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A good enough weather forecast to get out into the hills somewhere, but with MWIS suggesting a risk of low cloud especially in the west, we made a beeline for the Trossachs and a first trip to Ben Ledi.
We'd seen warnings that the car park filled up fast, and getting stuck behind a slow car all the way from Doune didn't exactly help with arriving early. We reached the turnoff for the car park by about 10am, driving across the bridge over the Garbh Uisge at the front of a four-car convoy of cars. Foolishly I hadn't checked which way to turn at the end of the bridge - guessing incorrectly we turned right, while the three cars behind us left to nab the next few parking spaces. Once we'd found somewhere to turn around, another car and a large motor home were in front of us in the queue. Our hearts sank as the motor home had to turn around and leave, but miraculously there was a single small-car-sized spot left for us to slot into.
The "tourist path" to the summit climbs steeply up the eastern slopes of Ben Ledi. We'd done the first part before, on a walk taking in the Falls of Leny last year, but beyond a track junction we were onto pastures new, ascending next to patchy forest alongside a small burn.
Ledi's eastern cliffs looked impressive through gaps in the trees:
The small car park seems to limit the number of walkers on the hill, meaning we got the beautiful views over Loch Lubnaig to ourselves:
To the south-east, Callander basked in the morning sunshine with the Ochil Hills behind:
Loch Venachar appeared over the brow of the ridge to the south:
Now at 600 metres (already!) the path swung north along the ridge, on a direct line towards Ben Ledi.
A little cloudier to the west:
Back down the ridge:
There's a loch in almost every direction from up here - it's easy to see why the Trossachs are sometimes called the Scottish Lake District. Venachar, Lubnaig, Finglas, Achray, Lake of Menteith - I can't remember the others, but while on the ridge we worked out that at least nine different lochs / reservoirs were visible from this route. There are several false summits on the ridge, some with minor cairns and all with great views:
Quite a lot of work had recently been done on the paths here, with boulders strategically placed to block individual braids of path and encourage people to stick to the main line. One last steep stretch to the summit (and cross):
Up on top we found out where all the other walkers were... already at the top and enjoying lunch! It was so busy that we decided to continue along the north ridge for a bit to escape the crowds.
Looking back to the trig point:
It's a great wee ridge:
After lunch we continued to Mullach Buidhe where the ridge loses its definition. The main path appears to go north, but we descended south-west along the fence line towards a bealach.
Beyond this, we first forked right above Coire na Fuaire on a narrower path, keeping left where it split again. The walkhighlands notes warn against taking the right hand path into Coire na Fuaire itself - more on that later. Instead, our path descended steeply into the upper part of Stank Glen - a little boggy just for a short section before reaching a bigger path and turning right.
The path down into Stank Glen was still busy with people coming up, despite it being about 2pm or so. One group in particular looked like they'd bit off more than they could chew - carrying uncomfortable-looking bags and large shawls / rugs, and one man - covered in mud - literally crawling up some of the steep bits (it wasn't even that steep...). Hope they got down again OK...
The path passes through a gate and soon after becomes very smooth and well maintained. We had loads of time so went for a dip in the Stank Burn itself (fortunately it doesn't smell as the name might otherwise suggest!).
Afterwards there was a very easy section of path with a gentle gradient - good views only spoiled a little by deforestation and forestry tracks. While heading along here we noticed a solitary walker descending the hillside below Coire na Fuaire, which we'd seen earlier from above. It appeared to be pathless, steep and very awkward with some thick vegetation to struggle through - so definitely not good to "short-cut" that way!
Eventually the path enters the forest properly, before steepening in the final stretch down to valley level. After that it's just a case of following the tarmac south ("ah - this was where we drove by accident earlier!") back to the car.
A couple of photos in the next post showing the waterfalls on the last descent - and a note about the route for this bit - below. Nice straightforward walk with good weather and beautiful surroundings.
