free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
Having ascended Ben Vorlich more times than I care to count but never Stuc a' Chroin I decided to climb directly through Coire Buidhe and over to the Bealach an Dubh Choirein.
Out of the car at Ardvorlich we could see Ben Vorlich was shrouded in cloud, however there were promising signs that it may lift as the day went on.
The approach to Coire Buidhe was typical torture, made no better by the sight of a new hydroelectric projects' access road cutting through the heather clad hillside. Doing my utmost to try and ignore this we headed higher and by the time we reached the split into the Coire I was sweating heavily, nothing that a wee bit of scottish drizzle didn't cure!
The traverse over to the Bealach was very boggy and as Stuc a' Chroin came into view we could see that a light cloud lay on the summit. We convinced ourselves that its disappearance was impending and pushed on to the bottom of the rock face. As we ascended into the cloud the climb started to take its toll but topping out we saw that the summit was a mere stroll away, lightening our mood considerably.
A quick lunch and the cloud lifted enough to get some fleeting views of Beinn Each, Lochearnhead and the south face of Ben Vorlich.
On the descent we decided to skirt Ben Our through Glen Ample and easily found a faint land rover track leading all the way to the farm and formerly washed away bridge. By the time we reached the road however the walk had taken on the nature of a slog, the distance lengthened considerably by this circular route. All that was left was the long walk back to car, a lot further than it looks.
