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Ben Vorlich

Ben Vorlich


Postby teaandpies » Wed Jul 08, 2015 2:34 pm

Route description: Ben Vorlich via Loch Sloy

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

Date walked: 03/07/2015

Time taken: 5.5 hours

Distance: 13.5 km

Ascent: 945m

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This hill had been a little red blob among the blue ones on my WH Munro map for a while now and I just wanted to change that but I had reservations about doing this walk. I hadn't heard many good things about this hill. There are reoccuring words you hear when talking or reading about Ben Vorlich, relentless, slog, steep, knee-cruncher. These aren't word that fills one with enthusiasm, nevertheless It needed to be done.

My girlfriend would be joining me on this walk to do her very first Munro, that's ok because she was driving :lol: We both had a 1pm finish on Friday from our jobs and the weather was looking good so why not just go for it. We got home, got changed, got some food in us, got ready and got going. The drive from Glasgow to Invergulas isn't that long and the traffic wasn't that bad. We arrived at the car park around 3ish, the car park was dead. I was surprised by this given the weather and it being the summer holidays.

We made tracks along the road passing the powerstation.

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Hydroelectric power station


A few minutes later we reached the gate of the access road to the dam, it was nice to get away from the cars but the kissing gate is very tight I actually struggled to get my belly through it :oops:

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The start of the route


As we walked along the road we passed a couple of loan walkers coming off the hills. One of whom seemed to be in a great deal of pain, the kind of pain only a good hard walk can leave you in, I'm sure most of us can relate to that :lol: poor guy, I hope you're well pal.

We passed this building, this wasn't here the last time I came up this road which was about 5 years & 11 months ago on a dreich day to walk my first Munro. I was rather taken by the building, it wouldn't have been out of place on the banks of the River Themes.

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Area 51?


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Ben Vane


It didn't take that long to get to the approach to the dam and armed with a bit of advice I recieved on this forum about the start of the path being between the third and forth pylons back from the dam and it being marked with a wee cairn my eyes were peeled as I heard/read it was easy to miss.

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The start of the path up the hill in relation to the dam


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The start of the path


I had chosen to do this hill in my approach shoes and right from the first steps off the road onto the mountain I was already regretting this. The path was very wet, boggy in parts and at 1 point I almost lost my shoes. Yeah, bad decision.

The path was steep and it's a mess. It's only closer to the top it gets marginally better.

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It's a bit steep


The views are nice as you get higher but you are limited to 180 degrees so that's why you always see the same type of image in every walk report I guess :crazy:

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Standard dam/Loch Sloy picture


The day had been roasting and the walk was sweaty but the worst thing was the sheer number of Clegs that were landing all over us. If anybody has been bitten by one of these nasty horse fly things you know how it much it hurts, I was in shorts and short sleeves so I was always having to swat them off my skin. I was uncomfortable but the girlfriend was trapped in a living nighmare. Then some dark clouds closed over and I feared rain but none came. The cool air they brought was very welcome however :)

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Some dark clouds closed in


I from the road I thought all we had to do was get up to the horizon and that would be fairly flat there after, with this in mind I kept going. We were pretty high up now, the climb hadn't been that bad, in fact apart from the bog and flies I had really enjoyed it. All my preconceived ideas about Ben Vorlich had melted away, I was loving this mountain, I was converted. I can only talk for myself of course :lol:

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Just over the horizon right?


I think the views were helping with my new found love for Ben Vorlich and looking back at the other hills I had climbed in the area I was feeling pretty pleased with myself.

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The rain keeps our land green


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The standard Panorama


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Samantha


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Most of the height gained and the views were really opening up


After reaching the horizon it turns out there is still a good bit of walking to do and for every time you pull yourself up a short steep section you think this must be it but no this just seems to go on and on.

I know some people climb down there to the dam inorder to climb up Ben Vane, this just seems mental to me :lol:

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Right above the dam now


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A fairly level bit of path


I still have a few of them to do :?

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Looking North Eastish to the Crianlarich hills


Putting 1 foot in front of the other we eventually got to to the top and as we approched the summit there was 1 last steep pull for good measure.

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Our first glimpse of the summit cairn


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First glimpse of the Trig-point


We took time to visit both the trig and the cairn.

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A cheeky wee trig shot


It's just a short jaunt from the trig to the cairn to make it official.

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Making it official. Congratulations Samantha x


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Summit poser! I look cool, right? Right guys..? Guys.....


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Ben Vorlich summit


The wind was pretty strong at the top so we didn't hang around. We got going and again the decision to not wear my boots was proving a bad one as I could feel my feet moving around in my shoe and my ankles rolling. Like every walk the walk down is the worst part but because some of this hill was so steep and wet it made the going rather hard and the bottom never seems to get any closer!

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It's a long long way back down


We of course did get down and back to the car. We were up and down within 5.5 hours which was ok I guess. Later the wench admitted hill walking was harder than she thought it was going to be and she kind of felt like giving up 20 metres into the climb but to her credit she stuck with it, I'm proud of her. On the way home we picked up our dinner :D

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Celebration Chinese
Last edited by teaandpies on Tue Sep 19, 2017 7:54 pm, edited 3 times in total.
teaandpies
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Posts: 992
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Re: Vorlich

Postby roscoT » Wed Jul 08, 2015 2:45 pm

Nice report and pics mate - enjoyed that! Must've been a tough one in that heat though. Did it myself back in April when there was still a bit of snow around - yes it was steep but not as bad as i'd been led to believe.

Glad you managed to get a lift too :D
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Re: Vorlich

Postby teaandpies » Wed Jul 08, 2015 3:00 pm

roscoT wrote:Nice report and pics mate - enjoyed that! Must've been a tough one in that heat though. Did it myself back in April when there was still a bit of snow around - yes it was steep but not as bad as i'd been led to believe.

Glad you managed to get a lift too :D


The heat was bad at first but as late afternoon came approached it got a lot cooler and made for less hard walking. I told Samantha to take as many breaks as she needed and she did :lol: I know it's standard stuff but it was Samantha's first so I thought I'd write a wee report.
I read your report before I done my walk :wink:

I have a million pictures but I can't seem to make the links from Flikr work so I have to stick with the size and amout WH allow which is a bugger.

Samantha and I live together but I don't drive her car :lol:
teaandpies
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Re: Ben Vorlich

Postby roscoT » Wed Jul 08, 2015 3:15 pm

Yeah I was out on Friday too, albeit a couple of hundred miles away, but the heat did seem to abate later in the afternoon. It's a good one though - that you done all of the Arrochar Alps? Love the pic of Loch Sloy from above - the water looks like a mirror :clap:

To upload from flickr, click on the 'share photo' button at the bottom right from the picture, then click bb code. Then just copy and paste the code where you want the picture to appear (took me a while to figure it out!)
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Re: Ben Vorlich

Postby Silverhill » Wed Jul 08, 2015 9:23 pm

A steep little hill, but quite satisfying as you gain height quickly and the views are great. Well done to both of you and congratulations to Samantha on her first munro. :clap: Will she join you again?
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Re: Ben Vorlich

Postby katyhills » Wed Jul 08, 2015 9:43 pm

Nice report and pics :) I returned to Vorlich in early May (having done it many years ago the same way as you) while trying to get my 'hill legs' back after an absence of several years. I went up over the end though, and got the benefit of the whole ridge which was much more enjoyable, returning via the Loch Sloy route. If you haven't tried it, Narnain via the Spearhead and across to A' Chrois is a good day out.

Congrats to girlfriend on her first Munro - not the easiest to pick!
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Re: Ben Vorlich

Postby teaandpies » Wed Jul 08, 2015 11:03 pm

Silverhill wrote:A steep little hill, but quite satisfying as you gain height quickly and the views are great. Well done to both of you and congratulations to Samantha on her first munro. :clap: Will she join you again?


Silverhill wrote:A steep little hill, but quite satisfying as you gain height quickly and the views are great. Well done to both of you and congratulations to Samantha on her first munro. :clap: Will she join you again?


A bit of back story...Samantha had a list of things on her computer she wanted to achieve in 2015 and I read it. She had on this list that she would like to walk her first Munro. So I offered to do it with her but I told her I didn't want us to become a hill walking couples as I enjoy the my time away from real life. Sounds selfish but I think she understood what I was getting at I think.

I needed to walk this hill and Samantha wanted to do a Munro, this hill was local so it just seemed to make sense but I knew it was going to be tough going for her. Like I said in my report she did find it hard going but to her credit she stuck with it and didn't give up.
I asked her when we got back to the road if she felt like giving up. Her answer was very honest, she said after the first 20 metres and said it was a lot harder than she thought it would be.

I have agreed to walk another with her, Ben Chonzie. We are like that part of the country. Maybe we will do a few together in the future...the next time I need a lift :lol:
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