Ben Lomond (my 1st munro - June 2010)

[Gary1904]

2 years ago I was talked into doing a hill climb, non other than Ben Lomond. I had never looked into mountain walking and not even average hill walking, I turned up at the foot of the mountain with jeans and trainers on and I had no idea what lay ahead of me. At the time I was a smoker, very unfit and I thought it would be a breeze doing this mountain, how wrong I was to be .....

We started our climb on a perfect day, no clouds, sun everywhere and very little breeze, I had some sandwiches with me and 2 litres of water (they didn't last long) I was with two friends and they soon went ahead of me but that allowed me to take in what I was experiencing, the views, the chats with people coming down the mountain, it was amazing to say the least. After 4 hours I finally reached the summit, with pure determonation, I made it and I had bagged my first Munro without even realising it, it was only after the climb that I researched it and back then is what gave me the bug to do it again. It's been 2 long years since I bagged my 2nd, but Ben Lomond will forever be in my memory of how wonderful these mountains are.

at the start

The sign before the climb

My first photo of the stunning scenery about an hour up

I think this was about half way up the climb

and finally at the summit (i'm on left)

[skuk007]

Well done on getting that first Munro done, I see you've bagged a few more since then.
Wouldn't it be good to get that weather on all of them.

I think Ben Lomond was the first Munro I did, way back in the early 1980's. Not entirely sure as I was a teenager also in jeans and trainers just out for a stroll while my dad did some fishing. I've bagged it again since just in case, it's a great hill.

[Gary1904]

Thanks ... yeah back then in 2010 I was a bit of a lazy git lol, I had no idea what I let myself in for that day ... " just a mountain yeah, easy" !! haha, and yeah Ive taken it up pretty seriously in the last 4 weeks with 3 good munros ticked off. Would be ideal getting great weather but now as I'm bagging one per week then I know am gonna hit some bad weather but hey all part of the fun. My latest climb was pretty cloudy but still enjoyed it .... I shall have a look on your profile to see the ones you have done. Cheers for the reply ..... Gary