free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
After two and a half months of no holidays from work and dismal weather, the forecast looked semi-decent this past Saturday, so a friend and I made plans for a smash-and-grab climb of Ben Vorlich at Loch Lomond. My selection was Vorlich for a few reasons: the amazing views to be had down Loch Lomond on a clear day, the good-quality path from Inveruglas and the possibility of a traverse over to Ardlui, where dinner would hopefully await if we had time before the bus home.
- Road to the Alps - Ime, Vane and a lot of pylons.
The bus to Inveruglas was an adventure in itself, with the driver becoming involved in a snare-up at the notorious section of 'trunk road' beyond Tarbet. After spotting a bus up ahead, he made no progress for at least five minutes, amidst much honking of horns, attempts at reversing and a bizarre moment when a passenger at the back of the bus started screaming that he was inches away from damaging the car behind. It briefly made me wish for an M82 to be constructed, although in hindsight, that would be madness on a number of levels.
- The cairn marked the start of a frighteningly steep ascent.
Thankfully, after a few hundred yards the path improved considerably and the steep climb through a number of moraine boulders became more pleasant, with a fine view opening out to Loch Sloy, the Sloy dam and Ben Vane, which looks like a wild hill in itself. There was some bog around at the start, but this was probably only an issue for me as I had forgotten my proper footwear and was winging it in my trainers. Little did I know, but this was to cause some difficulties later...
- We noticed a lot of bones around the hillside, and sheep droppings, but strangely saw no sheep whatsoever.
The path wound up the eastern side of the corrie before turning North and ascending steeply onto the summit plateau with its three summits. At around the 800m mark, the views improved dramatically, with Mull and Jura appearing on the horizon and the National Park spread out like a map below. The rain had threatened to appear from behind Ben Vane but never came to anything. We remarked on our good fortune, and noted how straightforward and leisurely the climb had been so far. Note to self: NEVER get complacent on hillwalks, no matter how much time is left!
- Loch Sloy and dam.
- Ben Lomond shaking off cloud cover, Loch Lomond and the Luss Hills.
- The view of Loch Sloy opens out further up.
- How's that for a long-distance view? Ailsa Craig and Cumbrae appeared behind the Inverkip Power Station.
A full four hours after leaving Inveruglas, we reached the summit of Ben Vorlich at around 4pm, with almost five hours to get down to Ardlui and the clouds lifting to reveal a full panorama of the Highlands, Islands and Southern Uplands. We could make out Ailsa Craig, Arran, the Paps of Jura, Mull, Cruachan, Alder, the other Vorlich, Ledi, the Pentlands, Tinto and Shalloch on Minnoch/Merrick. Definitely one of the best panoramas I've been greeted with, thanks to the weather clearing up just in time.
- Me at the gigantic-looking summit cairn, 200m beyond the trig point.
- An unusual view of the Cobbler on the left, with the Paps of Jura further right.
- A lochan below the summit, with Ben Oss and Beinn Dubhchraig behind to the North.
Although we were admittedly very leisurely on the ascent, not leaving the summit until 4:40pm, the crucial mistake was the descent route we chose. The Walk Highlands map shows a path leaving the summit along the North ridge, before appearing again in the corrie on the North side of the river. Despite this, we chose to go the Little Hills route, on my whim that "it sounds more interesting". Which is a good word, amongst others.
- Ben Lomond appears behind a pool on the Little Hills ridge.
- Ardlui and the Crianlarich/Breadalbane hills behind. The hotel looked a lot closer than it was in reality.
Regrettably, I ran out of time to properly check reports of the Little Hills route before the walk, but I was aware of reading (years ago) that there was a series of "tracks" up to the Hills. While we found a number of footprints in amongst the Hills, we never managed to find an actual path on the ridge down to Ardlui, perhaps as we bore too far left in an attempt to lose height. Not only did this result in us losing the classic view down Loch Lomond, but our chances of getting dinner at the Ardlui Hotel before our 8:53pm bus started to vanish.
- My friend taking the scenic route!
- Our last glimpse of the Lomond view for an hour...or three.
As the time approached 7pm, we seemed to be getting no closer to Ardlui, and dinner was becoming of a fantasy than a hope. The likelihood was that the path was on top of the ridge or on the other side, but the hillside was now becoming so steep that I didn't fancy our chances of trying to cut round the side of the ridge on what could be a wild goose chase. We found what looked like a path down to the left. 15 minutes later we arrived to find a marshland, cursing the trick of the light from above.
- Dinner's down there somewhere!
- Yeah, think it's a goner now.
With the time leaving 7pm, it was clear that the one priority was to get to Ardlui in time for the bus. My friend and I began gravitating towards a steep stony gully with trickles of water, in an attempt to get down to the main river to the North. We had accidentally performed a similar move on the Pap of Glencoe a few years ago, but this time it was very much deliberate.
- If it gets us home...
What followed from then on was a colossal, 90-minute-long edition of The Krypton Factor, but with no Gordon Burns and more pressure. An assault course of ravines, unstable boulders and fallen trees lay between us and the road, and we had no earthly idea how long it would take us. I took the odd photo but for some reason they were gone when I checked the next day. In any event it wasn't really the time for photos, as we were aware that missing the bus would cause a huge knock-on effect with regards to taxis, missing shifts, the unknown quantity of the night train (is it really compulsory to reserve a seat even for the section to Glasgow?) All of that was running through my mind as I careered down the river in a pair of three-year-old trainers, cursing my lack of judgment throughout the day.
The clock ticked passed 8pm. My friend asked if we would make the bus. With absolutely no incline one way or the other, I replied, "Yes, definitely". We were surrounded by trees and the map wasn't giving much away in terms of recognisable landmarks, so there was no real way of knowing what progress we were making. It was clear that if we didn't find a path soon, we would be missing the last bus home, but the only known path in the area was on the North side of the corrie, further up, through a maze of rhododendrons.
Finally, at 8:35pm, this appeared out of nowhere.
- Glory be!!!
I had no idea where this track came from, but we had a rough idea where it would go. We followed it back across the river and quickly found ourselves at the back of the Stuckendroin farm. Incredibly relieved, we were certain we would catch the bus. But what was this? The sign on the gate in front of us seemed to be telling us to go through the field to the left to reach the A82. The field to the left was guarded by two of the loudest and most vicious-sounding dogs I'd ever heard. With no option but to go for it, we went through the gate and across the field to the far corner. There was no obvious exit, so we louped a fence and scarpered down to the roadside. The dogs, thankfully, were on leashes!
- There s a path from here to the Little Hills. I think.
A quick look at the watches. 13 minutes to go. A previous report said 10 minutes to the Hotel from here. My friend felt this was cutting it rather fine, but we'd been thinking that for the last three hours to be honest. No problem, I said, the bus is coming our way so if it passes us before we reach the Hotel we can hail it. No problem, that is, until we reached Ardlui Station at 8:50pm to find the A82 narrowing dangerously, and a lovely wooded footpath to the right taking tourists from the Station to the Hotel. At this point I realised that this was a great addition for the 99% of normal tourists visiting the Hotel, but for us the tree-lined walkway could act as disguise at the very moment we want to make ourselves visible to the passing Citylink coach! I started power-walking with what little energy I had left. 8:51pm. Surely he wouldn't pass the Hotel early? They're always bang on time or 5 minutes up here, aren't they? I exited the woods to see the front door of the Hotel 150 yards away...and a Citylink bus drawing up alongside. I broke into a run, but he was already slowing down by then. We jumped on the bus. 8:52pm. We left Ardlui a minute early, and before we knew it we were passing Inveruglas and the scene of the traffic snare-up nine hours earlier. The driver seemed totally non-plussed by the sight of us breaking into a trot as we fervently approached the bus like two released lions (or Big Brother housemates) seeing the outside world again. He probably just thought we'd gone for a stroll down at the Marina or something......