The drive up past Loch Earn and along the A85 was amazing. Gorgeous sunshine and what was actually set to be a really hot, nice day – for those not atop Ben More, but in other parts of Scotland.
We hit the trail at 8:25. Ben More lives up to it’s reputation as a formidable giant and slog of a hill! Almost as soon as you leave the car you look and just think – that is a LONG way up!!
- Ben More - A long way to go!
We followed the sign for the farm and then the track for a wee bit of the way. Probably could have made things a tiny bit easier for ourselves if we had followed the track a bit further than we did before coming to the gate. We were going to need every bit of energy we had to get up here.
Then the slog began. We took regular breaks to admire the views behind (as our lungs nearly burst out of our chests!!) The clouds kept rolling across as we climbed and it was pretty claggy. There were patches of snow and ice higher up but all totally avoidable. After 2 hours 55 we reached the summit.
- Looking back towards Crianlarich
- Still a way to go...
- Yeah - we made it!
We had had glimpses through the clouds so decided to stop here for lunch and wait in the hope we’d get a ‘magic moment’ and the amazing views that had been threatening to show themselves off and on. Siobhan was up and down like a yo-yo every time it looked like the cloud was on the move. We didn’t get what we wanted but we did get a couple of cool shots.
- Clouds just wouldn't blow past.
The summit of Ben More is an ideal lunch stop – has a couple of nice sheltered seats in the rocks. After 15/20 minutes we headed down to the bealach, and again were just willing those clouds to blow over to get the view of the ridge between the two peaks.
- More views from the top
- Views to the East
The wind really picked up at this point, easily 40mph (maybe more) so my focus was just pushing up to the top of Stob Binnein so that we could then head back down to more sheltered terrain!
- Not far to Stob Binnein...
- Looking back at Ben More form the bealach
Before long we were at the summit and there was a brief break in the wind. We sat for a bit – again hoping for the views to appear and make the slog all the more worthwhile, but they didn’t really.
- Summit 2 of the day :)
- Number 14
So down we went. Easy descent with lovely views, but a long walk along the side of the burn and back to the car.
- Views to the West
6 hours 55 later we were back at the car. Not bad going, with a couple of decent stops.
Munros 13 & 14 for me and 50 and 51 for Siobhan. Great end to the Easter weekend!
Thanks for the company! So glad we got some views after all that hard work! A great day to hit 50 for me and you'll be catching me up in no time at this rate!
