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I wasn't going to go out today. Tired after yesterday's trek around the Carn Marig hills I was going to have a lie in, mooch around the house and chill out. But...the forecast for clear skies made it impossible to stay in bed. I couldn't let a good hill day pass without heading out. So Ben Vorlich was the choice, for it's NW Top which I hadn't managed last time I was up there. A leisurely drive to Inveruglas in bright sun, with Ben Lomond looking sweet as a peach across the loch, got away at 10am, with several other walkers heading that way too. The ground was crisp and icy underfoot and I was hoping that the snow would be easier to manage than yesterday's deep drifts. Because it's a popular hill I was also reckoning that a path would have been tramped through the snow on the long slog up Lag Dubh. Ben Ime and Vane were looking glorious over to my left as I walked along the track up towards the dam.
Ime & Vane
P1050516 by
23weasels, on Flickr
Vane
P1050517 by
23weasels, on Flickr
Just before turning off up the hillside I see a wee green tent - the nutters out camping turn out to be Leithy & Basscadet who'd been up Vorlich yesterday. We chat about conditions and I continue on, remembering the unremitting steepness of the section up to the bealach with a shudder. I can see a number of folk up ahead and there are clear footholes to step in which makes progress easier. It is less easy to overtake folk without diverting into soft snow

I am still feeling tired and sluggish, with my jogging 3 times a week clearly having taken the energy out of my legs. Well that's my story and I'm sticking to it. As I near the top of this section I meet a guy coming down who says the wind is hellish higher up and he hasn't enjoyed the experience at all. I note he doesn't have goggles on - maybe that contributed. I stop to put on my crampons and goggles in preparation for the assault to come. It is windy when I step onto the wind scoured bealach, impeding walking but not that bad. I sit in the shelter of a group of rocks and eat my lunch, watching to see if the groups of walkers behind me are going to appear or turn back. Most seem to turn back, only 1 guy threads his way towards where I'm sitting juddering in the wind blasts.
Fancy meeting them on a hill
P1050518 by
23weasels, on Flickr
It's a long way to the top...
P1050519 by
23weasels, on Flickr
P1050522 by
23weasels, on Flickr
P1050524 by
23weasels, on Flickr
Windy at the bealach
P1050525 by
23weasels, on Flickr
Time to go on - it's icy underfoot and I'm thankful for my crampons biting into the crunchy topping. Looking back, Ben Lomond looks serene poised over Loch Lomond and Ben Vane is knobbly and rocky, with steep sides running down to Loch Sloy. I follow the trail of footsteps towards the summit, meeting a number of folk on their way back down. Up ahead I see the trig point and beyond that the summit, where there's a guide and a client on a rope...seems a bit strange as there's not much likelihood of falling off anything up here.
Onwards
P1050527 by
23weasels, on Flickr
The sunlit summit
P1050528 by
23weasels, on Flickr
Ben/Loch Lomond
P1050529 by
23weasels, on Flickr
Vane
P1050531 by
23weasels, on Flickr
P1050532 by
23weasels, on Flickr
View towards NW summit
P1050533 by
23weasels, on Flickr
Onwards I can see the NW Top and follow a couple of guys over to it. The wind has dropped to hardly anything between the two tops, meaning the snow's deeper. I arrive at the Top and enjoy the vista of Ben Vorlich with a dazzling sun behind, trails of spindrift racing over the snowy surface. Back I go, meeting one of the guys I spoke to on the way up who has almost got to the summit - a tiring day he says. The descent is rapid - yomping over snowy slopes is much easier on the way down than coming up, although some folk I pass seem to be struggling a bit with it. I keep my crampons on for grip, hence missing the excitement of bumslides. Back at the road someone's built a tall snowman with groovy hair. I stride back down the track, passing a number of folk out for a walk by the look of their clothes and get back to the car in under 5 hours, a bit snow dazzled but rejoicing that I decided to get myself out today for this fine walk.
Heading for NW top
P1050534 by
23weasels, on Flickr
View North
P1050536 by
23weasels, on Flickr
Weasel
P1050537 by
23weasels, on Flickr
View back to Vorlich
P1050538 by
23weasels, on Flickr
P1050540 by
23weasels, on Flickr
P1050542 by
23weasels, on Flickr
P1050544 by
23weasels, on Flickr
Lomond
P1050548 by
23weasels, on Flickr
Sculpted snow
P1050550 by
23weasels, on Flickr
P1050552 by
23weasels, on Flickr
P1050554 by
23weasels, on Flickr
P1050555 by
23weasels, on Flickr