free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
I'd been eyeing up the Luss Hills for a couple of days as a possible trip for the weekend, and Rohan's useful and timely
walk report from the same area pretty much sealed the deal. A little snow on the tops by the looks of it, but not too much to make the going difficult. And a perfect weather forecast to boot.
Last time we'd visited Luss I'd been unimpressed with having to pay for parking AND the adjacent toilets. Happily no parking charge during winter, and much less busy at 10 o' clock in the morning in February too. Snow-capped Ben Lomond looked stunning from the shore next to the car park.
Over the A82 footbridge and the ridge up to Beinn Dubh was clear behind a picturesque house.
The ascent was straightforward and relatively gentle, with superb views more than making up for the odd soggy patch.
Beyond the odd insignificant patch, the snow line was at around 600 metres, conveniently meaning that the steeper parts of today were snow-free. Soon we were at the eastern summit of Beinn Dubh - not the highest part of the hill but the named part on OS maps.
The next section true summit (only 15 metres higher but a mile to the west) was generally over snow: 95% bullet-proof, 5% slightly dodgy crust. Basically easy going. Even better, the cloud hanging over the general vicinity had pulled away to the west, with more and more blue sky above. MWIS had forecasted sub-zero temperatures for the summit, but in the sun with all the reflection off the snow it felt considerably warmer - in fact, we were down to t-shirts at this point.
Doune Hill looking especially fine:
Beyond the true summit, conveniently the snow ran out just as the descent steepened, the circuit around the head of Glen Striddle completed.
The going was good most of the way down to the valley road, with a couple of semi-serious bog patches right at the bottom.
The 3 km of road walking went quickly in the sunshine, gently descending most of the way with hardly any cars passing. Just before getting to the A82 footbridge again, we diverted onto the riverside path past the old slate quarries, under the A82 around to the south of Luss.
Looking back at Beinn Dubh:
Celtic Cross on the way back into Luss:
Back into Luss, and the walk ended the same way it began, gazing across the lustrous waters of Loch Lomond.
Wonderful short day out!