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Ben Vorlich takes the biscuit!

Ben Vorlich takes the biscuit!


Postby Graeme D » Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:08 pm

Munros included on this walk: Ben Vorlich (Loch Lomond)

Date walked: 25/10/2009

Time taken: 5 hours

Distance: 13 km

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We had been at a wedding in Dumbarton on Saturday (a foul day of weather if ever there was one) and stayed over in a B&B. We had taken the gear with us just in case Sunday was marginally less foul - the weather forecast suggested it might just edge it.

Sunday morning looked less than promising but at least the rain had stopped. Heads were slightly fogged after the reception but the extra hour and a full scottish breakfast helped.

As we headed up to Inveruglas the rain returned with a vengeance but we decided to keep going and review the situation when we got there. If anything, it had got worse by then. I'm normally less reluctant to go out in these conditions than my wife, but she seemed more focussed on buttoning up and getting on with it than I did. Despite the weather, we weren't the only fools heading down the road and under the railway onto the access road to the dam. It was coming down in buckets and by the time we reached the miniscule cairn (which surprisingly hadn't been washed away) and stared up the distictly moist looking hillside, I was all for abandoning ship and calling it a write-off. Again my wife surprised me and suggested that as we had come this far and were already doing a passable impersonation of a couple of drookit ducks, we might as well do what we had set out to do.

The path was initially all over the place, probably not helped by the mega-bog which had formed on the lower slopes after what had seemed like a decade's worth of rain in the last few days. Conditions were hideous what with the underfoot conditions and the driving rain which was becoming fiercer and more stingy with ever metre of height gained.

By the time the terrain levelled out a bit onto the south ridge, my boots had been totally overwhelmed by the sheer weight and relentless assault of rainwater. At the cairn there was not surprisingly nothing to see apart from a curtain of grey. We took a few quick summit shots and set a new world record time for consuming a sausage roll before beginning a very windswept and wet descent back down the route of ascent. Oh, and my biscuits had got soggy. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

After a change of clothes at Inveruglas, we enjoyed a very welcome pint by the roaring fire at the Drovers Inn. :)

IMG_2522.jpg
Loch Sloy or just a large puddle?


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Chocolate hit!


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Path or river?


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Loch Lomond's down there somewhere!


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Preparing for take-off!


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Debbie enjoys the stunning vista from the summit.....


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Me basking at the summit......
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Graeme D
 
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Re: Ben Vorlich takes the biscuit!

Postby kevsbald » Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:58 pm

Such a shame you didn't get the weather. But almost worth it for that pint and warm fire. Like the photo of 'supergirl'.
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kevsbald
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Re: Ben Vorlich takes the biscuit!

Postby Paul Webster » Tue Oct 27, 2009 10:03 pm

I thought it didn't look too bad and you were being a bit hard on the day :D . Then I read on and found that it made your biscuits soggy - now that is serious :lol:
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Re: Ben Vorlich takes the biscuit!

Postby monty » Fri Oct 30, 2009 10:22 am

Good effort Graeme.
I was lucky enough to get good weather when I done this one. The bad days make you appreciate the good days more :D They do say behind every great man is a great woman :lol: :lol: In this case, superwoman
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Re: Ben Vorlich takes the biscuit!

Postby Graeme D » Fri Oct 30, 2009 2:24 pm

Yeah, the pictures don't really do justice to the full horror of the weather that day. In some shots it actually looks quite clement. It was a good day though - one of those days where adversity actually adds something positive to it. :lol:
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Graeme D
 
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Joined: Oct 17, 2008
Location: Perth

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