Ben Lomond, up via Ptarmigan route.

[BertvdBeu]

While walking the West Highland Way me, Bert, and my wife Lucie, squeezed in some days to walk some Munro’s.
As Munro-bagging is also popular in the Netherlands, we heard about it some 6 years ago.
And today we will ‘do’ our first Munro.
The weather forecast tells us it is going to be warm. But at the start at Ptarmigan Lodge it was cloudy and windy. As most people take the normal route, I read on this excellent site that the other way round was more rewarding. So we went by the Ptarmigan-route.

up via Ptarmigan route

The wind felt more and more cold, but under the summit crags the wind got calm, thanks to Ben Lomond itself, and then it was too warm. After some easy scrambling

a bit craggy

we were on the summit, our first Munro.

The first Munro !

It took us up some 3 hours including time to rest, taking pictures and looking at the plants, especially some orchids.
After some time at the summit we started descending the tourist-route, comparing to the Ptarmigan, more or less a highway.

down via normal route

And it was getting warmer and warmer and at the forest it was 21°C. Too warm.
We descended to the car park in 2 hours 15 min. Total time: 5 hours 15 min.
A Tennant Lager waited for us as a reward.
Anyway, here are the photos.

[weemistermac]

Congratulations on your first Munro Bert! You'll have the bug now! A swim in Loch Lomond is mandatory after climbing Ben Lomond, especially on a fine day. I hope you knew that