and the knowledge, experience and skill to use them correctly. Summer routes may not be viable or appropriate in winter. See winter information on our skills and safety pages for more information.