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I had missed the meteors the night before due to my own incompetence (and being let down by a friend
) so I figured I could roll a wild camp, a chance to see if any meteors were still around and get out one last outing before schools went back all into a oner.
It was another lastminute .com plan and I was running late as I headed for Aberfoyle, drove over the Dukes Pass and arrived at the Ben Venue parking area. There were a few cars left in the car park but most people had already left
My bag already packed, I booted up and set off quickly, encouraged in my speed by the midgey welcoming committee. I followed the path and soon bumped into lots of folk returning to cars. They probably thought I was nuts…
It was time for a quick march. I was up against a deadline if I wanted to make the top before sunset. It was easy walking, eventually I met the road signposted to the Loch Katrine dam, then I didn't even need to get the map out as every turn was signposted
It was hot work as I was carrying a heavy pack and motoring along. Once out of the trees there was a nice breeze which blew away the few bugs that had been around in the forest.
A nice view back the way
The walk up the Glen was still on a good path although there were a few boggy sections requiring more grace than I possess to get across with dry feet
Loch Achray now just visible
Along this section I met a couple who were quite surprised to see me heading up
The path remained good most of the time but as I turned the corner there were more boggy sections and then a steeper scramble bit which slowed me down
Looking up towards the steeper section
Finally I reached the humongous cairn where I met the route up from Ledard Farm and I was on the ridge.
The views were pretty awesome
The low cloud suggested that the sunset might not materialise but it was still a stunning spot. From here the path became much more eroded and scrambly; easy enough though.
I chose to go to the further away summit first, which may have been a mistake but it was easy to get there and I was at the summit!
Pink light on what could be the Ochils
Beinn Bhreac
Loch Katrine
Loch Achray & Loch Venachar
It was pretty windy so I posed for a snap….
And then got some photos of the views. The sun was behind the clouds but the sky was making some lovely colours.
The other “true” summit
Ben A’an looking tiny from here
The Crianlarich Hills
Ben More & Stob Binnein and Cruach Ardrain
Arrochar Alps
The Cobbler
Firey sky and Ben Vorlich?
Ben More & Stob Binnein
Dumgoyne and Glasgow
It was time to get the tent up and make my home for the night. The formalities over, I decided to wander over to the other summit (which actually turned out to be the true summit as I discovered later
) and it was a lovely view also.
Looking down Loch Katrine
The Crianlarich Hills and Loch Katrine
Ben More and friends
I had to phone one of my more photographically-minded friends for assistance with finding the panorama mode, and he was suitably surprised to find me on top of a mountain
Red skyline
By the time I had finished messing around with the camera it was pretty dark…strange how early it seems to get dark now!! It was a very careful walk back to my tent as I'd stupidly left my head torch in the tent
Safely tucked up in bed it was time for some sandwiches and some sleep. It was pretty windy which kept waking me up but I didn't mind as it gave me the opportunity to keep checking for meteors. The sky cleared a little about 2am but not enough. Nevermind
The next morning I awoke to the lashings of rain on the tent. I wasn't surprised as it had been forecast. I dozed for a while, read some of my book and then ate some breakfast. But the rain wasn't going to go away. I managed to pack up everything inside, leaving only the tent to go in my pack. Waterproofs on, I braved the outside world….
The tent was packed down quickly and I set off down. It was very wet and the clag was thick.
As I made my way down the Glen I started to get a little more visibility but the clag must've been down to about 100m!
However as I approached the forest the view ahead looked a bit like one of those impressionist paintings
The waterfalls were a lot fuller than the previous day
By the time I was back at the car I was soaked; my own fault for not repairing the hole in my waterproof trousers
fortunately I had a change of clothes in the car so I didn't have to drive home starkers
Cabin fever cured, it was time to get the washing machine on and prepare myself for going back to work
