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I had originally planned to go out on Saturday but the high winds that were forecast put me off so after a restless day in the house I hatched a cunning plan to head for the hills very early in the morning. This would ensure an early enough return in order to take the good lady in Glasgow. I climbed Ben Donich last week and all last night I was trying to decide what nearby Corbett to go for when in a moment of inspiration I decided to go for Ben Ledi as it was only an hour away and I figured I could be back for lunchtime.
I set off from the house at 6:45 and after a drive along some deserted roads, I arrived at the car park and was ready to go at 7:50. Daylight wasn't too far away but I put on my head torch as under the forest canopy it was still pretty dark and if the likes of Bogfoot jumped out of the trees, I wanted to be able to see him. I soon cleared the forest and continued uphill with a glorious sunrise capturing my attention which was also a good excuse to stop (for pictures obviously, not to catch my breath...).
Before long I had reached the halfway point and I was treated to great views heading over towards Grangemouth as well as back towards where I live. The climb was still reasonably steep and the snow was sporadic but I was making good time and although the wind was making itself know, the weather was almost ideal.
At this point the climb eased off and I picked upthe pace as I approached the first of the false summits. A large part of it was covered in snow but I walked up the heather to the side of it and before long I was over it and faced with the next one.
Although it was steep I found the going quite easy as the false summit was sheltering me from the worst of the wind and before I knew it I had reached the top and could now see the iron cross at the summit. The snow on the last climb up was a bit firmer but my Scarpa's kicked in easily and the crampons remained in the bag. Parts of the snow werw quite firm whereas other parts would see me up to my knee in it but it didn't slow me down too much. It was slightly slippy a few feet from the cross but it was nothing that had me contemplating reaching into the bag.
As I reached the cross the wind returned and tried to make up for missing me out for the last 15 minutes. Visibility was still excellent but the gusts were getting stronger and a large dark cloud loomed on the horizon. Until now, Ben Lomond & Arrochar seemed to be getting the worst of it and the Lawers range would appear then disappear on a regular basis but I had escaped unscathed. I tok a few pictures at the top but not many as the wind seemed to be getting stronger and I wanted off the summit if I was going to be hit with the snow.
My lunch was still in my bag but if I was to be hit with the weather, I didn't want to be in the middle of enjoying my tomato soup when it happened. I descended quite quickly as the reasonably soft snow allowed me to take big strides whilst keeping me upright. I then encountered two runners who had came up behind me and I let them carry on as they both looked absolutely freezing. I maintained a fast rate of descent through the snow and I spotted a figure coming up but he looked to be a fair distance away.
I surprised myself by how fast I met him and after a brief chat, I left him to head on up and by now the cloud which had threatened to envelop the mountain seemed to split and push snow round both sides but the bit I was on escaped it. I passed a few other folk and shortly after this, I saw a set of foot prints in the snow heading down a steep section and I realised that someone a couple of days previously had taken a shortcut and I decided to follow them.
Ben Lonond is in there somewhere:
After a few involuntary bum slides
I rejoined the path and passed more folk as I marched back to the car. I was there before I knew it and my return trip took me 3 hrs and 20 minutes which I'm pretty pleased with. I cracked open my flask of soup in the car and hungrily guzzled it before heading for home.
For the second week running, I've been shown that I shouldn't overlook Corbetts and I really enjoyed myself today. It was one of those days when I tell myself that the views and the whole experience are why I do it and I'm delighted to say that on a Scottish mountain in January, my waterproof jacket stayed in the bag. The thread title came to me in a moment of clarity as I was enjoying bouncing down through the snow and it's a day I'll look back on fondly.
As I passed through Callander, Ben Ledi was looking magnificent in the morning sun and I pulled over to take a picture before continuing the journey. As I approached the roundabout outside Aberfoyle, Ben Lomond looked majestic as it rose up above everything around it. Here's to more days like this!
