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I climbed my first Munro in 1962 - not that I knew what a Munro was in those days. My dad took me and my brothers up Ben Lomond - and I remember it as a day of stunning views and a great sense of achievement reaching the rocky summit.
I guess that's when I got the bug although it lay dormant many years before I got myself up another one! And it has taken another 50 years before climbing another Munro with either of my brothers!
I was down staying with son and daughter in law who are imminently expecting their second child and my DIL suggested Doug and I should do a hill while he had the chance. We planned to go out on Thursday but the weather forecast was grim so we switched to Friday and headed for Ben Vorlich, the only one of the Arrochar Alps I'd not done. We parked at the Inveruglas Visitor Centre where the cloud was still shrouding the tops but which MWIS was predicting would lift by afternoon.
Brother Angus, son Doug and Doug's father in law Neil
We headed south down the A82 past the power station to a right turn on to a tarmac road that goes under the railway line. There is a locked gate here preventing vehicle access and the pedestrian gate is a squeeze to get through with rucksack on. I managed it but one of the guys had to climb over!
It's uphill but easy walking past an electric substation and ignoring a fork which leads round the east side of Ben Vorlich whose south slopes rise steeply on the right. A'Chrois and Ben Vane soon come into view, along with giant metal robots striding alongside us up towards the Loch Sloy dam.
Ben Vane
We were looking for a small (WH says tiny) cairn which would tell us when to turn off the road on to the hillside. I was concerned it would be so tiny we'd miss it!
Road to the dam
The not so tiny cairn
We climbed the rough path accompanied by light rain.
Loch Sloy on way up (note the snow on top of hills opposite)
Loch Sloy on way down (less snow visible despite it having snowed while we were up top)
WH warned about an unremittingly steep ascent so we decided to have a break half way
Neil regaled us with fascinating tales of places visited during his work with the BBC
Loch Lomond and a threatening sky
The path becomes more defined and leads up the side of a gully (Neil's pic)
Loch Lomond zoomed (Neil's pic)
Ben Vorlich's south ridge
These chaps had passed us (running) on the way up and were now on their descent. I asked if they were off to do Ben Vane and they said "Vane, Ime and Narnain" but we saw them down on the level a couple of hours later and I'm sure they'd only done Vane!
The runners (Neil's pic)
Natural amphitheatre where we imagined staging a Runrig concert (Neil's pic)
Summit in sight (Neil's pic)
The three guys at summit cairn
At the top with Doug and Angus
It felt special to be at this summit with my brother 50 years after topping Ben Lomond with him just across the way!
View south towards Ben Lomond
From summit down to Loch Sloy
Snow clouds were moving in from the north so views were non existent that way and soon the snow was falling making it feel quite magical - well more magical than rain would have felt!
We found some rocks for shelter and had lunch out of the wind.
View from lunch spot
The descent (Neil's pic)
The only other person we bumped into was an old friend who has done all the Munros twice and is now on her third round!
On third round
Ben Vane with significantly less snow than a few hours earlier
A'Chrois and Ben Narnain
Ben Lomond from the tarmac road
I read Helen Bruce's report before doing this hill and noted it was her 159th Munro which was quite a coincidence as Ben Vorlich was my 159th Munro as well!
