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BC hits her 200th.. on Vorlich

BC hits her 200th.. on Vorlich


Postby basscadet » Tue Jan 08, 2013 12:28 am

Route description: Ben Vorlich and Stùc a' Chròin

Munros included on this walk: Ben Chonzie, Ben Vorlich (Loch Earn), Stùc a' Chròin

Date walked: 06/01/2013

Time taken: 9 hours

Distance: 28.8 km

Ascent: 2732m

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So this weekend, with the weather looking favourable on the more optimistic weather sites, it was time to get out for the first hills of 2013 :thumbup: Dougie was working on Saturday and wouldn’t be coming along until the Afternoon, so I thought I would go for a wander up Ben Chonzie by myself. It is not the kind of hill you want o do over and over, so he wasn’t missing out on much :wink:
So as usual, I left straight after work on Friday, driving up to the top of Glen Lednock for about 7PM. I was tired, so decided to have a snooze in the car before I set off to make camp.. I didn’t wake up until 9! It was a calm warm night, but very dark, as I set off up the track. Unfortunately in the darkness the way was not obvious, and I ended up in a farmyard, not knowing which direction to go :? So I walked back to the car, along the road, and spotted the ideal pitch after just a hundred yards, right next to a bridge :D
I got going early in the morning, packed up at first light noticing that I had acquired the heady aroma of sheep somehow. There was a wooden box just a couple of feet from the tent, had a look inside, to find a trap with a decaying rat in it.. Yuk :sick:


Chonzie.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts



So back at the car for a faff, other walkers started arriving. I spoke to a couple of them before heading up the track, the way past the houses now obvious in the light of day. Up the track I went, past the hydro stuff, wondering where they sent the water from all the collecting.

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The weather was warm and claggy which led to much sweating, so when I started to see snow patches ahead I stopped for a break before the inevitable drop in temperature.
Pretty soon I was negotiating snow patches, and then I saw the baggers cairn, and a path heading off in the right direction. I noticed though that the snow patches on the path had no footprints.. :o I knew I wasn’t the first one up as a couple of guys had passed while I was stopped, so I kept close tabs on where I was, and sure enough the path seemed to skirt the hill instead of climbing it :crazy: so I left the path, and took a direct route up to the ridge, on a maze of tiny wee paths that criss crossed the hillside. The clag was getting really thick, and I could hardly see 5 yards. Some fence posts loomed out of the mists and I followed them to the summit.

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On the return, I knew there must have been a more direct route down to the track. I followed the path in the hope of finding it, but ended up back in the maze, and back on the wrong path :roll: so I followed a burn down to cut out some of the loop. About 10 yards from the track I hit the main baggers path.. It was huge and was marked with big cairns at the track. How did I manage to miss that? :lol: Oh well..

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A quick trot back down the track later, I was at the car by 11.30, less than a 3 hour walk including breaks? Must be one of the easiest Munro’s I’ve ever done :thumbup:
So that left me with a long wait for Dougie who wasn’t going to be coming until 3.. :( I drove down to south Loch Earn where we were meeting, and decided just to head up the glen and get the tent set up for his arrival. The ground was really waterlogged up in the fields :? but I found a site down in the gorge. Quite a lot of dead leaves, but well drained, out of the strengthening wind, and out of site of the estate manny’s who seemed to be going about in high numbers :wink: I went back down to the car park in time for Dougie’s arrival. The rain started just as he arrived, so a quick march back to the shelter of the tent! :D


200th.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts



We awoke on Sunday morning to silence – no rain.. We managed out for 9 which is pretty early for Dougie :D The tops were clear, and the wind had dropped. Seemed like a good day for my 200th :clap:
So up the steep track we went

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which turned into a well built path further up. We had a wee stop to view Lawers & co in beautiful light
before we tackled the ascent up to the ridge.

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It was a relentless slog, but the folk behind us were getting further and further behind, so that always makes you feel like you are doing well! Then the clag rolled in and there were no more views..

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Quicker than expected though, the trig came into view. My 200th munro in the bag. Been trying to get to 200 for way too long, what with all the fails we have had in the last 6 weeks, so it was good to finally do it.

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We followed the path onward along the ridge, bonny rock formations appearing and disappearing in the clag.

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Across a boggy bealach, over a lip, and after a quick chocolate break, we were on to the ascent of Stuc a Chroin. :) It was hard to locate the path up the steep section due to some large snowy patches, but after a bit of too-ing and fro-ing, we found it and made our way up. The higher we got, the more paths seemed to zigzag up the hillside, and that’s when the rain started :( The first path we chose led to a rather steep gully filled with snow.. :shock: A bit steep to attempt without an axe, so we retraced our steps and took a different route, sticking to the rocks, scrambling higher and higher on rather slimy boulders which made us muddy, wet and cold. Dougie cracked his head on an overhang, I could tell he wasn’t amused by the bad weather, or the tough going :?
We made it up to the ridge eventually, and to a cairn with a memorial beside it.. neither of us were convinced it was the summit – Dougie had done this hill before, and it was nothing like he remembered, so we carried on along the ridge to find the true, double cairned summit a bit further on. It was still raining, and it was blowing a stiff gale, so we must of paused for all of 10 seconds before we were heading back the way we came, looking for the bypass path :lol:
Now the bypass path was pretty good and easy to follow. The descent off the ridge was over a huge unstable cornice though, so we had to go round it and carefully pick our way down a steep spur, back to the path. There were a few boggy bits after that, but that was only to be expected, especially with things being so waterlogged just now. Dougie hated it though, and I kept on hearing disgruntled noises from behind me :roll: His boots I think are past their best and he kept on slipping on the wet grass.. At least the rain was off, but some of the windy gusts had me grabbing at the hillside for balance :-x
We made it back to the main path eventually, ankles done in from all the contouring round. It was just a short trot in steaming waterproofs back to the tent to pack up :D
So mixed reviews of the day, I love any day where I am outside for the majority of it and it feels good to reach another benchmark :thumbup: Dougie I think enjoyed it less. I’ll admit that the snow was an annoying consistency – hold your weight for a few seconds before you fall through, the top of Stuc was pretty grim weather-wise, and there was a bit of displeasing bogginess on the way back, but then it is January, so nae bad for the time of year :clap:
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Re: BC hits her 200th.. on Vorlich

Postby Benjaminnevis » Tue Jan 08, 2013 1:42 am

Well done on the 200th BC nae bad goin at :clap:
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Re: BC hits her 200th.. on Vorlich

Postby ScottishLeaf » Tue Jan 08, 2013 1:48 am

Hope you went all the way along Vorlich's summit ridge to the cairn. (Away from Stuc to the east.) The trig is slightly lower.

Stuc would be a better one for 200 anyway ;)
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Re: BC hits her 200th.. on Vorlich

Postby Dave Hewitt » Tue Jan 08, 2013 10:19 am

ScottishLeaf wrote:Hope you went all the way along Vorlich's summit ridge to the cairn. (Away from Stuc to the east.) The trig is slightly lower.

No it’s not. Look at the map: the trig is given as 985m, the cairn 984m. The cairn is usually quieter, and is the nicer place to stop for a snack, but the trig is the summit.
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Re: BC hits her 200th.. on Vorlich

Postby robertphillips » Tue Jan 08, 2013 10:27 am

Well done on hitting 200. 8)
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Re: BC hits her 200th.. on Vorlich

Postby The Rodmiester » Tue Jan 08, 2013 10:46 am

Well done and congratulations on your 200th :clap: , now for the big push :)
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Re: BC hits her 200th.. on Vorlich

Postby kevsbald » Tue Jan 08, 2013 11:06 am

Well done BC - peer Dougie, he's just a saft loon fae the 'burgh.
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Re: BC hits her 200th.. on Vorlich

Postby simon-b » Tue Jan 08, 2013 11:11 am

Congratulations on the 200, BC, and a nice walk to achieve it on. This is inspiring too, I'm hoping to get to 100 this year. All the best with your run in to the (currently) 282.
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Re: BC hits her 200th.. on Vorlich

Postby laconic surf » Tue Jan 08, 2013 11:21 am

Big congratulations BC, I have been waiting on this report since I saw your counter tick round past the 200. Seems such a short while ago I was reading about the 100 in the Monadhliath :clap: :clap:
oh and well done for tackling stuc in those conditions (hang on, I seem to say the same thing i every report I read of yours :lol: ) sounds a wee bit hairy.

A special mention to Dougie I think, who sounds as though he had a fairly miserable time, despite having a long lie in :wink: That's loyalty for you :D

Anyways, big congrats - the end is in sight - I look forward to hearing about the final 81 8) :clap:
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Re: BC hits her 200th.. on Vorlich

Postby Scotjamie » Tue Jan 08, 2013 12:26 pm

A big well done to you on your 200th, (and to both of you for the SaC nose in such slippy conditions).

basscadet wrote: Dougie hated it though, and I kept on hearing disgruntled noises from behind me


- but Leithy must know by now that walking with BC can never be straightforward :wink:
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Re: BC hits her 200th.. on Vorlich

Postby basscadet » Tue Jan 08, 2013 12:32 pm

Thanks ahbody for your kind best wishes :) Glad to hear I was at the top, although I have a couple I am unsure of so I will get round to them again before I claim completion.. :D

kevsbald wrote:Well done BC - peer Dougie, he's just a saft loon fae the 'burgh.


On the bypass path I was actually thinking 'Must remember for future that Dougie is a southern softie and canny hack the conditions us teuch highlanders can' :lol:

laconic surf wrote:Big congratulations BC, I have been waiting on this report since I saw your counter tick round past the 200. Seems such a short while ago I was reading about the 100 in the Monadhliath :clap: :clap:
oh and well done for tackling stuc in those conditions (hang on, I seem to say the same thing i every report I read of yours :lol: ) sounds a wee bit hairy.

A special mention to Dougie I think, who sounds as though he had a fairly miserable time, despite having a long lie in :wink: That's loyalty for you :D

Anyways, big congrats - the end is in sight - I look forward to hearing about the final 81 8) :clap:


Oh I had no idea folk were following my munro tally so closely :crazy: Oddly enough it was very similar conditions to the Monadhliath trip as well.. Stuc would of been easy without all the moss/mud/slime on the rocks, but I'll freely admit would of been far easier if I'd bothered to take my ice axe.. I got a new shiny one for Christmas an everything so no excuse except laziness really :D

I'm going to try and take the next 81 at a leisuely pace.. I'm trying to complete at the same time as my dad, and he is a few behind, so time to go on more trips with him to keep our numbers similar ;)
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Re: BC hits her 200th.. on Vorlich

Postby Gavin99 » Tue Jan 08, 2013 1:51 pm

Well done BC , doesn't sound too bad a weekend apart from the dead rat and Dougie's sair heid 8)
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Re: BC hits her 200th.. on Vorlich

Postby ScottishLeaf » Tue Jan 08, 2013 2:39 pm

Dave Hewitt wrote:
ScottishLeaf wrote:Hope you went all the way along Vorlich's summit ridge to the cairn. (Away from Stuc to the east.) The trig is slightly lower.

No it’s not. Look at the map: the trig is given as 985m, the cairn 984m. The cairn is usually quieter, and is the nicer place to stop for a snack, but the trig is the summit.


Am dafty, getting my Vorlich's mixed up. D'oh! It's the other one the trig's not the summit. **beamer*** Sorry :)

Congrats once again on 200 :)
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Re: BC hits her 200th.. on Vorlich

Postby gman » Tue Jan 08, 2013 3:02 pm

Dead rat on the doorstep is a great incentive to get moving in the morning :D Well done on the 200 :clap:
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Re: BC hits her 200th.. on Vorlich

Postby SMRussell » Tue Jan 08, 2013 7:26 pm

:clap: many congratulations :D :clap:
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