Page 1 of 1

Chasing meteors and getting soaked on Ben Venue

PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2017 7:17 pm
by Jaxter
I had missed the meteors the night before due to my own incompetence (and being let down by a friend :roll: ) 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 :thumbup:

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… :crazy:

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 :lol:

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
Image

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 :lol:

Loch Achray now just visible
Image

Along this section I met a couple who were quite surprised to see me heading up :lol: 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 :roll:

Looking up towards the steeper section
Image

Finally I reached the humongous cairn where I met the route up from Ledard Farm and I was on the ridge.
Image

The views were pretty awesome 8)
Image

Image

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
Image

Beinn Bhreac
Image

Loch Katrine
Image

Image

Loch Achray & Loch Venachar
Image

It was pretty windy so I posed for a snap….
Image

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
Image

Ben A’an looking tiny from here
Image

The Crianlarich Hills
Image

Ben More & Stob Binnein and Cruach Ardrain
Image

Image

Arrochar Alps
Image

The Cobbler
Image

Firey sky and Ben Vorlich?
Image

Image

Ben More & Stob Binnein
Image

Image

Dumgoyne and Glasgow
Image

Image

Image

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 :lol: ) and it was a lovely view also.

Image

Looking down Loch Katrine
Image

The Crianlarich Hills and Loch Katrine
Image

Ben More and friends
Image

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 :lol:

Image

Red skyline
Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

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 :roll:

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 :wink:

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….

Image

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!

Image

However as I approached the forest the view ahead looked a bit like one of those impressionist paintings :lol:
Image

The waterfalls were a lot fuller than the previous day :lol:
Image

By the time I was back at the car I was soaked; my own fault for not repairing the hole in my waterproof trousers :roll: fortunately I had a change of clothes in the car so I didn't have to drive home starkers :lol:

Cabin fever cured, it was time to get the washing machine on and prepare myself for going back to work :shock:


Ben Venue Camp.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts


Re: Chasing meteors and getting soaked on Ben Venue

PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2017 7:30 pm
by Mal Grey
Good effort, shame "my" meteors didn't appear, sorry about that.

I refer to the Perseids conceitedly as "mine" as my birthday is the 12th and I have been lucky over the years - I always spend the night outdoors if I can and have often been rewarded with a birthday shower. This year all went to plan, except that we were sneaky camped in woodland by the Thames and, though the sky was clear, we could only see little windows of it between the tree canopy. I think I saw one. By then, I was too drunk to get in the canoe and drift on the river to get a clear sky...

Looks a really nice summit, actually, thanks for sharing.

Re: Chasing meteors and getting soaked on Ben Venue

PostPosted: Sat Oct 07, 2017 10:33 pm
by tomyboy73
great views from up there eh ?
going up there early tomorrow for a leg stretcher and a new boot tester, quite looking forward to it now, hope i get as good a view as you

Re: Chasing meteors and getting soaked on Ben Venue

PostPosted: Sat Oct 07, 2017 11:23 pm
by Jaxter
Mal Grey wrote:Good effort, shame "my" meteors didn't appear, sorry about that.

I refer to the Perseids conceitedly as "mine" as my birthday is the 12th and I have been lucky over the years - I always spend the night outdoors if I can and have often been rewarded with a birthday shower. This year all went to plan, except that we were sneaky camped in woodland by the Thames and, though the sky was clear, we could only see little windows of it between the tree canopy. I think I saw one. By then, I was too drunk to get in the canoe and drift on the river to get a clear sky...

Looks a really nice summit, actually, thanks for sharing.

I won't hold it against you :lol:
I look forward to your birthday meteors next time :D



tomyboy73 wrote:great views from up there eh ?
going up there early tomorrow for a leg stretcher and a new boot tester, quite looking forward to it now, hope i get as good a view as you

Cracking viewpoint aye!!
Hope you get lucky :thumbup:

Re: Chasing meteors and getting soaked on Ben Venue

PostPosted: Fri Oct 13, 2017 11:19 pm
by kendoclem
Great post and smashing foties :D